10 Questions with Luce Watson
We chatted to Luce, an Experiential Marketer, about her career so far...
Don’t get us wrong, We’re the first to shout about social as one of the best performing marketing methods about. (If you’re new here: hi, we’re nerds). But when it comes to experiential marketing – AKA physical pop-ups and events – Luce Watson could even make Mark Zuckerberg edit his bet. We sat down with the queen of all things events and got to the bottom of what *really* makes an experience, and how you can follow her lead....
1. Let’s kick off with a bit of a plotted career history, tell us everything. Well, I’ve pretty much walked through every door that’s ever opened for me. I went to college for an internship in events. I had two directors who were very open to me learning the ropes, so they invited me to their board meetings. From there, I got my first entry-level position supporting the creative team and doing admin. Gradually I took on more, learning how to do basic designs, manage resources, and support launch campaigns.
I’d been there a while when I started looking for more events work, and I came across a production company called sevens7. They'd worked on big public events like Glastonbury and MTV shows, so I decided to message the directors and – not only did they write me back – they ended up hiring me!
I spent a year and a half there, going on just about every event they held which meant I took on a lot of different roles. I was pretty much a sponge. Even if someone wasn’t directly teaching me, I was listening, watching, and reading everything to learn as much as I could.
It soon became clear to me that events were basically the same cycle each season, so I decided to look around a bit, and that led me into more of a proposal role. This is where I started pulling together my knowledge of the industry, events, and partners to respond to creative marketing briefs. A few years passed like this when I decided to try my hand at freelancing – which is where I am now! So far, it’s been wild. But in a good way!
2. With all of that, it must be hard to pick a career highlight. But we’ll ask you anyway... To be honest, I've had a lot. But my most defining moments would be towards the beginning of my career, at sevens7. Partly for the work, but also because I met some of my best friends in the industry at this time.
3. Clearly, bagging new clients is not an issue for you, why do you think that is? A lot of my clients have come through word of mouth, I’ve been very fortunate in that sense. Retention and relationships are key for me, I’m not interested in being in a constant state of acquisition. I’d rather work with a small collective that I genuinely enjoy, than have to jump at every opportunity.
4. When it comes to working in experiential marketing – what skills do you need? Honestly, I just think you need to understand the relevant culture. There’s a difference between putting on an event and hosting an experience. In my mind, an experience includes the perfect partners, logical entertainment, knowing how to get an emotional reaction, and how to convert people into online customers after the fact.
As simple as it sounds, I'd suggest going out and seeing what other brands are doing. Go travelling and see different cultures, visit museums, music and food festivals, sports games, check
out creative window displays, and spend time on social media – the list here is endless because culture is everywhere.
5. Spill the tea, what’s it really like in a corporate environment?
Personally, I don’t see much difference between corporate and start-ups – and I’ve worked in both. At the end of the day, both require results. In smaller environments, there’s less internal process and sign-off so decisions can get made quicker. This means you can succeed – and fail – much faster.
6. Now, let’s get technical. Why should a brand have an event or a physical pop-up? After lockdown, every brand I speak to is so focused on paid marketing or digital-only metrics. And whilst it’s great we have channels for that now, just think about how you can use them to bolster up other forms of marketing, like experiential. You’ve just got to look at Jellycat’s pop-up in Selfridges; it’s all over TikTok, everyone’s obsessed with it, and it taps into the city’s culture.
I know it’s harder these days with investors and leaders looking for instant returns, but experiential marketing is the long game. If you want to sustain your brand for the long term, you need to be playing.
7. If you were starting your career today, what industry would you focus on? Strategy. In my opinion, marketing is well over-complicated, and that usually comes from a lack of vision or a weak strategy. If the strategy and insights are correct, everything else should just fall into place.
8. Who’s the one person you should follow on social media to learn about events? Elevate Mentoring, they’re a free mentoring programme for the events industry. Or there's Your Marketing Mentor, who has basically made her entire team remote and is actively encouraging them to travel and absorb different cultures. The other is Camille Moore, I could watch her videos all day.
9. What’s the best piece of advice you have ever received?
When opportunity knocks, don’t just open the door. Walk straight through. Not every opportunity is going to be right, but you have to walk through enough doors to realise what ‘right’ even is.
10. And how would you advise the next generation to level up their careers? The market is hard right now, there’s no denying that. But there are things you can do to set yourself apart. For one, you need to be clear about what impact you bring, and how you can solve an employer’s problem. Being easy to work with is also massively underestimated. Plus, you should always be speaking to people who you see as successful, so you can learn from them. Send a LinkedIn message or email. If I get a message from someone who wants to learn, I’ll easily give them some time – people did that for me when I was starting out!