Category: Aspectus

By Katy Galasinski, Chief Growth Officer

As our CEO, Alastair, said, at Aspectus, branding, marketing and communications is all about creating client success. And when we recently launched our new brand, we shared our formula for success, our X factor, our special sauce.

A key part of this is Excellent Execution. I want to let you all in on what that looks like at Aspectus. And what better way to do so than crowdsourcing intel from my talented Aspectus colleagues, whose endless energy, talent, and precision deliver success after success for the businesses and brands we call our clients.

“Clients don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” – Charlie Bonner-Davies, Junior Designer

Excellent execution for clients begins with striving to be an extension of their team. We count financial services, tech, energy, industrials, and capital market companies as clients. But in practice, our clients are not companies at all. They are people: the one, two, or three executives, heads of communications or marketing, or CEOs that trust us with protecting their businesses’ reputations and brands. This trust is something every team member at every level works hard to create.

“Excellence for me means showing up every day as a safe pair of hands for my clients – making sure they trust us to get things done when we say we will, to a high standard.” – Nuala O’Sullivan, Account Executive, Energy

“In my eyes, excellence consists of many moving parts – stellar communication, insightful recommendations, valuable results and always putting your best foot forward, so we can build a strong and trusting relationship with clients.” – Ivy Gitarts, Senior Account Manager

It also means knowing what clients need before they know they need it. To do that we have to put ourselves in their position and adopt their POV. It takes time to develop this informed intuition with a client. We must immerse ourselves in the company’s marketing, sales, and business objectives. We have to fully comprehend the nature of their business, the marketplace in which they compete, and their offerings. And we must truly understand them, what their ambitions are, what keeps them up at night and how they like to work.

“Get a solid handle on your client’s objectives and your client’s boss’ objectives right from kickoff. Understand their obstacles and challenges and identify the gaps that you and your account team can fill.” – Christina Hong, Account Director

Once a client is confident that we have their backs, are in their corner, and consistently watch out for their best interests, they really do think of us as indispensable extensions of their team – integral partners in their business. Partners that support them from strategy to success in a way that creates meaningful business outcomes.

“No matter how good your strategy, in the end success always hinges on the execution. Ideas have to be distinct, relevant and challenging enough to change people’s hearts, minds and behaviors – or all your great thinking up front will go to waste. The reverse is also true. Execution is only excellent if it serves a brand’s big picture and takes it a step or two further towards success.” – Dan George, Associate Director

Different agencies undoubtedly treat their clients in different ways. For us, the term “client” doesn’t do justice to how we think about those companies who keep our lights on. And since each client point-of-contact has a unique personality and different workflows, and objectives specific to their businesses, we must be agile and adaptable.

“When I worked in-house, the agencies that stood out the most that we worked with were the ones who were able to proactively anticipate our needs, as well as reactively gauge when our needs or usual way of doing things had changed and switched pace accordingly.” – Christina Hong, Account Director

So that’s what Excellent Execution means to us. As you can see there is nothing formulaic about it. It’s an attitude that runs deep here at Aspectus. An attitude that empowers our people to do their very best work for our clients, for Aspectus, and ultimately for themselves.

All gear no idea…

International Women’s Day (IWD) has been celebrated around the globe this week, commemorating women worldwide and all they have achieved.

This year the theme of IWD is #BreakTheBias – encouraging us all to break free from stereotypes and discrimination to create a free and fair world for all.

We sat down with five of our Aspectees, to find out what IWD means to them and how the communications ad branding industry can help women achieve their goals.

What does International Women’s Day mean to you?

“For me, it’s about ensuring that people are treated with the same respect or afforded the same opportunities regardless of their gender. IWD is a way of us showing girls and women all over the world that they have as much meaning as anyone else on this planet!” – Jamee, Account Director

“For me, it’s an opportunity to not only celebrate what it means to be a woman, but benchmark progress too. I love all that it means to be a woman, and seeing others smash through the glass ceiling is a valuable reminder that the possibilities are endless.” – Ruby, Account Executive

“IWD is a celebration of the social and economic progress women have achieved through resiliency and a reminder there is more work to be done.” – Ivy, Senior Account Executive

“It’s a way for us to celebrate progress in gender equality today, as well as remember those who paved the way by challenging social, political and cultural constructs throughout history.” – Astrid, Deputy Head of Energy and Industrials Practice

“To me, IWD is about bringing equality to society more generally. Yes, we want to celebrate all the amazing women across the world and the monumental achievements they make, but our end goal is to form a completely level playing field.” – Tamsin, Senior People and Experience Manager

Even though the workplace is becoming more equal, there is still much to be done. What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced in the workplace as a woman, and how did you overcome it?

“A big challenge I have encountered is feeling unheard by older males. To overcome this, it’s important to remember you’re in the same room because you’re qualified and deserve to be there. Confidence is key.” – Ivy

“I agree. It’s important to believe in yourself and what you’re saying.” – Tamsin

“I’m not an engineer or a technical expert. I’m also usually one of maybe a few women in the room. Working in the energy industry can be tricky because people don’t know why they should trust you. You don’t need to be an expert in everything – it’s a good thing to never assume you’re the smartest in the room – but knowing enough and combining it with the things you’re an expert in will gain others respect… and they’ll listen to you.” – Jamee

“There have been situations in my career when I don’t feel I’ve been taken as seriously because I am a young woman. My goal is to say thank you for the challenge – now let’s show you what empowered young women can do!” – Astrid

“My biggest challenge is imposter syndrome. Even in a room full of other women, it can be difficult to believe that my ideas are valuable to others. Learning to trust my inner voice and have conviction is something that I’m still working on, but I can already see how far I’ve come working at Aspectus. I put it down to the flat structure and working in such a supportive and collaborative team.” – Ruby

What do you think the communictions and branding industry can do to help women more in the workplace?

“We’re lucky that in PR there are a lot of very incredible and talented women. I’d love to see more of them specialising in the energy sector, but both industries need to open those doors for women in this space.” – Jamee

“Our industry is female-dominated, so it would be great to see more females in senior positions.” – Tamsin

“Yes. Change occurs from the top down, so seeing women in leadership positions not only in our industry but across all sectors is extremely valuable.” – Ivy

“Talk about it. Gender inequality still exists – consciously or unconsciously – in many different forms for men and women. There needs to be an acknowledgement and a commitment to change. Thankfully I am surrounded by people that support this. Not everyone is – so as an industry, we need to ensure this stays top of the agenda.” – Astrid

“It’s crucial that the industry takes intersectionality seriously. We must consider everything and anything that can marginalise people to truly make progress.” – Ruby

What advice would you give a woman starting their career in the marketing industry?

“You will face challenges others won’t. And others will face challenges you will not. Commit to creating a positive difference while forging your path, surround yourself with people of the same mindset, and never be afraid to speak up.” – Astrid

“Go for it! You are more than capable.” – Ruby

“Your path might not look like the person next to you, but it doesn’t mean it’s any less.” – Tamsin

“As a woman, we often feel this pressure to act like the men in the room – don’t. Be completely yourself. We all have incredible attributes, and you don’t need to ‘be the man’ to get what you want out of your career or life.” – Jamee

“You may have a different experience than your male counterparts, but always be confident and resilient. Undoubtedly life will throw you curveballs.” – Ivy

And finally – who is your most inspiring woman, and why?

“My most inspiring woman is my Grandma. She single-handedly raised my Dad after her Husband passed away, then she helped raise my brothers and I when my Mum wasn’t around for a lot of our childhood. She’s 82, still works, and just really cares about other people. She inspires me every day. My work ethic, my morals – they all come from her.” – Jamee

“Definitely Malala Yousafzai” – Ivy

“My Mum. She taught me the value of hard work, how to be firm but kind and understanding – she was my teacher for some time, so I saw her a lot in a professional environment. Most importantly, she made me feel like I could conquer the world.” – Astrid

“Greta Thunburg as her defiance unsettles people (in the right way). She manages to shake up the patriarchy by refusing to play up to it, and standing strong in what she believes in.– Tamsin

What we’re doing to #BreakTheBias at Aspectus

Our industry has a long way to go to help women grow and succeed in their roles. While most of those in the industry are women, men dominate over 60% of agency boards.

70% of our senior management team are female, and we’re proud to be anagency with women at the helm.

Nearly three out of four of our Aspectees are women, and we work hard to help them thrive in an agency environment.

We’ve built an environment that ensures women not only reach the glass ceiling, but smash it wide open. From our highly regarded and successful buddy system, where women in the industry can support and mentor other women starting out in the industry to achieve their goals, through to a flexible working environment, paid time off for studing, career development, and an excellent maternity package – our fantastic benefits ensure that women are supported in achieving and being all that they can in every aspect of their lives.

Find out more about how we’re helping women in communicatiins and branding achieve their goals, not only on IWD but all year round.

For a long time, I’ve been pretty confident talking about my mental health. To many I meet, most will never know the extent to which it affects me. But over the course of my life and career, whilst normally kept in check through constant exercise and knowing when to consult medical professionals, I have been able to ride through the troughs.

Mental health is complex though, and no one person is ever going to be the same as the other. Stigma, fear of weakness or just different coping mechanisms is what leads me to believe, it is about putting tangible things in place to enable breathing space for those who may not be at their best, rather than a one size fits all approach.

As the old saying goes ‘Time is the most valuable thing a person can spend’. That’s why I believe the ability to know you have time when you need it the most is so important to our people. Particularly in this fast-paced world we all live in.

At Aspectus we have people who have joined as fresh-faced grads and now sit on the exec board. Our PR Week 30 Under 30 alumna is packed with brilliant people and our ranks are bursting with young, bright integrated marketing pros we really want to stay.

We understand that as our people’s careers grow at Aspectus, their life, circumstances and personal fulfilment needs changes as well.

We have celebrated engagements, marriages, seen people go travelling and come back, popped corks for house purchases, graduations, births and watched children grow.

At the same time, we’ve also been through hard times with our people, watching them say goodbye to loved ones and go through medical complications. Indeed, I lost my own mum after a year-long battle with cancer, just three weeks before my second child was born.

It was during this period, of trips back to Zimbabwe to capture last moments with her and during that strange period of grief, combined with the joy of birth that I came to truly believe time and support are sometimes more valuable than any paycheque or bonus.

I’m so proud to be part of an organisation that last month evolved its benefits program to incorporate a support package that will help all of our Aspectee’s journeys, across all our international locations during their time with us. We built it and launched it because we want to commit ourselves to our people and the challenges life throws at them and for them to know it’s OK to take time to focus on what’s most important because if you are happy at home, you thrive at work.

While it will always evolve, our Aspectus Life Benefits and Support now gives all our global staff, alongside an array of best-in-class parental leave, health insurance, holiday allowance, pension plans:

• A day off for big life events such as engagements, civil partnerships and weddings, house purchases and rental moves
• 12 hours of volunteering time each year, sabbaticals after five years’ service and support for further education
• We are also providing paid time off to all involved partners for miscarriage and fertility treatment
• When it comes to bereavement, we know it is never an open and shut case. That is why we promise six weeks paid leave, to be taken in any way they want (all at once or split over a number of years) – to ensure they have the time to grieve
• Mental Health Awareness training for every Aspectee on an ongoing basis

We are looking forward to continuing to evolve this as we grow, and our people grow. Because above all else, we want to be in their corner just as they are always in ours.