Every week, we talk to a member of Team Nation to find out how they are bringing this “All in, all together” ad campaign to life. This week 10 questions with…meets Alex Frayne, Head of Project Management at Guardian Labs.
1. To me, the rainbow symbolises
Unity, positivity and a bright future. The last few months have been tough and the sight of a rainbow is joyous and uplifting during challenging times.
2. What is your role at Team Nation?
I head up the project management team at Guardian Labs and have been primarily leading on the delivery of The Guardian branded content, supported by an incredible team on our commercial features desk. I’ve also been helping the core team in managing the central file sharing processes and ensuring the content across the project is accounted for. An incredible amount has been produced!
3. Have you ever worked on an advertising campaign of this scale before?
While Guardian Labs regularly collaborates with other media owners on multiplatform campaigns, the scale and reach of this campaign is a first for me. The fact it’s also serving a purpose for the public and championing so many wonderful people and businesses makes it particularly rewarding.
4. What is it like working on a cross-industry team?
It was exciting, fast-paced and demanding from the beginning. It’s been amazing to work with my peers across publishing, each contributing different skills to the project. From a branded content perspective, the campaign has demanded we work in an incredibly agile way. Teams have had to adapt to incredibly tight timelines during a state of change on lockdown, and it’s been energising to see how people have not only met these deadlines but created such wonderful sponsored content at the same time. Being able to work with so many of your industry peers on something making such an impact has been incredibly rewarding.
5. What has been the highlight so far?
Reading the inspiring stories we’ve been able to tell through our branded content. There are so many businesses across the UK that have put revenue second to helping their communities, and so many individuals helping the less fortunate. Reading these has been amazing.
6. And any challenges you can share?
As anyone who is on the project will know, I’ve got a 15-month-old toddler at home, so there have been some conference calls where she’s been making herself known. Other than that, the timelines have been incredibly tight, but it’s a great example of what can be achieved with the right people and attitude. I take my hat off to the core team project managers who have been leading on the delivery of the campaign, they’ve worked tirelessly and what’s been achieved has been phenomenal.
7. Think of three words that come to mind when you think of the campaign?
Impactful, unrivalled and memorable.
8. What have you learnt?
That any deadline is feasible with the right mindset. Also, that fantastic colleagues will get you through when things go awry; proofing copy remotely without a printer, crashing laptops right at deadline and when you’re sending final proofs while doing bath time. I feel thankful to be part of such a smart and hard-working team to make it all possible.
9. What can we expect to see next?
More fantastic branded content and the research results to demonstrate how effective the campaign has been. We’ve had some brilliant feedback already and there’s more to come.
10. Finish this sentence…
All in, all together for all of us.
