Every week, we talk to members of Team Nation to find out how they are bringing the “All in, all together” ad campaign to life. This week 10 questions with…meets both client leads, The Telegraph’s managing director for strategy & client development Jo Lawrence and News UK’s group key client director James Hawker.
1. To me, the rainbow symbolises…
Jo: Hope and positivity. At a time when there are so many extremely difficult things to deal with and read about, the rainbow reminds people that things will get better. Even in these toughest of times, there are so many stories of community and compassion to be told.
James: Hope and togetherness. And to keep thinking that together, we can make sure that things get better.
2. What is your role at Team Nation?
Jo: I work with the fantastic James Hawker from News UK as joint client lead for the central team. We work closely with the Cabinet Office clients and OmniGOV at MG OMD to make sure all elements of the campaign are pulled together and that our virtual team is working effectively to deliver this unprecedented campaign. James and I had never met before joining Team Nation but now we speak multiple times a day. I look forward to meeting him in person eventually.
James: I am a client lead, a shared role together with the amazing Jo Lawrence from The Telegraph. Our job is to be the main point of contact for the government team, OmniGov and wider Team Nation. We work with our partners to deliver this incredibly important campaign at a huge scale.
3. Have you ever worked on an advertising campaign of this scale before?
Jo: I spent years working agency-side on international clients, pitches and campaigns, so bringing together multiple teams to collaborate via the medium of conference calls and shared documents has been useful preparation. However, creating a virtual campaign team from a standing start that is made up solely of people who would usually be your work competition isn’t something I have ever done before.
James: I have also worked on many large campaigns, but never on this scale. The fact that our industry has come together so quickly to develop this campaign at pace has been amazing to be part of. At the start it was a concept, and as a team we have worked really hard to develop systems and processes that had never existed before – it has been really groundbreaking.
4. What is it like working on a cross-industry team?
Jo: It has been uplifting to experience how quickly we were able to pull a cross-industry team together to make the campaign ambition a reality. That unprecedented level of collaboration is reflective of the current mood of the nation and the sentiment of the “All together” campaign. It’s also been fantastic to have such great collaboration with the clients and OmniGOV as well, which also really helps the working process. And it’s an endorsement of remote working, as none of us have actually met in person.
James: It’s been a great experience working with such a great team of talented people. From the start of the campaign we all got stuck in to deliver the best campaign we could. Everyone has a brilliant work ethic, and also great fun to work with. None of us knew each other at the start of this and we all pulled together and built our relationships in this new virtual world. It’s been quite incredible really.
5. What has been the highlight so far?
Jo: Each time we get the proofs in for the next wave of branded content, seeing how all the news brands have interpreted every brief both in print and digital. A great reflection of being able to deliver the power of news brands’ quality context and the “All together” message consistently while interpreting the government’s critical messages in a tone that works for each publisher’s reader profile.
James: When I went to my local newsagents to see the first cover wraps. It was a very proud moment as they were so impactful and looked amazing. Also, when we got the research back and we could see the impact it was having on our audiences.
6. And any challenges you can share?
Jo: We are working to extremely tight timings and evolving briefs, but this is only to be expected on a campaign of this nature.
James: Just the sheer volume of emails. There are so many people on the team it can be hard to keep up. Every day there is a new challenge, but we always seem to get it sorted!
7. Think of three words that come to mind when you think of the campaign?
Jo: Fast paced, inspiration.
James: Groundbreaking, exciting, innovative.
8. What have you learnt?
Jo: A reminder that ambitious new ways of working are entirely possible to deliver quickly and effectively: less hypothesising, more doing.
James: If you are clear on the objectives and have the right people, then it’s amazing what can be achieved at pace. Team Nation are a great team and I can’t wait until we can get together in person, and toast everyone for their hard work.
9. What can we expect to see next?
Jo: More sponsored content bringing to life different aspects of government policy, advice and support as lockdown unlocks. A variety of case studies that reflect the breadth of news brands’ readers and the new ways advertisers can work across news brands.
James: More great branded content that helps answer people’s questions, delivers the facts and keeps people updated. I am particularly excited to see the video pieces, as the content sounds great.
10. Finish this sentence…
Jo: All in, all together for inspiring and informing the nation to get through this together.
James: All in, all together for a better future.
