Before joining McCann Dublin in March 2019, Zoe spent four years in Dublin and London working for a variety of agencies and brands, honing her skills in social media strategy, creative and digital campaigns. Here, Zoe shares her story.
It’s 2014, I’m working in retail and longing for a career change. “Why not bite the bullet and spend your savings on going back to college?”, I told myself. Ah, sure what else would I spend it on, being young and frivolous? Nah, I threw caution to the wind and signed up. I haven’t looked back since.
Clearly I like to make one mad decision each year, so fast forward to 2015 and I’m booking a one-way flight to London. Over the next three years, I settled into a new city and way of life. A very fast paced life and I couldn’t have been happier! This move allowed me to build up experience working on global social campaigns, product launches, activations, influencer collaborations for a mix of brands including Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Tech21, Estrella and Sweaty Betty. There were times where my creative background would come into play, shooting social campaigns for La Perla and Sweaty Betty. Finding myself at a point in my career where all my experience to date was being used was definitely a highlight.
Since joining McCann Dublin, I feel as though this is still the case. Each project allows me to tap into almost six years of experience, while on the other hand I’m constantly learning and adapting to the everchanging landscape of social media. Ask any of my colleagues and they will tell you I’m a sucker for a social media update or newsworthy article. I’m that person who has subscribed to almost every newsletter, and yes this might mean sifting through a lot of nonsense on my commute but rest assured I’ll have found a nugget of social media news to share once I arrive at my desk.
I feel as though the world of social media can get a bad rap and while there are so many aspects I don’t agree with (I won’t get into that here), if you look at how it’s developed over the last two to three years, it’s certainly going in the right direction. Brands and social platforms have a duty to be more transparent and authentic so I find myself living in hope that the ever-present spotlight on this will encourage brands to continue their efforts to create content and campaigns that stay true to who they are and what they represent. No one likes a brand that jumps on the band wagon!
Knowing the world of social media is not infallible and must constantly change is what I love. There is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to a campaign and flipping the consumer funnel on its head is kind of fun.
When I think back and reflect on my career within social media, I’m reminded that it didn’t start with my first social media exec role – long before this happened, the seeds were sown. One’s career journey can take many twists and turns along the way. I can gladly say that those twists and turns have shaped my career for the good.