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 talk about his position and achievements at UM, the advert sector’s so-called ‘nice resignation’, and the significance of constructing robust 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 challenge with our APAC staff. That stated, they used to begin even earlier pre-pandemic once I did much more travelling to remain linked with groups and purchasers around the globe. Though that needed to change, I nonetheless love the every day connectivity and bustle of working throughout numerous 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 on the lookout for the best route – any solutions are welcomed!

I sometimes spend a while every single day with the shopper groups and direct studies 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 considering behind the design is to interrupt down any obstacles between groups; to carry folks collectively regardless of the place they’re bodily primarily based, and to construct cross-functional groups across the direct wants of purchasers reasonably than anticipating them to suit round how we work. The brand new set-up may even give me extra one-to-one time with folks head to head, whether or not that’s the weekly staff huddles, or reconnecting with purchasers and media homeowners.

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 wanting ahead to seeing how it will change the form of my ‘typical day’ as the brand new workplace makes it that a lot simpler to place the idea into customary apply.

What has been the best achievement throughout your time at UM to this point?

I’m happy with a lot, however serving to construct a powerful tradition stands out; I feel it’s an enormous differentiator for UM. We’ve all the time had popularity for taking care of our folks, however what’s vital is constructing a working atmosphere wherein everybody feels assured sufficient to share their concepts, aspirations and issues. There’s little question 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 staff that received the European Honda account at first of the yr. It introduced collectively so many elements of the enterprise and a lot expertise. For me, this represented UM at its finest; good, extremely expert folks supported by really revolutionary tech.

UM works with large manufacturers together with Spotify and Simply Eat – what differentiates you as an company? Moreover, what makes an important 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 rapidly.

We’re all the time enthusiastic about how we are able to finest future-proof UM to verify we’re capable of preserve delivering what purchasers need. I can’t consider a interval in current reminiscence wherein this has been extra vital; there are simply so many advanced challenges linked to media, audiences and tech in the intervening time. It does assist that we like challenges, after all, nevertheless it’s our defining attributes that enable us to take them on throughout a number of markets.

As for pitching, it’s all the time been a deeply advanced affair, however operating pitches remotely or on a hybrid foundation truly takes much more time and dedication. At coronary heart, issues haven’t modified essentially although, we’ve all the time believed in placing lots of vitality into attending to the crux of shopper challenges to know 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.

With regards to the pitch itself, chemistry continues to be all-important. We work onerous to search out precisely the fitting staff, figuring out experience, attitudes and the folks with distinctive views.

The advert sector has been hit onerous by the so-called ‘nice resignation’ – what’s the key to overcoming this?

Churn has actually been a problem for your entire {industry}, and its causes are a number of and sophisticated. Nevertheless, we should always all view this as a possibility to guage how we recruit, prepare and nurture folks. As a sector, we additionally want to contemplate 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, nevertheless it is sensible to look past conventional expertise swimming pools. The forms of abilities required inside adland are altering, and bringing in those who strategy challenges with a distinct set of experiences may be massively useful.

It’s additionally essential to present 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 simple factor to do, nor certainly low cost. It requires just a few various kinds of funding, however get it proper, and also you’ll rapidly see the outcomes.

From UM’s perspective, our ‘futureproof mannequin’ requires that we construct an atmosphere wherein our expertise can see a significant longer-term future with the company, a tradition that evolves round them as a lot as the opposite means round. If our individuals are thriving, then so too is the enterprise.

What excites you – about your organization or wider {industry} – when enthusiastic 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 once 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 abilities and lift aspirations to show {that a} profession in media will not be restricted to graduate consumption. It’s an important 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 might be approaching your KPIs for fulfillment. Presently, there’s a doubtlessly harmful tendency to give attention to short-term features on the expense of long-term model worth. Be sure to get the stability proper and know methods to 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.