Meet our Team:
Gemma Craig

As part of our ongoing spotlight series, we’re profiling colleagues who inspire us.

With a background in strategic client partnerships, Gemma joins Athlon as Client Services Director, focused on building strong relationships and delivering impactful work.

Tell us a bit about your career so far? What led you to pursue a career in Client Services?

My career has always been purposeful since I first discovered advertising during work experience at school. I found the idea of translating human behaviours into powerful storytelling incredibly exciting. That led me to study Advertising and Marketing at University before joining my first agency, and overtime,  I found my natural rhythm within strategic client servicing. Simply put; I love collaborating with people from all backgrounds and experiences and my role is interesting in that I’m exposed to such a wonderfully eclectic mix of talents and perspectives.

You have worked in some great agencies, what is it about the agency world that you like?

 What I love about agency life is the collective power it unlocks. Whether it’s a large-scale team delivering a huge transformation programme, or a smaller project-based team, you can tap into such a range of different disciplines and talents and that really does harness a drive to do awesome things. It’s a very inspiring and varied environment to work in.

How What are you looking forward to most in your role as Client Services Director?

Establishing the core of our client partnerships through closer collaboration and finding opportunities to create meaningful work everyone can be proud of.

How do you approach creating a collaborative and efficient client-agency relationship?

At the core it comes down to trust and transparency, for both parties, and shifting attitudes to one of mutual partnership not just a transactional supplier exchange. That extends to really understanding the client business, but going beyond that to help them understand where the business needs to get to next. 

The most successful partnerships are those built around shared objectives and longer-term reward. There are always going to be immediate business critical needs, but how can we help our clients identify the untapped areas of their business that might take a bit longer to actualise, but deliver greatest impact?

That and a good karaoke night out keeps it fun!

What are some of the biggest shifts you’ve seen in digital projects  over the last few years?

My first role was within a digital team helping big retail brands such as H&M devise eComm strategies, so since those days things have vastly changed and it’s been interesting to see digital become ubiquitous as opposed to just the “digital channel team” sat next to the Tech team! 

More recently, big data has driven huge transformation in how we approach CX. The trend towards premunisation and luxe experiences has been an interesting landscape too, specifically interpreting what that means into a tangible authentic brand experience. 

Audiences continue to become more complex, and actively boycotting years of loyalty to brands who no longer serve their need for transparency and genuine sustainability efforts. We’ll continue to see brands pivot and adapt to this, through more tactical brand collaborations that tap into big culture, the rise of de-influencer campaigns, and recognising that consumers are taking an active role in curating their own brand experiences.

Career highlight so far?

My biggest highlight and something that continues to excite me everyday is that you never know what’s next; be it a challenging brief, getting to grips with a new business, or simply meeting a new client or member of the team. I’m fortunate to work in such an exciting industry driven by a really diverse collective of minds.

Bravest think you’ve done?

Taking that first work experience job. I was terrified, but with time I found my voice and hopefully I now help others to do the same.

And finally, if you weren’t joining Team Athlon, what would your dream job be?

In another life I’d be a forensic detective – a very different degree of understanding human motivations!