Above: Admiralty Arch at the south side of Trafalgar Square. When I walk to BQW I like to walk down the Duke of York steps onto the Mall and then through Admiralty Arch. I took this photo a couple of weeks back.
Monday was an awkward morning with a number of little things going wrong. Directors Ian and Alan were out all day. Kate was also out, and the women in the office (all of them) spent the day moaning about her.
One of the worries I had this week was the amount of copywriting that needs to be done. Perhaps I ought to go on one of those assertiveness courses to learn how to say “no” to new assignments. On the other hand, the fact that so many people (including Account Handlers in the PR division upstairs) are asking me to do their copywriting indicates my profile in the agency is rising.
I handle the biggest client on the marketing side of the agency (BQW - their Head Office is near Trafalgar Square). You would think that one of the Directors (Ian or Alan) would look after this client personally, given the amount of billings we get from them. The reason they don’t is that the client is a nightmare to handle. They have a rambling chaotic organisation, with many contacts across several different sites (including people I have never heard from before ringing me up to ask me to do things). Anyway, Monday morning I was called out once again at very short notice and had to get a taxi down to their offices (normally I would walk). They are preparing to consolidate all their different sites into a purpose-built location outside London, and this has generated lots of print work (informing their customers, informing their shareholders, keeping their staff motivated etc).
When I got back to the agency freelance designer Joey was waiting, wanting to apologise in person for a bodged job he had done. It was nice of him to do this, but actually he was taking up time I really didn’t have. We had a cup of coffee at my desk while he talked about his family in Eltham.
In the afternoon I briefed designer Paul (in-house designer, not a freelance) about a magazine we are doing for a client (company magazines are very lucrative). It was such a detailed (and boring) job that I was not sure he had really grasped what he had to do. There are many times when you have to just hope for the best.
A telephone call from my boss Ian about the new business presentation we are to do on Friday for a prospective client in Warwickshire. He wanted me to help out more, since the project was getting behind. I said I would work an extra hour each day to help get things back on course.
Tuesday, and I paused at the front door to the agency, having to steel myself to go in. This feeling has become increasingly common as I know as soon as I get to my paper-heaped desk the phone will be ringing, and e-mails will be arriving. It is a horrible experience not to be in control of things.
During the morning a general meeting about the Warwickshire presentation. Angela (PA and sort of Account Executive) admitted she hadn’t done the Media Plan, so I said I would do it - media plans are quite easy, especially once you have a breakdown of the target audience. Ian admitted he hadn’t done anything about the creative proposals but claimed to have an idea of how the campaigns should look.
After the meeting Kate was furious. “All the ideas came from you and me” she hissed, sitting on a corner of my desk and darting angry looks towards Ian and Alan’s corner. “If we get this account we should definitely ask for more money.”
More work for BQW came in - interminable web-based projects.
Wednesday, and in the morning one of my smaller clients came into the office. Although they are a very small company (they produce scientific instruments at a factory in Cambridgeshire) they take themselves extremely seriously, and need a lot of looking after. They arrived at eleven in the morning and we went round to the photographic studio, but the photoshoot had to be cancelled because they had forgotten one of the products (the client was almost distraught at how foolish he had been).
At least the cancelled photoshoot allowed me some extra time to work on the Warwickshire presentation and I managed to get the main report done. A student designer was brought round and introduced to everyone, before setting himself up at an Apple computer in our “studio” (the bit at the back of the floor where Paul and Tony sit). Pete, my assistant, was contemptuous about this unpaid student, even though he had been in the same role himself only a few months ago.
Late afternoon I went down to BQW to meet Anthony Tamper, one of their senior directors, an elderly gentleman (very kind in manner, we had coffee and biscuits in their boardroom). We discussed some projects he wanted the agency to carry out. I was appalled at how much he was expecting to do at the last minute.
I went back to the agency to worry about how to get everything done.
Thursday, and as soon as I got to the office I saw freelance Joey sitting by my desk (I had asked him to come in as I want a complicated map drawn). He was interested in the student placement, saying he had been interviewed at another agency Joey does work for. Joey spent so long talking about himself, his life, his football, that after a while I was trying to find ways to get rid of him.
Early afternoon, and to my surprise the visuals for Anthony Tamper were ready. I sent them off by courier to BQW and waited. I thought: either they will be accepted or they won’t (they were accepted).
We all stayed late, until eight o’clock, rehearsing the Warwickshire presentation. The creative work was unveiled - surrealist in style, which is a gamble as the client will either love it or hate it. Just as we were packing up I noticed the wrong headline on one of the print ads, which meant Paul having to do it again (redesigning it, printing it out on the lumbering colour printer, mounting it up on board - all the time cursing).
Friday, and instead of going into London I drove across to Warwickshire, arriving at the company just as Ian, Kate and Paul were driving into the car park. We carried all our apparatus and paraphernalia into the building, setting it up in their Training Room. Paul was wearing a blue suit, which looked strange (I have only ever seen him in jeans and t-shirts).
The presentation, to their entire Board, lasted about three hours. No refreshments apart from glasses of water. Kate talked about the agency. I went through the marketing analysis and the media plan. Ian and Paul went through the creative proposals. Afterwards there was a long discussion, which seemed to go well.
Leaving the company, we went to a teashop in the town to discuss the presentation. I think we all felt exhausted. There was general agreement that we couldn’t have done any more than we did.
“It’s the best presentation we’ve ever done” said Ian.
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