A day in the life of a PR & Content Account Director.

*Alarm rings*

A day in my life as an Account Director starts in one of two ways – and that’s largely thanks to Wyatt’s approach to flexible working. Tuesdays and Wednesdays usually begin with the commute into our Birmingham headquarters – Edgbaston, to be exact. On the other three days, I enjoy a well-deserved lie-in, or I hit the gym early to free up my evenings and save a Hagley Road-esque battle for gym equipment. The flexibility of our working hours, though, is integral to my work-life balance and something I value highly enough to include at the very beginning of this piece.

On track, and beyond.

A typical day for me begins by scouring my emails for any updates I might have received from our international clients while I’ve slept, and by checking for any urgent content requests from the early birds among our press contacts. Then, onto meetings with my team to ensure we’re on track to deliver the work we’ve promised for clients for any given week or to discuss ideas on how we accelerate even more value for their businesses. Over the years, driving value has presented itself in all manner of ways from interactive press events in mainland Europe to virtual factory tours and drone flythroughs in factories just off Spaghetti Junction. Whatever the challenge though, I’ve always got the opportunity to bounce ideas off the people in my cluster, and to get their thoughts on how we find helpful solutions.

And that’s the thing. In my role at Wyatt, I have the pleasure of working with a varied bunch of people from all over the globe. Here, I’ve learned the value of creative thinking and going one step beyond what’s expected to present only the best ideas for our clients. For the most part, these suggestions are well-received and appreciated by our clients… and who doesn’t want to work in a job where their recommendations are welcomed with open arms?

Humble beginnings.

I joined Wyatt just over five years ago as a bright-eyed Account Executive and ‘agency noob’ looking for a fresh challenge having come from a client-side business. Half a decade later, despite an increase in body fat and a significant erosion of my hairline, I’ve had three promotions and learned more than I could’ve imagined about the world of B2B PR and marketing, despite having already worked in the sector for five years before that. On top of the countless training opportunities with the likes of the CIPR, CIM and PRCA, our multi-disciplinary cluster model and the vast wealth of experience that radiates around the agency still gives me the chance to learn subconsciously from my colleagues every day. Cute and cliché but true, nonetheless.

The joys of B2B PR and content.

Despite its reputation, there never is a dull moment in B2B marketing and comms. And while we still do an admirable job with the consumer press too, it’s B2B that I enjoy the most. It often presents a more complex but highly rewarding challenge in comparison to consumer PR. For me, anyone can achieve coverage for big-budget accounts like Aldi, IKEA and Greggs but it takes real creativity to drive results among the niche B2B audiences of our clients in the likes of manufacturing and construction. B2B also allows me to fulfill my odd urge to learn about everything and everything, twice over. It also gives me the chance to discover so much about sectors I would otherwise have gone to my grave having never heard of. Photochemical etching, air source heat pumps, metal forming and finishing, and the inner workings of builder’s merchants are just some that spring to mind.

Reaching millions.

One of my favourite campaigns during my time at Wyatt has been the Challenge 2025 campaign for our client EGO. Designed to encourage outdoor power-equipment users to move away from petrol and drive uptake of battery-powered equipment, Challenge 2025 is a truly multi-channel campaign that combines the skills of my highly talented teammates across PR, digital, influencer marketing, creative, and social media. Rooted in research and education, the pan-European campaign has involved everything from emissions testing at the famous Millbrook vehicle testing centre to vox pops in Birmingham’s very own Cannon Hill Park. Since its launch, Challenge 2025 has reached hundreds of millions of people through national and trade press across Europe, with our research featured in an article in the Telegraph and achieving top story on the Express.co.uk home page. It was also shortlisted for Best Long Term Campaign at the CIPR Excellence Awards and the B2B Award at the PRCA Dare Awards which is something I am immensely proud of.

As a business owner…

Just a few weeks ago, Wyatt International announced its transition to an employee-owned business. This isn’t just fantastic for myself and the rest of my colleagues – now ‘co-owners’ – but it’s also exciting for our clients. We now collectively share in the responsibility and ownership of their challenges and opportunities across all levels of the business. This means our work, projects and campaigns just got a whole lot more interesting!

From a personal perspective, I am so grateful to our CEO Karen Bernie for her decision to make us employee-owned. I know how passionate and proud she is of Wyatt’s independence and history – I know that together, as an entire team, we will make her proud and continue the legacy she built.

Playing hard.

As Client Director at Wyatt, working hard is a given as we strive to drive real and tangible value for our clients – not only through traditional PR channels but also through Wyatt’s extensive range of additional services. However, to work hard is to play hard – something we know how to do well at Wyatt. We regularly spend quality time together outside of work whether that be through planned events (big up the Wyatt social budget!) or after-work drinks with people outside of my direct team. Along the way, I’ve made some lifelong friendships and I look forward to seeing what the next stage of my journey at Wyatt International brings.