Agency Spotlight Series: Lauren Murray
In the second of our Orientation Marketing agency spotlight series for 2021, we speak to Account Manager, Lauren Murray.
We have spoken to a number of Orientation Marketing team members over the past few months to find out a little more about their roles at Orientation Marketing, as well as what makes them tick.
This month we speak to Lauren Murray who recently joined the team at the turn of the year.
Tell us a little bit about your role at Orientation Marketing?
My role as Account Manager is to manage the relationship with a portfolio of clients and act as the interface between clients and marketing vendors. Part of my client responsibility is managing the media planning and buying and working closely with vendors to ensure each tactic matches the campaign objective and ultimately delivers results.
What does your average day look like?
It varies from day to day but that’s what I like about marketing and media- never a dull moment. I walk my little girl to the nursery at 8.30 which I find really helps to clear the head before the day begins. Generally, the morning is for catching up on emails that have come in from US clients and partners overnight, admin and internal meetings. Lunchtime is my exercise time. I either do a HITT session, weight session or go for a run/walk if the weather is nice. I try to do it every day to hit my 5 days of training challenge.
After lunch is when the US comes online, so the emails and queries start to come in after 1pm. Afternoons are spent working on media planning projects, liaising with vendors or meetings with US partners. After work, it is straight into dinner/bed/bath/toddler chaos before I collapse on the sofa with a box set or book. I am 3 months into reading Barack Obama’s book, but I think it is going to take me all year as I read a few pages and fall asleep!
How did you come about working in marketing?
I fell in love with marketing at the age of 15 when I took GCSE Business Studies. For our GCSE year, our exam was on Ben & Jerry’s and every Thursday 1st period, we could bring Ben & Jerry’s in as ‘research’ (Thanks Mr Whitehall!) We learnt everything about the company and I especially loved their branding proposition and ice cream flavour names!
I was hooked and went on to study marketing at Lancaster University and loved every minute. I always knew I wanted to be in marketing in some form and initially after university I wanted to be a media planner. My marketing path steered me into consumer publishing where I spent 13 years working on retail marketing, but I always knew I wanted to get back to media planning and account management. I am fortunate that the stars aligned for me to join Orientation Marketing in Jan 2021 and haven’t looked back! My long-term aim is to complete the Chartered Institute of Marketing Masters qualification-one day!
Tell us about an interesting project you are working on right now.
What I love about my job is the number of projects we get to work on, from new business opportunities to full-year media planning.
At the moment I am working on media planning for a new financial year which involves a lot of research to find the best opportunities available to hit the full-year objectives. I am a true strategist at heart and love getting the opportunity to deep dive into a project and find the marketing tactics and options that will deliver excellent results. It’s really rewarding to see your plans come to life and deliver results for the client.
What inspires you?
My little girl inspires me. She is 2 and watching her take the world in with new eyes and learning new things every day is truly magical. She inspires me to be the best person I can be, the best mummy and role model for her.
Recommend a TV series/film you recently watched.
I am a TV person of 2 halves. I love sports documentaries so I would highly recommend Drive to Survive on Netflix all about F1, Last Dance on Michael Jordan, All or Nothing on Amazon Prime especially the American football seasons. My absolute all-time favourite TV series is Friday Night Lights about a high school American Football team. A must-see (if you can find it!)
My other TV half is what I like to call fluffy TV- chick lit on screen- Bridgerton, The Bold Type, This is Us plus some old school classics like The OC! Oh and I watch Hamilton on Disney+ on repeat. That is my favourite Friday night! What did we do before Netflix!
What’s your secret talent that no one knows about?
I am a qualified lifeguard with both the British Red Cross and the American Red Cross. I spent my summer’s during my university years in Maryland just over the border from Washington DC being a lifeguard at various apartment complexes complete with a red swimsuit! The only thing I saved though was a bird and a praying mantis!
How would you spend a million dollars in 24 hours?
If I was feeling generous, I would buy my husband a Ferrari F40 and then spend the remaining £50K on paying off the mortgage and buying lots of handbags! I love handbags!
What’s your weirdest habit?
I am a massive Disney fan so my weirdest habit is watching Disney vlogs on YouTube of people visiting Disney parks. It is quite weird and very addictive! If you ever need a strategy for tackling Walt Disney World, I am your girl!
What the best marketing tip you can give?
Always know who your end customer is and what makes them react. A strong marketing plan can fall down if it doesn’t address how/what/where/ your customer behaves. I find building a fictitious customer can help focus the strategy and makes it real. Also, remember that customers change and evolve so it’s important to continue to review and remain flexible. 2020 has taught us that overnight both customers and circumstances can change so you need to be willing to accept change and react accordingly.
What skill do you think everyone should learn?
A language! And juggling! 😊
Lauren has over 13 years’ experience in media publishing and marketing. She brings her marketing and account management experience within publishing to the agency to help with client objectives. A strategist at heart, Lauren loves working with clients to build successful media plans and prides herself on her strong planning ability, client management skills and brings a wealth of experience with her to the agency to achieve this.
For more, find Lauren on LinkedIn.
