The life of a marketing director

Jon Wright is a marketing director at Adventure Digital. He gives us an insight into his career and how he got there:

How did you get into this career?

I wasn’t particularly studious in school and never considered myself academic by any means. But I fell in love with marketing while studying it as part of a business course at school. The blend of creativity, analytical thinking, and psychology just hooked me in. From there I continued to study it at uni…and have pretty much carried on learning ever since (a necessity in this game). I took a sandwich year while in uni to gain some experience in the marketing department of (then branded) Lloyds TSB, and developed my career from there. Eventually working my way up to board level, and then starting my own business.

What does a typical day look like?

Every day is pretty different – which is one of the things I love the most. Some days I’ll be in the office, with the team, working together on client projects and delivering campaigns. Other days I’ll be out meeting with clients, often at their offices. This is part of the role that I love the most, getting to work with lots of different people, all working towards achieving something. For the first 9 years of my career, I’d always worked on client-side marketing. Now, running a digital agency, I love the variety that comes from a range of clients. Getting to work with different people, in different places, on different projects. It takes a lot of mental organisation, but it’s very exciting.

What skills/qualities does a person need?

The ability to give and receive feedback is a big one, and to work with others on finding solutions. Speak up, and be constructive. There’s an expected level of creativity in marketing solutions, even when drawing conclusions from definitive sources like data. Not every idea someone has is a good one – I know I’ve had some absolute stinkers over the years. Marketing, especially creative and communications styles, can be very subjective. It’s important to work together, ask for feedback, and create things for your audience, not for yourself – and from that perspective, I don’t care if you’re the most experienced or newest member of the team – everyone’s ideas are valid and considered.

What advice would you give to someone looking to move towards a role like this?

Invest time in learning and understanding digital technologies. Marketing is a wonderful area to work in, with a place for various skills and types of people, and personalities. But, just like many industries, tech has become a foundation of almost all that we do. So a decent understanding of the tech that underpins everything we do will take you far.

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