Chris Skinner is President EMEA of media company UM, which delivers media campaigns throughout channels for manufacturers together with Spotify and Coca Cola.
I lately caught up with Chris to speak about his position and achievements at UM, the advert sector’s so-called ‘nice resignation’, and the significance of constructing sturdy company tradition.
Inform us about your position. What does a typical day appear like for you?
My days all the time begin early, lately that’s notably been the case given I’ve been collaborating on a undertaking with our APAC group. That mentioned, they used to begin even earlier pre-pandemic after I did much more travelling to remain linked with groups and purchasers around the globe. Though that needed to change, I nonetheless love the each day connectivity and bustle of working throughout plenty of worldwide markets, even in digital kind.
At any time when doable, I like to begin the day by clearing my head with a run. That was round Richmond Park, however since shifting to Cambridge I’m nonetheless searching for the best route – any recommendations are welcomed!
I usually spend a while day-after-day with the shopper groups and direct stories round EMEA, ensuring they’ve the fitting assist. We’ve all needed to change how we work over the previous couple of years and this has seen advantages too: UM has transitioned to hybrid working, and in a way we’ve formalised this new mannequin with the launch of our new European and UK headquarters, The Bailey.
The pondering behind the design is to interrupt down any limitations between groups; to deliver folks collectively irrespective of the place they’re bodily primarily based, and to construct cross-functional groups across the direct wants of purchasers slightly than anticipating them to suit round how we work. The brand new set-up may also give me extra one-to-one time with folks head to head, whether or not that’s the weekly group huddles, or reconnecting with purchasers and media house owners.
Taking our shopper technique from idea to actuality has outlined a lot of my time lately, however it can actually be definitely worth the effort. I’m trying ahead to seeing how this can change the form of my ‘typical day’ as the brand new workplace makes it that a lot simpler to place the idea into customary follow.
What has been the best achievement throughout your time at UM up to now?
I’m happy with a lot, however serving to construct a powerful tradition stands out; I believe it’s an enormous differentiator for UM. We’ve all the time had an excellent repute for taking care of our folks, however what’s vital is constructing a working atmosphere during which everybody feels assured sufficient to share their concepts, aspirations and considerations. There’s little doubt it’s this mentality that ensured UM was capable of adapt to the challenges of the final 18 months.
I’m additionally very proud to have led the group that received the European Honda account at first of the yr. It introduced collectively so many components of the enterprise and a lot expertise. For me, this represented UM at its finest; sensible, extremely expert folks supported by actually modern tech.
UM works with massive manufacturers together with Spotify and Simply Eat – what differentiates you as an company? Moreover, what makes an awesome pitch?
As I’ve already alluded to, flexibility and agility are hardwired into our company. This implies we’re capable of form and rework ourselves on a case-by-case, and certainly a campaign-by-campaign foundation for our purchasers – and crucially – to take action shortly.
We’re all the time eager about how we are able to finest future-proof UM to ensure we’re capable of preserve delivering what purchasers need. I can’t consider a interval in latest reminiscence during which this has been extra vital; there are simply so many complicated challenges linked to media, audiences and tech in the meanwhile. It does assist that we like challenges, in fact, but it surely’s our defining attributes that permit us to take them on throughout a number of markets.
As for pitching, it’s all the time been a deeply complicated affair, however operating pitches remotely or on a hybrid foundation really takes much more time and dedication. At coronary heart, issues haven’t modified basically although, we’ve all the time believed in placing a variety of vitality into attending to the crux of shopper challenges to grasp precisely what they want, whether or not that’s at a comms or a deeper enterprise stage. From right here, we’re capable of create tailor-made options to match these wants.
On the subject of the pitch itself, chemistry remains to be all-important. We work arduous to search out precisely the fitting group, figuring out experience, attitudes and the folks with distinctive views.
The advert sector has been hit arduous by the so-called ‘nice resignation’ – what’s the key to overcoming this?
Churn has actually been a problem for your complete {industry}, and its causes are a number of and sophisticated. Nevertheless, we must always all view this as a possibility to judge how we recruit, prepare and nurture folks. As a sector, we additionally want to think about how we create an industry-wide tradition that may ship sustainable profession progress.
Prioritising your working and enterprise tradition is the primary place to begin, but it surely is smart to look past conventional expertise swimming pools. The kinds of expertise required inside adland are altering, and bringing in those that method challenges with a distinct set of experiences may be massively useful.
It’s additionally essential to offer your folks the fitting skilled assist buildings to assist them develop, as a result of no-one desires to really feel they’re treading water. This isn’t essentially a straightforward factor to do, nor certainly low-cost. It requires a couple of several types of funding, however get it proper, and also you’ll shortly see the outcomes.
From UM’s perspective, our ‘futureproof mannequin’ requires that we construct an atmosphere during which our expertise can see a significant longer-term future with the company, a tradition that evolves round them as a lot as the opposite manner round. If our persons are thriving, then so too is the enterprise.
What excites you – about your organization or wider {industry} – when eager about the following 18 months?
Reconnecting with folks in individual, one thing I’ve actually missed and now cherish greater than ever. I personally discover creativity and collaboration simply works higher after I’m sharing a room with folks.
I’m additionally enthusiastic about our drive to diversify our expertise and usher in new concepts and views to the enterprise. We’ve joined forces with Spotify and TikTok right here to launch the Futureproof Academy, a modular course for secondary colleges that gives an introduction to the world of media and creativity. It’s designed to develop core employability expertise and lift aspirations to reveal {that a} profession in media will not be restricted to graduate consumption. It’s an awesome alternative for everybody concerned, and one thing I actually need to push and see develop.
What recommendation would you give to a marketer proper now?
I’ve obtained two items of recommendation. Firstly, step again and reevaluate how you’re approaching your KPIs for fulfillment. At present, there’s a probably harmful tendency to give attention to short-term features on the expense of long-term model worth. Ensure you get the stability proper and know measure and calibrate that.
And second, for these recruiting and rising companies, don’t rent in your personal picture. Embracing new views and tapping much less apparent expertise swimming pools goes to make an enormous distinction to your work output. Make use of individuals who will problem you, empower them, and marvel on the new concepts that come from that.
