Monday
After a weekend of rugby with the kids, entertaining and being entertained, I wake up early, ready and raring to go for the busy week ahead. With seconds to spare, I catch the 7.03 to Charing Cross. Every morning I use this quiet time (if the London commute can be called that) as a chance to catch up on the daily headlines via The Times app and Sky sports news for the football and rugby highlights from the weekend.
Just a quick glance at Twitter on a Monday morning and I spot a few interesting social campaigns that would translate well on our screens – I bank those to share in the sales meeting later in the morning. My attention soon turns to my emails, one in particular from our vice-chairman Tom Goddard that puts a smile on my face.
Over the past few months, we've been trawling the vast amount of insight and data derived from our OptimEyes platform to create a new trading product, Audience Assured Advertising (AAA). The email has Tom's stamp of approval, plus a few bonus nuggets of inspiration. His endless advice and passion for DOOH is a massive asset to both our fast-paced company and to me personally.
I glance up at the latest IMAX creative – the new Timberland campaign really does stand out. I get to Great Portland Street to be greeted by our office manager Michela, who sets me up for the day with a strong Italian coffee and a vitamin C tablet. She loves taking care of us.
I've only got an hour in the office –just enough time to jump into a huddle with the sales team, where Jai my sales director takes me through the pipeline, new business and meetings booked for the week.
After a flying visit, I head to Amshold HQ in Loughton for our monthly board meeting. Sandwiched between a group of international students and a group of teenagers dressed for St Patrick's Day, I use the time to prepare myself for the meeting ahead. You have to be prepared for Lord Sugar, right?
After the board meeting, I get back to the office at 5pm, quickly catch up with the team and dash to the rugby club for 7pm. Tonight Saracens are running a practical course to help coach the youth team. I didn't realise we were the tackling fodder.
After a quick Guinness to toast St Patrick's Day with a few Celtic cousins, I head home and switch on the re-run of 'True Detective'. Suitably freaked out, I crash out at 11pm.
Tuesday
I'm on the road today, and en route to Reading, I fill up at Cobham Shell petrol forecourt on the M25. Waiting in line, I take a look at one of our screens and spot the attention-grabbing new creative from Cadbury Ritz – the bold and vivid purple really stands out.
Intrigued by the combo of Dairy Milk and Ritz crackers, I buy one to trial and surprisingly it works. I arrive in Reading and get ready for a day of discussing ailments and treatments, not with my doctor, but with Pfizer – a major player in the healthcare sector.
The rules relating to advertising of prescription drugs are fairly strict, so we set to work on a plan for upcoming campaigns with an aim to increase dialogue between patients and their GPs. It's a really fascinating couple of hours.
I've become accustomed to using my commuting time wisely. On my way home, I talk to a journalist wanting more information on our new reactive product 'Event', following a quirky response on the screens from Garmin towards the haphazard M25 cyclist.
Next up is a conference call with our COO Sean and the development team in Bolton for a tech chat. On the agenda are dynamic feeds, which include everything from weather, news and some new clever developments that have been requested by agencies. I love their can-do approach to making things happen – they tell me exactly what's needed and always pull it out of the bag for our brands.
Wednesday
Today is a big day for us. I make my way to a breakfast meeting at the Riding House with my marketing director Mike and head of insight Lindsay, to run through the vast launch checklist for our new trading product, Audience Assure Advertising (AAA).
We've spent the past few months working with the industry to create the practical application of the technology – it's great to see the fruits of that labour pay off. I leave it in their capable hands to launch.
Next, a call with Stuart Taylor, CEO of Kinetic. I use it as a good opportunity to road test AAA, taking him through our three-tiered approach to campaign delivery. Feedback is really positive and we schedule in time to brief the entire Kinetic team on our new developments.
I make my way to lunch with Chris O’Donnell, global commercial director at Posterscope. As it's Budget Day, I keep an eye on my BBC app to measure the effect on my wallet, as well as how this might negatively or positively impact on the brands we work with.
Good news for our forecourt environments – the fuel hikes planned for September are now on hold. Over lunch, Chris and I discuss DOOH in UK and Europe and I show him photos on Twitter of our new six-sheet screens in the ground in M&S in Amsterdam.
A night in is on the cards. I'm now addicted to 'True Detective', so a glass of wine over a couple of episodes on Sky Plus helps me relax after a productive day.
Thursday
There's nothing like a view of sunny London to put a spring in your step, I know everyone says it, but you really never get tired of the view as the train crosses over the Thames.
This morning I get to combine two passions of mine, technology and football, in a meeting with a major Chinese tech brand. Before leaving, I have a debate with the team on how to pronounce their name.
With the World Cup on the horizon, we discuss the habits and trends of Amscreen football fans, working on a package that mirrors their current sporting sponsorship. We also take a few minutes to measure up England's chances of taking home the cup. Being Scottish, I'll be cheering on my English friends this summer.
Off to lunch with Simon Sugar CEO. Within the first 10 minutes I get asked five questions, some of which I'm not prepared for. Whilst I'm thinking of the answers, he shows me the latest app he's a fan of and downloads it on my iPad. After that, I hot-step it to the Inmarsat Conference Centre for a Dunnhumby Tesco media event, 'Building our digital future'.
I get off at Old Street roundabout and look up to see which creative is taking centre stage there. It's the new IPhone campaign, still one of the best sites in London in my opinion.
Arriving at the venue, I get the usual warm welcome from Kate, head of media propositions at Dunnhumby. My marketing team are already there with our stand ready for action, practising selfies in front of the screen with two of the media directors.
The OptimEyes screen takes centre stage in the photo and proves a real crowd puller as it's put to the test to effectively detect the right gender...it doesn't let us down. After a busy few hours with Dunhummby category managers, digital directors and the Tesco marketing team, I reluctantly make my way to my last appointment of the day, the dentist and yes, I'm scared!
Friday
I wake up at 6am feeling the effects of the dentist, breakfast is a struggle.
Get into the office for 8am for a conference call with a major automotive brand to discuss a strategy over the next year. They are keen to hear our ideas on how campaigns on the screen can be supported via social media, so I share some case studies on recent activity. We also discuss how we can extend the campaign into our German network of screens.
Late morning, I catch up with the team and after a slow start it picks up – we'll have good week's revenue to report.
I meet up with Adam Bullock, founder of Contended. His team have just been in Brazil shooting ads for the World Cup and he regales me with some pretty amazing stories on how they are breaking the mould in digital sports content – good luck to them I say.
Last on the agenda is a catch up with the comms team and Paul Newlove from Advertising Week Europe on mapping our placements of the screens around the show, plus partnerships with Google and News UK, and our session with Graham Goodkind, founder of Frank PR.
We pack up shop at a 4.30pm and make our way to the pub to toast another busy week. Come 6.30pm, I phone my lovely wife, Natasha to discuss curry options and plans for the weekend. One quick glance at Twitter and I see there is a tweet from Simon promoting one of our campaigns and the brand has tweeted back. Job done.
Age: 42
Favourite media: DOOH, it's the new dailies
My biggest inspiration: Seve
Dream job: head green keeper at Pebble Beach
Not a lot of people know that: I once split up a potential confrontation between Bob Geldof and Michael Hutchence
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