In this series, AdNews spotlights young talent in the Australian media, marketing and advertising sector. This time it's Havas Blvd's brand experience coordinator Jessie Walton.
Full name and job title:
Jessie Walton, Brand Experience Coordinator.
Time in current role:
A wonderful 18 months working as a coordinator.
How long have you been in the industry?
Only slightly longer, having worked with Havas Blvd as an intern and part time employee for 6 months before accepting a full-time role. The best 2 years of pulling together events, pitch decks and event bibles!
How did you get here? Was this always the plan?
I wouldn’t say it wasn’t the plan per se… I began university doing 2 degrees in areas I loved – numbers & design. I wasn’t sure when I started, how I would merge the two into a career opportunity, but I figured things would work out along the way! Lo and behold – Havas Blvd and the roles within is a perfect amalgamation of experiential design & project management. Having found this career trajectory, it’s definitely the plan to stick the course.
What is the best thing about the industry you work in?
The industry is so fast paced, which means across the span of only a few years, I’ve been lucky enough to collaborative with hundreds of creative people & some really well-known brands. On that, the opportunity to work with brands that I’ve known growing up, is a really exciting place to be; getting to be a part of the wider team that creates and shapes what media and consumers see, is still a real ‘pinch me’ moment!
And the biggest challenge?
As anyone in agency life can attest to, the art of the ‘juggle’ is a huge learning curve. New briefs coming in whilst working on existing projects are all part of being in the world of brand experience. Keeping up with BAU tasks (that require a lot of concentration & detail orientated brain power); making time for client management, maintaining a focus on my professional development & working on new business as a skill – and finding time for these – are a daily challenge! I’ve learnt along the way with encouragement from my senior leaders within Havas, to make the most of the ‘quiet periods’ and when working in incredibly busy months, to remember to take some time for myself to relax, refresh and spend time doing things outside of work that I love.
Where do you turn for inspiration?
A habit I’m glad that I’ve retained from my student days is keeping up to date with marketing event blogs & design publications. Luckily, within the broader global Havas teams, we have plenty of whitepapers and articles regularly hitting our inboxes that are an endless source of inspiration. When sitting in brainstorms and tissue sessions, it’s the usually the most random previous piece of work or an iconic quote from someone that inspires an idea for me. I find my best creative thoughts have come from working collaboratively with my talented co-workers, where everyone in the room works together to expand on an initial spark.
My favourite advert is:
My favourite sweet treat, especially for road trips with my fiancé, are Natural Confectionery Co snakes (my favourites are the red ones). Almost every time I grab some from the packet, I’ll quote “Don’t cut the dinosaur, Daddy!’ from the iconic 2003 ad, before pulling the unsuspecting snake apart. It makes no sense, but the line has been stuck in my head for 20 years, so who I am to question the sense of it...?
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
I’ve been recruiting co-workers over the last few months to enjoy a local mid-week trivia session. Unknown to those I keep inviting (but I suppose now may become common knowledge) is that I turn into an uber-competitive, table shhh-er and dedicated scribe, within moments of the trivia master turning on the microphone. It does often result in podium place bar tabs though, so win-lose for those around me , I suppose!
In five years’ time I will be:
It’s not very often that the Olympics come to your home country (I was only a baby during the 2000 Sydney Games) – the Olympics are a major career goal for me! I hope to be working with iconic Australian brands inspiring their brand experience strategy, focusing on activations and events around the Brisbane 2032 Olympics. A short move to our Sunshine State for work around this world-class event sounds like a dream for an inspiring event producer like me!
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