This week’s Meeting of the Minds sees Laura Brown and Christine Hepburn from Communicado reveal their leadership heroes, current streaming binge, and career goals.
The Mediaweek series showcases diverse perspectives, thoughts and opinions by bringing together two different points of view from an industry rookie and an experienced expert.
Laura Brown, Shopper Strategy Director – Communicado
Favourite podcast/read – I try to read every day but I don’t tend to listen to podcasts, I’m too overwhelmed by all the options! I’m part of a book group and recently read the latest David Nicholls book You Are Here which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Current streaming binge – Slow Horses, waiting for the latest episodes to drop was difficult, I’d rather save them up and binge them!
Guilty pleasure content – Love Island UK! It has to be the UK version, the ‘banter’ and accents remind me of home.
What do you have on repeat – I don’t tend to rewatch much as there’s always so much new content to keep up with, but I do love to revisit Friends from time to time, for that nostalgic 90s comfort.
Best career advice – ‘Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better’ It’s a Maya Angelou quote, and probably a little overused lately, but I find it motivates me to keep working and developing both professionally and personally.
Leadership hero – I’m lucky to have worked with some fantastic leaders and mentors during my career. For me great leaders trust and empower their teams and I’m fortunate to be around clients and colleagues that do this every day.
Best training course/session – I took the RMIT Copywriting in Action course a few years back and loved it, great fun and a brilliant way to build new skills.
I wish someone had told me – More about careers in marketing and advertising when I was at school, I did a degree in English Literature and Media Studies, but found my passion for marketing during a Uni work placement by chance and always wished I’d studied it.
Favourite place to network – I don’t tend to go to many networking events, I prefer to meet people organically and just to chat and see where the conversation goes.
Something that’s surprised you about the industry – How small it is, I moved to the other side of the world 15 years ago and still constantly cross paths with people I’m connected to somehow.
What is your hot take on the industry – As the marketing funnel continues to evolve adapting to complex shopper journeys requires a flexible approach and stronger integration across marketing disciplines.
Career goal for 2025 – To get more people and businesses thinking about shoppers vs consumers; we need to influence shoppers to create consumers in most instances. The challenge continues.
Christine Hepburn, Senior Account Executive – Communicado
Favourite podcast/read – Shameless is always my go to, I love knowing what’s going on in pop culture.
Current streaming binge – I always have a few shows on the go but currently bingeing Monsters, The Lyle and Erick Menendez story, Kaos and Outer Banks.
Guilty pleasure content – Reality TV (but I don’t feel much guilt) whether its Vanderpump Rules, The Kardashians, Love Island, Fboy Island or Goggle Box I can’t get enough.
What do you have on repeat – I always try to find new things to watch and always look for recommendations but when all else fails I turn to New Girl.
Best career advice – Don’t be afraid to change it up and follow your interests, I started off in Digital but wasn’t feeling like it was the right fit and I’m so glad I took a chance and changed to Shopper. Before Communicado I didn’t have any experience in Shopper Marketing but I have loved every minute.
Leadership hero – I’m very lucky at Communicado, I have some great mentors in my team and I have a learnt a lot from them and they have all played such a big role in my development.
Best training course/session – I attended a few sessions in the Retail marketing in 2024 Online Conference and found the ‘Connecting Consumer and Shopper in the Strategic Planning Process’ with Victoria Garcia and ‘The Power of Consideration’ with Raghav Pratap super interesting.
I wish someone had told me – The importance of having a strong work life balance, making sure to switch off after work and take your annual leave when you can is key. This year I’ve made more of an effort to take small holidays and it’s helped me a lot as I have come back refreshed and a lot more focused.
Favourite place to network – I haven’t done a lot of networking but so far, my favourite places to network have been at client product launches & industry events.
Something that’s surprised you about the industry – So much has surprised me about the industry, I started working in the industry when covid hit so nothing could have prepared me for that and the continuous changes since then.
What is your hot take on the industry – That in the coming years there will be even more of a push for sustainability when creating POS and prizing as we are regularly targeting Gen Z for a lot of our promotions and they are very environmentally conscious consumers.
Career goal for2025 – To keep learning and expanding my skills, every year so far, I’ve had opportunities to work on bigger campaigns with different clients and it has been an awesome challenge and I look forward to continuing to grow my experience and knowledge.
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Past editions of Meeting of the Minds.
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Top image: Laura Brown and Christine Hepburn