Watch A day in the life of – Heather Myatt, Senior Account Manager at P+S 2022 video here.
These are exciting times here at P+S Creative. We’re winning new business, taking on bigger and more complex projects with long-time clients, and continuing to expand our offering to meet today’s marketing challenges. In short – we’re keeping ourselves very busy!
And because of that, we’re looking for talented Account Managers to join our growing Client Services team.
What does an Account Manager do you ask? Well, I’m here to give you a complete run down on the role. I’m a Senior Account Manager working across a range of clients, including Panasonic Connect Europe, one of Proctor + Stevenson’s largest and longest running clients.
An Account Manager’s role is to be the voice of our clients within P+S, working across all teams to deliver high-quality work that stays true to the brief, meets all deadlines and stays within budget.
“…we’re organised, great communicators and problem-solvers…”
We also develop strong partnerships with our clients. We understand their business, their products and their goals and advise on new strategies, methods and programmes that will help their teams reach their objectives.
We’re organised, great communicators and problem-solvers – and we aren’t afraid to take on a challenge. And it’s that self-starter attitude that really helps us as we navigate our role and keep all our plates spinning.
The types of work we manage varies depending on our individual clients. In a typical week on Panasonic Connect Europe, we’ll research, build, and manage awareness and lead generation campaigns across a range of channels, work with the creative and technology teams to design and build webpages, create print and video collateral, and develop brand strategy for the organisation.
“…it’s that variety in work, scope and complexity that I find really rewarding…”
As an Account Manager, you’ll be in constant contact with your clients through weekly calls and emails, with new projects coming in daily. You’ll build out each project from your client’s brief and properly cost each phase, and then you’ll bring in the right people to get each project finished. Some projects last 3 days, some will last months, and it’s that variety in work, scope, and complexity that I find really rewarding.
And while we tend to manage our own projects, you’re never alone. The team is so supportive and always on hand to help you through the project management, spreadsheets and emails of your day-to-day. We’re surrounded by a very talented and experienced team at P+S and there’s always someone whose brain you can pick to help make your projects more successful.
It’s not all work over here – we also have a lot of fun! Weekly quizzes, Friday drinks, monthly pop-up lunches and various groups, sporting challenges and parties make Proctors a pretty awesome place to be.
As an Account Manager with P+S, you’ll be challenged, given the freedom to run with your ideas and the support you need to develop in your career. You’ll work on some incredible projects with clients who are making the world a better place. So, if you’re starting to think that a lot of what I’ve said sounds pretty good to you, go ahead and apply! And if you’ve got any questions before you do, please don’t hesitate to connect with me on LinkedIn. I’d be happy to help in any way I can.
Think you could be our new Account Manager? Check out the full job description and send your CV and cover letter to [email protected]
In case you hadn’t heard, we’re currently looking for a first-rate Digital Project Manager (DPM) to join our talented team here at Proctor +Stevenson. To give you a personalised insight into the role, we caught up with Billy Black – one of our stellar DPMs, who works across so many of our client accounts.
You can hear all about Billy’s work, the clients and projects he manages, and life at Proctors in our latest vlog, but be sure to read on to learn more about the role, plus a few insights from the P+S team.
A day in the life of – Billy Black, Digital Project Manager P+S 2022 video here.
What does a Digital Project Manager do?
At P+S, our DPMs are tasked with planning and delivering digital projects, working with our in-house teams, account managers and clients to ensure everything’s executed on time, within budget and to the client’s brief. We’re ambitious here, so ideally we’ll exceed expectations. But it’s also up to the DPMs to manage those expectations, so that everyone knows what we’re hoping to achieve, what’s possible (considering deadlines and resources),and what’s needed of them.
There’s plenty of organisation, budgeting and scheduling that goes into project management, but something that’s often overlooked is the opportunity to build relationships. At Proctor + Stevenson, we take the time to forge strong relationships with our clients – DPMs play a really important role in this.
“Building relationships is a really rewarding part of the job, and it’s always interesting getting to know people in different parts of the world. It also means that even if the project is challenging, there’s still a foundation of mutual trust and respect.”
What does a typical day look like at P+S?
Like most of our teams, DPMs at Proctors have really varied roles. One day you might be meeting with one of our clients before briefing the design team, and the next you’ll be overseeing a website project for a global tech heavyweight. You’ll work across our different teams and pickup a wide range of briefs, big and small.
But it’s not all about the work. A huge part of our day to day is our sociable culture – something we’re really proud of.
“Because everyone’s so nice you can’t help but enjoy the day-to-day atmosphere. There’s a real buzz around the office and people really take pride in the work they’re doing.”
We also have a hybrid working policy, so you’ll work three days in our vibrant Bristol office, and two from home.
“I love being in the office, but the option of working from home for a couple of days a week really comes in handy. As do the flexible working hours – especially if you have kids.”
Tell us more about the fun stuff
If you’re in the office, you can have a catch up in the cafe over lunch and compare notes on the latest Netflix documentary – the jury’s usually out, but you can’t agree on everything. We also have regular pop-up lunches from fab local eateries, and we finish early for Proctors Quiz on a Wednesday. It’s a great way to flex your trivia muscles or simply have a drink and give it your best guess, depending on the theme.
There are also some great lunch and learn sessions, where one of us educates the rest of the team about a specific area of knowledge or interest, and workshops from external speakers.
“It’s always nice to see what other members of the team are up to and learn something from them. Everyone has useful skills and expertise both job-related and outside of work and we’re always encouraged to share them.”
We also recently had our first collaboration day, which was a great way to find out what people do across the different teams and departments. It also opened the floor for insightful conversations about how we can build on our culture, reduce our environmental impact and support our local community.
But enough about us! We want to hear from you.
Think you might be our next Digital Project Manager? Check out the full job description and send your CV and cover letter to [email protected]
How it began
Hi I’m Luke and I am a Client Services intern at Proctor + Stevenson. I was in my second year of University studying Geography BA (Hons) at Durham when we were given the opportunity to apply for our placement year. I knew it was something I wanted to do, because it was a great chance to develop myself professionally, learn something new and may be even secure myself a job afterwards.
I’m now over halfway through my placement year and I’ve developed some strong relationships with co-workers, as well as clients. I’ve had the opportunity to manage and lead projects from start to finish and I’m pleased to say I’ve secured a job with P+S once I finish my third year, if I wish to return.
Proctor + Stevenson | My placement year 2021-2022 video here.
What drew me to P+S?
I had a meeting with a careers placement advisor at Durham University, who suggested Proctors as a suitable company to apply for. I did some research into the company and knew that it was the right place for me.
The P+S website had lots of information on the clients we work for and work culture, along with interesting blog posts. This meant I could thoroughly prepare for the interview, as securing a placement year can be very competitive. It also meant I knew what to expect when I started my internship.
Where I am now
So far, I’ve been given lots of responsibility to manage various types of projects. From short videos to full website and branding tasks.
A couple of months in, I was thrown in at the deep end – which is exactly what I wanted – having to manage various video projects with tight deadlines while my manager, Sam, was on leave for a few days. I was apprehensive at first, knowing little about the technical aspects of video production, but as the projects progressed, I quickly became more confident managing them.
These two weeks were rewarding as I could take full ownership of projects. I knew that if they weren’t delivered on time and to a good standard, even though I had support from Mark Jamieson, one of the Directors, and Phil Robinson, Creative Director, it would ultimately be down to me. This motivated me to put in overtime, when necessary, especially when working with clients across time zones, so being flexible to make it work made everyone’s lives easier.
My professional development
So far, I’ve worked mostly with Saudi Arabia-based clients, including the various arms of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) (particularly on recent branding projects), and Impact BBDO, among others. Learning about a different work culture has been interesting and working alongside organisations like the IsDB, who are doing incredible charitable work all over the world is really fulfilling.
I’ve also had the opportunity to work alongside a new client – The Runnymede Trust – a UK anti-racism organisation. I’ve enjoyed working with the design team to develop their new brand. I also learnt about front-end website design in Webflow so that I could communicate project status to the client effectively.
I’m grateful for the opportunity to learn about the broad array of services that Proctors offers, from graphic design and copywriting to front-end website design and marketing strategy – both online and off. This, along with the variety of clients that Proctors works alongside, makes the job interesting and means that no one day is the same.
During my time at P+S, I’ve developed a variety of skills. I’m now much less apprehensive to ask questions, even if they seem trivial. It’s been a steep learning curve, and simple things such as understanding what the different members of the team do, how they do it and how it all comes together, are much easier quickly described by one of the team, rather than figured out down the line.
I’m much more confident in creating and maintaining client relationships, too. And I have a greater understanding of many different aspects of marketing.
My goal for the next half of the placement is to take on challenging conversations more readily with clients, such as those about budget status and chasing for payment of invoices. I also look forward to a potential trip to Saudi Arabia in March, where I can meet some of the people I’ve worked alongside over the past seven months.
From Luke’s manager:
This is the first time we’ve had a placement year student, so we weren’t quite sure how it would all play out. Having done a placement year myself, I knew that the best way to make it count was to treat Luke as though he was one of the team, getting him working on and contributing to real projects as soon as possible.
Luke got stuck in straight away with some video projects for IsDB’s annual meeting. It was a big audience, with heads of state, heads of banks, royalty and many more globally influential participants in attendance, and a very important and stressed client to please. The Prime Minister of Uzbekistan even weighed in with some feedback.
From then on, Luke has been a huge asset to the team, and we’re really disappointed we have to lose him at the end of the year. But, we’re hoping this great start means the programme will go from strength-to-strength, and we can continue to build our offering for placement year students, giving them a really strong start to their careers.
If a placement year is something you are contemplating and you would like to gain experience within a full-service marketing agency, contact us at [email protected].
First up ADLIB. Our very own Steve Kay has been promoted to MD of ADLIB 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
12 months ago, we set out to achieve a lot in preparation for this move. The result of which has seen us deliver our best ever financial year, the development of the ADLIB x enable group proposition, organically growing a group headcount of 55 talented and lovely people, all which comes without any need to scale and sell and best of all we’ve built an infinite business model that opens career opportunities without ceilings and a stakeholder profit model for all to enjoy.
Steve’s been with ADLIB for 9 years and instrumental to our growth and success from the day he joined. Alongside Steve is an incredible management team that have stepped up to support him in realising our future ambitions.
Next up is enable. It’s taken time to pull together the perfect leadership team that balances energy, opportunity and structure, but we now have it, and it’s been well worth the wait.
Tim Macmillan, enable’s Founder, brings his unstoppable energy and the ability to create opportunity, Oliver Howson has been promoted to be our new MD. Ollie flips seamlessly between the vision and driving the team’s success, whilst Shannon Matthews rejoins the business to bring the structure that underpins everything. enable is bursting with energy and opportunity, the team is growing fast, B Corp is underway, we’re excited for how the next 12 months will unfold.
As for Nick, he’s here to help our new MDs and leaders, to be the best the business has ever had (his words).
Viva ADLIB & enable.
To support the expansion of our Bristol team and better serve our growing list of clients, we’re delighted to announce that we’ve opened an office right by Bristol Temple Meads station.
Eight of the 21-strong team will now be based in the new office, with Operations Director Mike Sharp heading up the Bristol space.
He says of the opening: “Our mission is to be the happiest paid media agency in the UK. We believe that happy people do great work. It’s brilliant to open the Bristol office because we know that our people want to be back in a shared environment, both for their own mental health, and their ability to work closer as a team to deliver for our increasing client-base in the Bristol area.”
We are actively recruiting to fill roles across the business as we respond to increased demand. Having recently been recognised as the Best Small PPC Agency in Europe and praised for our ‘team-centric’ approach, if you’re passionate about paid media, we’d love to hear from you.
For more information on the roles available – based in Bristol, Exeter, or remotely – visit www.launchonline.co.uk/careers/
Leading independent brand and creative agency Mr B & Friends is celebrating its 16th birthday with a significant senior appointment as it embarks on an ambitious five-year growth plan.
Ellie Wilson will join the business as Managing Partner, bringing her expertise in managing high performance agency teams and building long term client relationships to Mr B & Friends.
Wilson is moving from Taxi Studios, where she worked for eight years, most recently holding the role of Operations Director. At Mr B & Friends she will join the senior leadership team and will be working with Client Services, Operations and Finance to ensure the business is in optimum shape as it eyes expansion.
Wilson’s appointment is crucial as the agency seeks to expand its presence at home and abroad to accelerate the growth of the business. Over the last 18 months, Mr B & Friends has seen a rapid increase in activity across existing client business, while securing a number of new clients including OVO, Britvic, Marsh and BMT. Increasingly working with more international clients, such as InterContinental Hotels Group and Sofidel, has ignited the agency’s ambitions to further its reach in a number of key cities.
With a host of clients already based in London, a new office there is a natural progression. This will be followed by a base in West Coast US close to the HQ of its sister company Noble, while a further presence in SE Asia is planned for 2025 to complete the trio.
Back in the South West, Mr B & Friends is due to move into a new HQ at Whitefriars in Bristol in July, offering more space for its growing Bristol team. The agency team across all departments will be offered the chance of secondments and relocation to the new locations as they are established.
The plans coincide with the agency celebrating 16 years in business. Still focused on delivering brand expertise, Mr B & Friends has attracted an enviable client roster of consumer and B2B brands seeking brand strategy, identity, communications, internal communications and creative services across some high growth vertical markets. The growth plans will see head count within the business more than double to 70 employees by 2026.
Founder and CEO Simon Barbato says, “This has to be the most exciting phase in Mr B & Friends history. We have engineered our business to deliver superb brand consultancy with creativity for ambitious clients while delivering a sustainable business model to encourage future growth. I am delighted that Ellie is joining us and will help spearhead the expansion of the business. She brings a huge amount of talent and experience in all levels of agency management, which will enable me to focus on our growth plans. The future is something we’re all excited about.”
Managing Partner Ellie Wilson added, “I’m thrilled to be joining Mr B & Friends at such a pivotal point. My conversations so far have confirmed that we’ve got an outstanding team and firm foundations in place to take on the expansion. I’m looking forward to playing my part and ensuring we all enjoy the journey.”
As Generation Z (aka Gen Z) talent becomes an increasingly important part of future-proofing your business, so does the conversation around how and where to find them.
At a recent BCI keynote event, Mae Yip and Sam Hornsby, co-founders of career guidance platform ERIC, shared strategies for attracting and recruiting Gen Z employees. Dan Martin summarises their brilliant advice.
Gen Z is the generation of people who were born between 1997 and 2012.
Having grown up with digital technologies, they are the internet and smartphone generation. They will make up 27% of the workforce by 2025.
The first step to attracting Gen Z talent is doing your research on who they are.
Sam shared some stats:
“You will never be able to attract young people if you have no idea what they’re thinking,” Sam said. “You need to deep dive into understanding this generation because your Gen Z strategy will be dictated by how well you know them.”
To help with your research, ERIC has a resources hub with stats and studies about Gen Z.
If you ask a 16-year-old what would be their dream employer, they are likely to name companies such as Netflix, Apple, Google and TikTok. “They are aware these brands exist from a very young age through advertising,” Sam said. “They end up becoming superfans who would give their right arm to work for them. That is the kind of employee spirit we’re all looking for.”
You may not be a massive consumer brand that directly appeals to young people but you can still attract their interest by harnessing similar creative messaging.
“Employer branding is showing young people that working for your company is an aspiration and a desirable thing to do,” Sam advised. “You need to communicate that your jobs aren’t just jobs, they are lifestyle choices.”
One brand that does this very well is Heineken. It has created a careers website with humorous videos of employees that communicate the personality of the business. Here’s an example:
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from YouTube. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
Among your greatest assets for recruiting young people are your existing Gen Z employees. “Get your Gen Z staff to create recruitment content and share it on social media for engagement from other Gen Z people,” Sam said.
There’s more advice on employer branding on the ERIC website.
Sam argued that businesses shouldn’t just focus their recruitment on university graduates.
“Gen Z are active learners regardless of whether or not they went to university,” she said.
“Their natural instinct is to self-teach through Google, YouTube and TikTok which means that university no longer separates the wheat from the chaff. They’ve been trained by technology to consume large amounts of information at hyperspeed whenever they want.
“Unless a job really requires a degree, think about the skills that you actually want a candidate to show. Do you want them to demonstrate a thirst to learn? They can demonstrate that through learning on YouTube.
“Do you want them to have to ability to apply themselves? Self-teaching three different coding languages in a summer break could be seen as more of a demonstration of an ability to apply oneself than learning throughout a three year degree.”
In the past 10 years, we’ve seen the launch of Snapchat, Uber, Twitch, Amazon Alexa, 4G, TikTok and many more. These are the tools and platforms that Gen Z use because they have grown up with them.
The platforms that you might be using to try and recruit Gen Z, such as LinkedIn, are more than double the age of the platforms that Gen Z are using.
As mentioned above, only 4% of Gen Z use LinkedIn which means, Sam said, “you are not using your recruitment budget effectively.”
You need your recruiters to reflect the talent you are looking for so to reach Gen Z talent, use Gen Z platforms. As well as ERIC, examples include Otta and BYP Network.
Research has shown Gen Z to be the most curious generation, they prefer learning from YouTube rather than books and they value personal development over pay.
“Young people are telling us not just how we can attract them but how we can make them happy and keep them”, Sam said. “Be the employer that nurtures curiosity and prioritises personal development.
“You could provide online therapy services, an investment fund for them to play around with, confidence workshops or side hustle lessons.”
46% of Gen Z have applied for an internship or job via a mobile device so you need to make sure your application process is ready for that.
Test your job application experience and make sure it’s mobile friendly.
The career journey doesn’t start when young people first apply for jobs, it starts in schools when they are choosing their GCSEs aged 13.
“Young people want more companies to tell them that about their business as a career option,” Sam said.
“Don’t underestimate how little they know about the world of work. It is up to you to put your industry and your company on the map with young people as early as possible.
“The companies that appear earlier have the best chance of getting the best talent. If you are only appearing at the last hurdle, you’re not just competing against your direct competitors, but every company in every industry.
“To get young people’s attention and interest, you have to give them a reason to connect with you. You have to invest in being part of their career education.”
To sign up for future Bristol Creative Industries events, visit our events diary.
Mr B & Friends has welcomed Charlotte Hoare to the team as an Account Director to bring her client services expertise to some of its newest accounts.
Having spent over a decade in London consultancies, from BBH to VMLY&R to Isobel, Charlotte brings a wealth of experience to the agency. She’s led campaigns across a range of sectors for clients such as Virgin Media, Silent Pool Gin, MS Society and Petplan, and has honed her skills in seamlessly bringing client’s visions to life. Among the notable projects Charlotte’s worked on is RSPB’s ‘Give nature a home’ five-year strategic campaign to shift the charity from solely focused on birds to a wider approach to whole nature preservation. She was part of the team for the Savills ‘With us it’s personal’ advertising campaign, designed to reposition the estate agency with a warmer approach increasing appeal to a wider audience and BrewDog’s ‘Rate Beer’ OOH activity across central and wider London.
Mr B & Friends stood out to Charlotte because of its no jargon, no bluff, no added nonsense approach. She says that she got a sense that while an efficient outfit, there was a great sense of culture at the agency and the focus on relationships appealed to her.
Charlotte says, “I came across Mr B & Friends and felt the values reflected mine, and the agency just seemed to be a great fit generally. I’m really enjoying getting stuck in.”
Based in Totnes and working predominantly remotely, Charlotte enjoys throwing ceramics and spending lots of time outdoors when she’s not at her desk. On top of effortlessly juggling multiple projects at work, Charlotte is also organising her spring wedding and daughter’s first birthday celebrations.
Simon Barbato, CEO of Mr B & Friends, says “We’re delighted to welcome Charlotte to our growing team. We’ve had a really positive start to the new year, and I have no doubt that Charlotte will help to contribute to that momentum.”
Launching in May 2022, YOU. is a unique community leadership programme designed to support young changemakers and business leaders in the creative industries through peer-to-peer coaching.
YOU / Culture & Creativity is one of two industry specific cohorts launching on 5th May. The programme runs over 8 weeks with all participants learning coaching skills together, combined with real-world leadership experience by coaching and being coached to support each other’s individual challenges.
The commitment is only 2 hours per week to attend online group coach training sessions with an additional 1 hour for peer to peer mentoring sessions arranged at your convenience.
Peer to peer mentoring ‘pairs’ (one business leader matched with one young changemaker) will provide a positive space for mutual learning to practise and refine coaching skills and support each other’s individual challenges and opportunities.
The programme is being delivered by Tomorrow and North Somerset Enterprise Agency, with all places fully funded through the UK Community Renewal Fund.
CHANGEMAKERS. Young people (18-35yrs) who are looking to make a change. Maybe explore a business idea, learn skills to develop a creative project in their community and currently living in communities in the North Somerset region.
ORGANISATIONS. Employees who are purpose-led leaders, managers or supervisors who are looking to improve their leadership skills with the tools to adopt a coaching approach in their work.
We are looking for 15 creative leaders who are looking to make a positive impact in their organisation or team culture; and 15 creative young changemakers who are exploring future creative careers.
In a rapidly changing world, entrepreneurs, changemakers and leaders of the future will need to be able to coach. Coaching skills form a valuable part of any leader’s repertoires of management tools, aiding effective working relationships with diverse teams and individuals. A coaching approach can enhance performance, improve working relationships and develop communications skills for the benefit of any future leader.
So, if you are an individual who is looking to break into the creative industries; or you are a business within this sector, looking to make a positive change, this programme is designed for you.
For full details, to contact us or apply now via www.youbethechange.co.uk
Conscious Solutions a Bristol-based digital marketing agency that focuses on the legal sector has added six employees to our Bristol-based team in 2022 with four of those being brand new roles to support our growth.
With continued growth in digital marketing requirements across the legal sector, it has been critical for us to keep up with demand and the fierce battle for talented employees.
New hires have included project managers, copywriters, and a digital marketing apprentice.
Managing Director of Stuff & Things, David Gilroy reflects that he has embraced a long-term strategy of prioritising the wellness of the Conscious team to both attract and retain talent. He elaborates “We have understood and committed to meeting industry-wide measurements like becoming a Living Wage Employer and signing up to the Employer’s Initiative on Domestic Abuse to indicate our commitment to the wellness of our team”.
In 2021 we also got accredited as a flexible employer by Flexa (https://flexa.careers/) and even made it into their top 100 at No. 33 (https://flexa.careers/flexa100).
David continues “I love telling new employees that you will more than likely bump into one of our friendly office dogs when you in the office, but a flexible working environment is so much more than allowing the odd work from home day or welcoming a floof to the office, it’s a philosophy that says work is a thing you do not a place you go.”
A flexible approach to working means the team doesn’t feel guilty to go pick a child up from school or have a COVID vaccine. Besides those external commitments to be held accountable for a working environment that attracts employees, there are a host of other benefits including being supported by a Wellness Team and a Fun Team.
One of those benefits is each staff member is encouraged to spend two days a year volunteering at a charity of their choice (these are in addition to our generous leave policy). After a four-way pitch by employees Gympanzees was chosen as our company wide charity to support for the next two years. Gympanzeees is a Bristol-based charity that provides accessible fun and fitness for all disabled children.
This approach to prioritising the health and happiness of our staff seems to be having the desired effect for us. We have seen steady growth both in the number of clients and the number of services that clients have trusted us with their marketing spend.
A digital marketing manager from one of our clients, a top 200 law firm said “2022 is starting positively with a 47% increase in year-on-year enquiries for January, making it our best performing month ever! There is no doubt in my mind that the SEO is driving this”
Head of account management Dan Hodges is not surprised by comments like that and attributes the success to a deep strategic knowledge of the industry because of our 18 years focusing on one sector. He goes on to explain “It’s critical that my team and I understand both the industry in terms of things like trends and changes to legislation but equally important that we get to know the challenges and opportunities facing each one of our clients so that we can craft the most effective strategy to drive their business success”.
With happy clients and a growing team of talented staff, we seem poised to stay on the right side of the battle for talent.
You need to load content from reCAPTCHA to submit the form. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More Information