A day in the life of Lou Fairhurst

Company: Sense – experiential marketing agency

Job title: Account Director

What keeps you busy all day?:
A large part of the day involves speaking to clients and venue-booking agents to keep on top of campaign planning. Budgeting, writing campaign proposals are also typical of my day.

What keeps you awake at night?:
I could pretty much sleep anywhere so I’m quite lucky that I don’t have to worry in that department…saying that, the night before the first day of a live activity drives me to a G&T! I’m also about to buy my first house so maybe things will change in that department!

Describe your working day:
I’m an early bird so maybe a quick gym/swim session before getting in to wake me up then it’s straight into it. An average day invariably involves a client status meeting, internal status with my account manager, staffing manager and director. Depending on the campaigns I’m working on at the time, part of the day may involve a site visit of a live activity. Today I’ve been to a client status meeting to discuss a campaign that goes live in eight weeks’ time. I have had an internal team status meeting and am now about to tackle our new finance system. The afternoon will be focused on looking at evaluation methodology on our latest campaign to ascertain return on investment levels for the client…all between being chief team tea maker (being a northerner mine definitely are the best!).

What’s your busiest time of day?:
It varies but as I’m most alert first thing I get my head down and then come up for air just before lunch when my tummy starts rumbling!

What brands/accounts have you worked on?:
In the last year I’ve had some great brands to work with. We launched Branston Baked Beans within my first few months, and since then I have delivered experiential campaigns for Nivea Deodorant, Typhoo, Braun, Sunsilk, Nesquik, Nivea Skincare and Brahma.

Best day at work:
So far, learning we’d won the Branston launch activity last year (does it count that I was on a beach when I found out?). I’d only been on board for a few weeks and we all put in so much effort to win the pitch. It’s since gone on to win the ISP Grand Prix and it’s been one of our most successful and enjoyable campaigns. Second to that it has to be the buzz around the first live day of an activity – there’s nothing quite like seeing all of your plans come together.

Worst day at work:
In any live environment things invariably go wrong. Luckily there’s a great support network here should that happen. If I had to spend a full day at my desk doing invoicing and budgeting I think that would make me cry!

Name one thing you’ve achieved that has made your bosses sit up and take notice:
Building strong client relationships – it’s integral to our industry to raise the profile of experiential marketing and key to Sense as a young business to develop long-term partnerships.

Ambitions:
To see Sense grow into a top-five brand experience agency and be a part of that growth – and then go on safari.

Advice to other rising stars:
In this industry a good level of energy and enthusiasm are key – demonstrate this to clients, suppliers, promotional staff and, ultimately, your immediate team. Going beyond the call of duty now and again definitely gets noticed. I’d definitely recommend getting out and about and seeing as much live activity as possible, and regularly reading industry press.

Quote from the boss:
“Lou cringed at the accolade of “rising star” but indeed she’s just that! A natural passion for experiential activity but above all, gets it done with minimal fuss. On the flip side, consistently makes me feel old and tells me my tea-making’s crap” – Nick Adams, Managing Director, Sense