In January 2022, Jess joined TMC as Senior Marketing Manager, bringing with her a rich background in B2C digital marketing and a curiosity about agency life that had been building since her early career. Now Marketing Director, Jess reflects on her journey so far and what it means to shape not just campaigns and communications, but culture.
“I started at TMC, post-pandemic, and my career up to press had been in-house, mainly B2C. I’d always been a generalist digital marketer, often interdisciplinary due to lack of internal resource, but I knew the agency world was a space I wanted to explore.”
“I was lucky to have an incredible Head of Marketing at the start of my career, who was from an agency background herself, and used to tell me that my skills would be well suited to this environment. Her voice in the back of my mind eventually helped me decide to take the leap.”
A New Chapter for TMC
Jess joined a marketing department that was going through a period of change. She recalls stepping into a team of marketing mangers and executives with a range of different marketing experience and a clear opportunity to make a positive impact.
“As a very new team, my task was to shape us into a high-performing, well-functioning department that could add even more value into client relationships, bringing a new level of marketing expertise. Above and beyond historic ownership of TMC brand marketing and specific projects based on certain skills e.g. PPC campaigns or copywriting.”
That vision has now become reality. By December 2023, Jess was appointed as Marketing Director, a role that brought new responsibilities and broader influence across the business.
“I now wear multiple hats. One is working with the wider SMT to shape the direction of the organisation and move the business forward. I also align with business development and have an influence over internal communications, as well as trying to keep as much hands-on marketing experience as the team will let me!”
Always Ask Why
When it comes to building a successful team, Jess is crystal clear on what matters most:
“It’s attitude. Most hard skills can be taught (particularly in our fast-moving discipline!), but if you have a positive, proactive, determined attitude, then everything else will come naturally.”
But positivity, she notes, isn’t about blind optimism.
“We can’t all be positive, all of the time. But if you look at the world with a glass-half-full approach, I think that’s very important. Marketing relies on the ability to tap into the audiences state of mind. To take a perceived problem and offer a positive solution. To be the hero, the antidote, the alternative.”
As a champion of inquisitiveness and collaboration, Jess believes in the art of asking questions and sees this as an integral part of a marketer’s role.
“Marketing is going through turbulent times, not just the technology and tools, but the ways of thinking. We’re all on a mission to understand our consumers and our audience even better than before. Curiosity is integral.”
“We work cross-departmentally constantly. We’re detectives in our role. We have to understand people and the things that trigger them. Emotional intelligence, being a people person, is another quality that’s really key. The ability to empathise and place ourselves in different perspectives – all with the goal of connection.”
Standout Projects and Problem-Solving Moments
When asked about the projects that she’s been proud to be a part of, choosing a highlight wasn’t easy, but there was one campaign that stood out.
“The very first project I worked on was for Hologic, their Wear White Again campaign. I was part of the project team, and I remember within my first week we were crafting our creative response to the brief, pushing the boundaries and working hard to get everything done. The opportunity to be in front of the client and explain our concepts and how we could genuinely make a difference to the existing campaign was so rewarding. My first experience of developing strategy for a Women’s Health campaign – specifically period health – amongst a majority-female agency, felt incredibly special.”
But the common thread across all the projects she loves?
“Problem solving. That’s me to a T. I’m from a long line of very ‘inquisitive’, wonderful women who love people and love unpicking a challenge.”
“There’s nothing more gratifying as a marketer than when you either find a solution to a problem, or a piece of data that solves a question, or a function in one of the thousand tools we use that makes everything that little bit easier.”
The Bigger Picture
As Jess’s role has evolved throughout her time at TMC, so has her perspective.
“It’s less hands-on, and without sounding cliché, it involves a lot of bigger picture thinking – essentially a lot more meetings! Whether that’s an internal culture matter and how we make TMC enriching and engaging for our team, or collaborating with clients at a senior level to help shape their commercial objectives or define their positioning.”
Even though the nature of her work has changed, she still thrives on creativity, especially when collaborating with the studio team.
“Myself and our Design & Creative Directors, have always worked closely together. We complement each other’s skills nicely. We challenge each other a lot as well, which I think is vital. We all have a voice – brand is as much about visual identity as it is verbal.”
At the core of Jess’s role as Marketing Director is a passion for strategic problem-solving and a commitment to delivering impactful results that drive meaningful change for her clients.
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