Strands of Genius : Carol Reay + Retail Guide to Next 2023
featuring: an interview with our guest editor and a research report
Welcome to the Bonus edition of Strands of Genius! On Fridays, we’ll be publishing interviews from our guest editors, and sharing a research report. Thanks for being along for the ride. Oh and by the way, you look great today :)
:: STEAL THIS THINKING | RESEARCH REPORT ::
Retailers have traditionally relied on product sales for most of their profits. Now, the drastic rise in e-commerce and industry profitability challenges has prompted them to turn digital real estate and customer data into ad sales, providing abnormally high returns for the industry. While traditional retail media has been around since the first brick-and-mortar retail stores, the significance of the term has changed in the last five years to focus on digital retail media networks (RMNs), or retail data monetization. RMNs have already proliferated across the retail industry, but what will determine their future success, and which networks will come out on top?
:: DIVE IN | THE INTERVIEW ::
CAROL REAY, NON EXEC DIRECTOR AND CHAIR AT QUIET STORM, NFM AND WACL
>> Carol Reay guest curated Strands on August 24th, 2024. Read it here.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and what keeps you busy. How did you end up doing what you’re doing today?
Hi, I'm Carol. Blimey! It's a long story telling you about myself. I founded a London based ad agency and became the first woman to have her name above the door in adland. I have been CEO of the Great Ormond Street children's charity, have been a global CMO for a major professional services company, chaired a BrandTech company. That's enough I feel! I ended up doing what I am today by spending lots of years in ad agencies and becoming a brand fan. I am also a psycho analytic counsellor and was in practice part time for a few years.
What excites you most about what you do?
All new ideas! Trying to change and disrupt things. Actual change. Most recently, one of the roles I have had is Chairing the WACL - Women in Advertising Communications Leadership - 100th anniversary team. WACL exists to accelerate gender equality in our industry so I was motivated to use the incredible anniversary to get our message out there. We were part of having a Documentary made and aired on UK Channel 4. It's called Mad Women; we made a call for 50% of CEOs to be women, we collaborated with Spotify contributing to their Outside Voice podcast series; signed up 7 stellar one-year-only Patrons who have high profiles in gender equality and lent their voice to our effort. Names included Baroness Helena Kennedy, Dame Sharon White, Kate Mosse OBE FRSL and The Right Honourable Harriet Harman KC, MP. It's been a FABULOUS ride.
What beliefs define your approach to work? How would you define your leadership style?
My leadership style is to bring empathy, listening and respect for talent into the room. As a leader I would see myself as a conductor of an orchestra. I may not play the violin but I can love the talent that does and conduct them into the whole piece to make a symphony. Beliefs that define my approach? I believe in people, in teams, in hard work and effort. I believe things really happen when people come together, agree on an outcome and pool their individual talents to get there.
What has been the most rewarding project you’ve worked on and why?
As I have already included WACL 100 in a previous answer I have to say starting and running an ad agency. It was a spectacular ride. There were 4 partners. From day one I felt the thrill of actually having to generate business to pay the bills. I loved pooling our ideas as to how to position the agency, I loved caring so deeply about every single pitch, every single campaign, every single person in the agency. We went from nothing to a top 20 UK agency attracting clients like P&G, Kimberly-Clark, DHL and United Biscuits along the way. It was incredibly hard work but I couldn't have enjoyed it more - a combo of creativity, drive, insane competition and lots of laughs.
We are big believers in diversity -- Not only because we believe in equality, but because we also think it’s better for business. How do you frame these kinds of conversations, both internally and with clients? Is there an emphasis on action, or are the conversations really more about communication?
Diversity matters. Period. I am a mixed race woman and have lived through an era when at first I could not speak my authentic voice having to play the game of fitting in with the single texture industry I arrived in. Subsequently in businesses and organisations I have been in I have either started Diversity and Inclusion initiatives or been part of teams working at this. My work in WACL is driven entirely by this agenda. And we have developed a whole playbook which is available on the website https://wacl.info/ which develops all kinds of ways to make sure diversity plays loud and deep in any organisation. My belief is we need to aim for the stars on the topic. A colleague once said to me 'what if all the global business world worked term-time?'. I was blown away by the scale and audacity of the idea. I think we need to be as creative in exploring how to make the work place fit the needs of all the people, not just one type of person, as we are with the brands we work on and shine.
Switching gears a bit, how do you find time to balance personal interests with your career? Do you believe work/life balance is possible? Anything you’ve implemented that you recommend that others try?
Work life balance is not just possible, it's imperative. I am a little older now so my portfolio career manages this nicely. Before I have been a workaholic. But a recovering workaholic! I think companies need to keep sensible working hours, provide flexibility in times and work places so people can get a balance and insist vacations are taken. The sky doesn't fall in. Most people work to have better lives with their loved ones. That's the perspective to hold in mind.
What’s your media diet? Where do you find inspiration?
I am a podcast fiend! Love the fact that you can listen to a pod whilst you exercise or do other stuff. I have a wide range of pods that I absolutely love: The Tennis Podcast because I am a tennis nut, The Rest is Politics, The Rest is Politics Leading, DOAC, Pod Save America, Sold in America, Dan Snow's History Hit. I adore going to the movies even though I do binge Netflix series like the rest of us. I am bonkers about BBC Radio 4, read like it's going out of fashion - fiction as well as books on psychology or women's equality - and I rarely read business books because I struggle to find ones with an authentic voice.
What’s the best piece of advice/knowledge you’ve stolen, and who/where’d you steal it from?
Tough question. I am tempted to go with Carl Jung's assertion that advice would be a pernicious thing if it weren't for the fact that people never follow it. But in the spirit of respecting the ask I am going to go for M Scott Peck's opening line of A Road Less Travelled. Life is Difficult. Yep. It is. But once you accept that you can at least know you're not alone, buckle up, deal as openly as you can with stuff and not forget to have some fun.
What’s my favourite ad?
I have many ads I’ve loved over the years not least the famous 1980s Levi's Launderette Commercial starring Nick Kamen and made by a talented friend of mine Barbara Nokes. But my answer is going to go topical. The Orange ad for the Women's Football/Soccer World Cup It has polarised opinion but I like it for this. It’s igniting a conversation. One group thinks that the ad is a game changer that will help change the perception of the quality of women’s football. The other is frustrated that women’s football is still having to rely on the men’s game to prove its worth and attract attention. For me it made the point that we watch football with unconscious bias. Whatever your view an ad that challenges and creates a dialogue is a good one.
You can keep in touch with Carol on LinkedIn.
If we can ever be of help to you, even outside of a formal engagement, please don’t hesitate to let us know.
rockON,
faris & rosie & ashley | your friends over at geniussteals.co
@faris is always tweeting
@rosieyakob hangs out on instagram
@ashley also writes for deaf, tattooed & employed
Know someone who could use some inspiration in their inbox?
Forward this email to them! We appreciate you spreading the word.
It's called Genius Steals because we believe ideas are new combinations and that nothing can come from nothing. But copying is lazy. We believe the best way to innovate is to look at the best of that which came before and combine those elements into new solutions.
Co-Founders Faris & Rosie are award-winning strategists and creative directors, writers, consultants and public speakers who have been living on the road/runway since March 2013, working with companies all over the world. Our Director of Operations is nomadic like us, our accounting team is based in Tennessee where our company is registered, our admin extraordinaire is based in Playa del Carmen, and our collaborators are all over the world. Being nomadic allows us to go wherever clients need us to be, and to be inspired by the world in between.
Hit reply and let’s talk about how we might be able to work together :)