5 Minutes with… Laura Daley
Laura Daley’s 20 years of experience in the Irish ad industry has seen her progress through a succession of nurturing mentors that have helped her to become a business leader who’s more than capable of delivering on her agency’s promise: to ‘inspire growth for ambitious brands’. As managing director and head of growth at Folk Wunderman Thompson, Laura’s leadership has contributed to a litany of business wins and campaign launches in recent months. Just look at the agency’s page on LBB to see how busy things have been for her and her team in 2023.
To find out what’s been driving that success and to get to know the person behind it, LBB’s Alex Reeves chatted with Laura.
LBB> What drew you to advertising in the first place? I saw you actually studied a master's in it, so I suppose it was intentional!
Laura> I’ve always had a passion for the industry. I did work experience in an ad agency here in Dublin when I was in Transition Year in secondary school, and from then on I knew it was the industry for me. I’ve always been intrigued by consumer behaviour and loved the creativity, pace and energy of agency life.
I then went on to do the MSc in advertising at DIT, which I loved, and many of my then classmates are now agency colleagues or clients.
LBB> What was coming up through account management like? I've heard good account managers called 'door kickers' before. Were you one of those?
Laura> I had a really positive experience when progressing in my career. Account management gives you such a rounded skillset – everything from strategic thinking to creativity, stakeholder management, presentation and pitching skills, along with being a quasi-accountant and chief negotiator at times.
I’ve worked hard throughout my career to garner a reputation that is based on having a strong, trusted relationship with clients and staff alike. That’s based on delivering brilliantly effective work and just being a decent human being, who can be relied upon. In a tight community such as Irish adland, that reputation opens doors; there’s no need to kick them down.
LBB> Early in your career, what helped form your approach to work and the style of leadership you've ended up building?
Laura> In every agency I was part of, I was lucky enough to have a strong mentor who took me under their wing and guided me, and that definitely taught me how to approach my work. But, I also saw some clangers along the way as well, and knew what behaviours to avoid.
Over the last 20 years, like anyone, I’ve evolved as a person and so has my work style. I’m really clear on my values and my leadership style, and every day I aim to do the best work and be proud of how I showed up. I think it’s important to be authentic in an industry that isn’t always perceived that way.
LBB> What work are you most proud of from your career so far? Or maybe as MD it's not the product of the work, as much as the conditions you set up for that work to be made?
Laura> That’s like choosing your favourite child. Impossible to answer…
There has been lots of work over the years that I have been proud to have been part of, and many award wins along the way. However, I think it’s the strength of our client portfolio and long standing relationships that I’m currently most proud of.
As part of a leadership team made up of Abi Moran (CEO), Enda Kelly (MD) and Karl Waters (creative partner), we have worked hard to foster strong talent and put the right processes and ways of working in place that set the conditions for us to show up as a team every day and produce the standard of work that we do.
LBB> What's most exciting about Folk Wunderman Thompson right now?
Laura> At Folk Wunderman Thompson, our core proposition is that we ‘inspire growth for ambitious brands’, and I believe we’re truly living this every day. We’re producing some really exciting and effective work across our client base and are genuinely driving growth for our clients. We have eight out of eight entries shortlisted for this year’s Effies, which is a testament to the work we do.
We’ve also had a laser focus in growing the agency and are excited to enter a relationship with some new clients we’ve added, whilst continuing to deliver results for our long-standing and loyal clients such as Brennan’s, Vodafone, Irish Life and Bord Gais Energy.
LBB> You've had a summer of pitching that's resulted in retaining Horse Racing Ireland, winning Water Safety Ireland and being appointed as Bank of Ireland and University College Dublin's agency. That's quite a flurry of pitch wins! What was key to that success?
Laura> It’s been a busy summer alright, but the hard work has delivered results. I think the key to success is a combination of factors. The first being the strength and ambition of our leadership team.
Second, we have a really talented and motivated team across the agency who are fully behind the ambition of the agency.
Thirdly, we’re crystal clear on our proposition to ‘inspire growth for ambitious brands’ and in pitches, we can evidence how we deliver on that - something I believe is very motivating for any CMO.
And finally… I know it sounds ‘Billy Basic’, but we make sure we answer the brief. Often, agencies are guilty of challenging for challenge sake and focusing on the wrong thing. We are rigorous about going back to the brief and staying true to answering that.
LBB> You've also had new work for Irish Life Health and Vodafone out. What defines those campaigns for you?
Laura> For both brands, I believe it’s a combination of the strength of the consumer insight, the brand offering an innovative and simple solution, and a really impactful creative execution with lots of emotional appeal that defines these campaigns. (Plus ambitious clients that want to produce excellent work.)
And initial signs on both brands are that they are delivering business results.
LBB> Advertising trades in cultural relevance. What's got your interest in culture right now?
Laura> Folk has always been on point culturally, and our work over the years has reflected this. We’ve always been in tune with what’s happening in music, literature, art, sport, fashion and food, and in more recent times, our attention has focussed on cultural shifts within Irish society. We’re having more conversations with our clients on the importance of reflecting that as brands.
We have just conducted a proprietary piece of research on the changing shape of Irish families and in our report, have highlighted the implications for marketers… so watch this space for more insight on that.
There have also been seismic shifts in how we as an industry can be more sustainable, so we play an active role in Ad Net Zero. Also, technology is changing the shape of what we do as an industry, so we’re navigating this change and its impact on culture daily.
