Susan Pratchett is Managing Director for Europe at Advantage Worldwide, a inventive company born from the Vice Media Group. I not too long ago caught up with Susan to debate her function and her opinions on the evolution of name promoting.
Inform us about your function… What does a typical day appear like for you?
I’m Managing Director for Europe, at Advantage Worldwide – the company powered by VICE – so I set the path for the enterprise throughout the European area and assist focus our providing and what we stand for.
A typical day doesn’t actually exist, however because the world and our business proceed to alter at velocity, it’s actually vital that we’re rising and evolving as a enterprise alongside that, so an enormous a part of the function is planning; interested by what we want now, what we want sooner or later, how we’ll develop and the folks we have to do it.
What has been your favorite model marketing campaign from the previous yr?
As controversial because it’s been, the Coinbase Superbowl spot was extremely good. An actual instance of understanding tradition, viewers and model to do one thing solely, and arrestingly totally different, in one of many world’s largest media moments. And an ideal instance that daring, provocative considering generates actual enterprise outcomes.
I’m additionally actually pleased with our work on Johnnie Walker for related causes; it reveals a deep understanding of tradition, viewers and model to create actual world change and outcomes. We labored with the workforce at Johnnie Walker to get into the native tradition of 24 markets world wide, as a part of the most recent chapter of the well-known Hold Strolling marketing campaign. By means of the themes that emerged, we recognized social regeneration as an space in want of focus throughout the globe. By means of native partnerships with cultural change-makers, we’ve began to revive group based mostly social areas; driving new which means into ‘Hold Strolling’ and opening the model as much as a youthful viewers.
What would be the key elements for model success in 2022?
Manufacturers are more and more being left exterior of tradition – skipped, scrolled, blocked, ignored. And the panorama has by no means been extra crowded. Manufacturers are now not simply competing for consideration with different manufacturers, they’re competing with all media ever made. So entrepreneurs have a selection: discover ever extra intrusive methods to interrupt previous the blockades, or discover a extra welcome method to present up. To be seen and valued as we speak, manufacturers have to actively contribute to tradition – and concentrate on enriching folks’s lives somewhat than barging their approach in.
Advantage has skilled a interval of progress over the previous few years – what has it been like navigating this (and becoming a member of the corporate) concurrently Covid?
It sounds extremely apparent, however one massive lesson has been the necessity for clear, easy and frequent communication – to the purpose of over-communication. With a lot occurring, and a number of time zones and geographies, issues are simply missed. Alongside this, being swift and decisive in determination making, and taking folks with you alongside that decision-making course of has additionally been very important.
On a extra macro stage, we’ve spent lots of time future proofing the enterprise and planning forward in an ever altering and extra complicated business – together with constructing out solely new cultural services and products. You want to have the ability to go searching corners and construct a workforce that is ready to develop and adapt because the enterprise modifications. However the one factor that doesn’t ever change is the ability and worth of creativity, and maintaining that on the coronary heart of all we do will all the time be our largest precedence.
What’s been the best profession recommendation you’ve ever obtained?
The one which I come again to essentially the most usually – and nonetheless need to remind myself of at instances – is that different folks’s success shouldn’t be the way you measure your personal. I used to spend so much of time worrying about whether or not I used to be doing in addition to everybody else, somewhat than having fun with my very own successes and wins, and following my very own path. I’ve additionally seen my thought of success change over time, and I feel that’s vital too – to know that you simply don’t need to comply with one linear path.
And secondly, to personal your errors. Everybody makes them, and though it’s all the time simpler stated than performed; having the ability to get in entrance of them by being sincere about them, and having a viewpoint on methods to repair them, goes to place you again in management. After which don’t wallow in them!
There’s additionally a quote that I really like from Dave Trott: power beats expertise. The communications business is a tricky one, it’s stuffed with twists, turns and modifications. And the people who maintain us all going are those that maintain exhibiting up, that maintain pushing, that basically care.
What’s subsequent for Advantage in 2022?
2022 feels rather a lot like a coming of age for Advantage. We now have a extremely sturdy workforce in place throughout Europe, bringing collectively the strategic and artistic experience of a inventive company, with direct entry to the means to form and create tradition by way of Vice Media Group and all it has to supply – from cultural perception, to manufacturing experience, to award profitable leisure.
Our focus this yr will likely be on placing all of that to work, within the work – and remodeling manufacturers from inside tradition. That’s what our strongest work has all the time performed, and this yr is about doing that at scale.
