Monday
I've always been an early riser and having moved to deepest Hampshire I've managed to add 5 miles on the bike to and from the station – after 68mins (who's counting?) of email catch up I arrive at our Covent Garden office around 7.45am. I get busy sharing the day's news via Twitter and email as supplied by our comms guru, Mark Middlemas, who arrives earlier than the cleaner.
I hear about England v Wales hospitality we took agency friends to – wish I’d been there but family commitments mean it’s not always possible. Next it’s our "All Hands session" which tends to be once a month but as a global business, acting regionally and locally, we’re constantly looking for the right format to get the whole team together and encourage greater sharing.
Next up is our leadership meeting – a critical weekly session to discuss the highlights and challenges for the week ahead; our business moves at an incredible rate and sharing everyone's priorities is about understanding the anatomy of our business and having a finger on the industry pulse.
Afterwards follows a meeting with Archipelo who’ve designed a leadership programme for the next year, part of which brings together the whole Northern European business for an away day. Then it’s a series of one-to-ones with our new European hires; we recently made them across the Nordics and opened a new office in Oslo.
At the day’s end, there’s a quick debrief on the success of the chief marketing officer conference in Scotland I attended with our UK sales director, Craig Tuck – 20 great new contacts made across the senior marketing community – I love telling our story to anyone who’ll listen.
Then it’s time to break a sweat to get home to help my youngest with her maths homework... on the computer – she's only 6!
Tuesday
Tends to be the most productive day of the week; it’s when I get caught up with the most interesting issues in the business. Today it’s a session with Nectar to discuss our solutions for key strategic partners.
I then have a product roadmap session with our data and product strategy director who travels regularly between our Paris and London operations. We're embarking on some major new product launches as well as investing more than ever in our platform this year. Exciting times but equally challenging in ensuring we’ve the resource to execute fast, crucial in our industry.
Then, it’s an update with our chief executive, Bill Lonergan. I really enjoy these. Bill’s an extremely able and personable individual Irishman who gets both sides of the Atlantic which, for a US company is quite rare. We focus on our new markets, Italy and Norway, as well as a quick catch up on the weekend's rugby results. Ireland and England won, so relief all round.
Wednesday
Breakfast with the force of nature that’s Kathleen Saxton – we all love a headhunter and she’s no exception. Always fascinating to catch up and get her industry perspective. Hear about her new venture, Psyched... which is how I left the meeting!
It’s time for a marketing catch-up, focused on our Advertising Week 2016 partnership which centres on data-driven marketing – our sweet spot. Lots of exciting sessions including our infamous Thursday breakfast, which we’ve been doing since 2012 and the circus comes back bigger and better this year. Mark’s pulling together the formidable agenda including Ronnie Scott’s for breakfast with Gabby Logan for an Olympics special.
I grab a salad locally while discussing some email security issues with Daisy, our office manager – actually a very serious matter that needs more attention.
Then it’s a couple of key meetings with our research partners, Mindmover, to discuss some new ideas on out of home and cinema, then with Havas agency, DBi, to discuss our mobile software proposition.
It takes longer than expected so I rush to make it home in time to relieve my better half who has committed to organising some village event. Never a dull moment.
Thursday
Starts with an early breakfast with an old business associate who has a new business idea in marketing tech and wants advice; always flattering to be asked and hugely interesting. Digital transformation is on the board agenda everywhere, so gaining the knowledge and helping with change is very satisfying.
Have a visit from our new Danish managing director, Jesper. For all new markets we try to provide a robust training programme in London, so everyone has a clear understanding of our business proposition, systems, and ethos.
Then it’s off to lunch at an old favourite, Rowleys in Jermyn Street, with one of our VC partners – a catch up on our business, our sector and a useful session to gain some new contacts. A lot of chat about the state of the agency networks, a regular topic of conversation these days. I'm not one for doom and gloom but there’s massive disruption coming...
After finishing the day with a video conference with Business Development and Client Services in the US on new integrations across the martech ecosystem and updates to Salesforce, I grab a quick pint at the Roundhouse with a couple of colleagues and then successfully miss the early train...supper on the train, I wonder?
Friday
Another early breakfast meeting, this time with our finance director. A look at our revenue forecasting shows we’re broadly on track – a relief given the climate right now.
Another new tech platform then comes in to present. This one is pretty good and relates to programmatic creative tools... might look to test with the right client.
Meet with ITV’s Simon Daglish on his 'sofa' to discuss our Ad Sync+ partnership - a simple proposition but incredibly powerful and we discuss early results which’ve been really good. Combining media channels clearly makes sense but there’s plenty of organisational challenges we deal with.
I'm an eternal optimist and I love to laugh, so lunch with Ryan at Global Radio ensures the day ends on a high note - what a business they have and some really great opportunities as they transform from a very traditional medium to a streaming, digital one.
Then it’s home just in time for a village quiz – more fun than it sounds.
The Lowdown
Age: 48
Favourite media: Peak (mind performance) app
Biggest inspiration: My children
Dream job: Presenter on Ski Sunday
One thing not a lot of people know about me: I sung a solo in front of the Queen when I was 15