To celebrate Little Red Rooster’s momentous 15th anniversary, we’re taking a stroll down memory lane. Some of our longest-serving Roosters are reflecting on their time at the Coop and giving their tips for a successful PR career.
Next up, account director, Tabby, looks back on the last eight years on the lifestyle team…
Talk us through your Rooster journey so far…
Six months out of university and into my first PR role in London, I was offered to relocate to Manchester or redundancy. A quick Google of “PR agencies Reading” and a rather bold email to the CEO of the first agency I found later, I landed a role as an account executive. The plan was for it to tie me over until I found a new job in London – where I assumed all “real PR jobs” were. Fast forward almost eight years of PR’ing everything from coffee machines to cadets, and sunglasses to shoe cleaner, I’m now an account director on the lifestyle team.
Tell us about some of your career highlights
I’ve been lucky enough to host some pretty cool press trips and events – travelling to the likes of Milan, Geneva, Florence and Vienna, eating dinner 100ft in the air and dancing in a fridge with Sophie Ellis Bextor, to name a few.
Visiting Smeg’s Eurocucina stand in Milan
However, something I love looking back on is growing Ariat (my baby I’ve worked on for six years) from if-you-know-you-know equestrian brand to a fashion editor favourite, stocked by the UK’s top retailers.
Other notable mentions go to being shortlisted for ‘Outstanding Young Communicator of the Year’ by CIPR, receiving a voice note from Katie Price, and sharing a couples massage in a very small Oxford Street basement with Emma Younger. In that order.
Can you pinpoint a favourite piece of coverage to date?
The first that comes to mind is a full-page for Smeg in the bible that is Sunday Times Style’s Christmas gift guide – I am a sucker for festive coverage.
Although, the buzz of an unexpected piece of coverage will always hit differently and is something I love about working across such a variety of clients. I once graced the pages of Cosmopolitan with a <£5 climbing carabiner and flooded the national newspapers’ Boxing Day pages with the news of Cherry Blossom being the only remaining shoe polish in the UK.
What do you think has been one of the most significant changes to the PR industry in recent years?
Affiliate marketing – the topic I geek out on and will talk to anyone who will listen about. Finally, there is evidence to fight back on the perception that PR is immeasurable. With a shift in advertising spend, huge changes in how consumers shop, and editorial teams being cut, nothing has impacted the PR landscape like it. Journalists are now targeted on sales, clicks and conversion, while still needing to maintain credibility and editorial integrity, and PR strategies that aren’t adapting to this will be left behind.
Talking all things affiliates at this year’s Summer Showcase
What advice do you have for budding account execs keen to make it to director level?
Take a genuine interest in what you do, and the rest will come naturally.
Whether it’s intentional or not, a PR role expands beyond the office and merges into everything you do – spotting magazine opportunities on a plane, saving a TikTok trend that sparks an idea or hearing useful stats on the radio. Coming with proactivity, ideas and your own opinion instantly makes you stand out and shows a want to learn. Everything else can be taught along the way, but a passion for the industry has to come from you.
What excites you most about your job?
Unless you’re living it, it’s difficult to tell how much work goes on behind the scenes in PR. This makes seeing the results the team have achieved after putting a real shift in even more rewarding. From an individual influencer partnership, right up to a full-blown campaign, there’s never a time the results don’t make the hard work feel worth it.
Harry and I glamming up for awards season
