My Creative Hero: Harry Styles
Meg is a branded content expert, with a specialty in entertainment. She has over 13 years of experience delivering campaigns and impact. Speaking of 13, Meg has also seen Harry Styles in concert 13 times. Meg’s professional experience focuses on digital, partnerships, and integrated marketing. She has experience across multiple verticals: film, television, sport, news, music, fashion, fine art, and live event with brands within technology, financial services, food and beverage, beauty, and fashion. Prior to joining R&CPMK, Grogan worked at Microsoft managing brand partnerships for Skype and Office. Her work there included marketing strategy, brand integration, branded content, and music. Meg has lived in New York, London, and Los Angeles, and is truly a global marketer.
LBB> Who would you say is your creative hero?
Meg> Let me start by saying that I was not – nor have I ever been – a One Direction-er. In fact, when I first moved to London early on in my career, Simon Cowell’s Syco Productions came to me and said, there’s this band called One Direction coming out of The X Factor, do I want to work on their social media? I laughed and politely declined. But that karmic moment early on in my career of saying no thanks to Harry Styles has haunted and surrounded me for the rest of my professional career.
Working in the talent and influencer space, it makes a lot of sense for me to be constantly inspired by a celebrity talent of this calibre, because we believe that the power of celebrity is how brands can borrow equity and associate themselves with that cool factor. It’s the most effective form of marketing. Think about the evolution of marketing from newspaper to radio to television to social and digital media, celebrities have been at the heart of that and, when we feel that we have something in common with them, it can deeply affect our purchase decisions.
But for me, my passion for Harry Styles goes beyond the subconscious…
Meg at Harry’s House Pop Up (matching Harry’s House album cover)
LBB> How long has he been important to you and what are your first memories of meeting him or coming across his work?
Meg> My journey with Harry began peak pandemic in June 2020. It was an interesting discovery for me – it was on TikTok. And I’m a radio person. So for me to discover my now favourite artist on TikTok was surprising to me; it’s an algorithm based on clicks and likes, not someone telling me that his album is amazing. But here I am on TikTok and I see this force of a human jumping around, being happy, dancing, sharing his love of music and colour with the world – and I was caught.
Meg attending her first Harry Styles concert in Sacramento
Despite working in music and entertainment, and having been to 13 of Harry’s concerts, I’ve never met him in person; at least not properly. Early on as his solo career was taking off, we did pass each other in the hotel bar at The Waldorf Hotel in Beverly Hills. He was wearing a green silk shirt and pink suede suit (an outfit that reminds me of something my Mom wore). It’s only when I’m up close, I realise it’s Harry and say: “I like your outfit. Real Sally Grogan vibes.” I like to think he’s spent the last few years wondering who Sally Grogan is. I’d love to clear that up one day.
I know exactly what I’d say to him if I met him today: “thank you for being such a kind and happy person. You’ve made me a kinder and happier person.” Even though we have worked with fifty percent of the Avengers, Megan Thee Stallion, Pete Davidson, Miley Cyrus, Pedro Pascal, Cardi B, and Taylor Swift, I’m still waiting for that brand to come along that will put me in Harry’s orbit - that will be my moment.
LBB> How did you go about finding to learn more about him and his work?
Meg> Following my discovery on TikTok, hours and hours of my time went into learning everything I could about Harry Styles – where he came from, who his musical inspirations were, understanding his relationship with Stevie Nicks – and then I started to see him as more than just a member of a boy band.
From there, Harry has infiltrated many aspects of my personal and professional life.
At all times, I’m wearing something inspired by Harry, however small. I have a tour poster on the wall in my office and I’ve been in multiple professional meetings wearing tour T-shirts. I even own a pair of Satellite Stompers (the Gucci x Adidas gazelles he wears) which have become my power shoe. All of these Harry-inspired things make me happy and make my day better.
I’ve even recently taken up a new hobby and started to learn to play the drums, inspired by his drummer Sarah Jones. After about a year and a half of practice, I now know five songs – one of course being one of Harry’s!
LBB> Why is he such an inspiration to you?
Meg> There were things about Harry’s personality that deeply resonated with me: his talent, his creativity, his musical skills and his comfort in being himself. I’m at a stage in my life where I feel equally as comfortable with who I am, what I’m doing, and what I’m passionate about, and I’m not trying to change that. The messages, the values, the inclusivity, the energy, the spirit – it all transcends the vessel. We’re now all having conversations about men wearing dresses. He creates a safe space and a community where people can be themselves and be together. What he stands for is really true. His tour is called 'LOVE ON TOUR' for a reason, he really lives it.
Meg wearing Harry’s Love on Tour T-shirt at the Forum in LA
His whole message is to just be kind to each other - he wrote a song about it.
Harry Styles - Treat People With Kindness
Treating people with kindness is a mantra that my mom instilled into me and my sisters from a young age and is something that I have always lived by (far pre-dating my passion for Harry) – so it felt like all these things were aligning when I got to know him, and it makes me a better person.
LBB> How does he influence you in your approach to your creative work?
Meg> Being shamelessly, unapologetically passionate about something has an impact at every level of an executive team. My love of Harry is known right up at the top. At R&CPMK, we say that our passions are our expertise. I’m passionate about Harry, passionate about talent and how they connect with individuals and brands. It means I truly understand every part of my job because it’s something I live and breathe outside of my day-to-day.
Harry has real taste and a real vision, and I think that’s really important that we define ourselves, as working professionals, and make sure that our taste and our vision carries through into the work we produce. Harry does that in spades. He’s also become a bit of an inspiration to my team. Whereas people can be polarised by other artists and talent, Harry is universal; everyone can sing, hum, or dance to a Harry song.
Meg getting ready for the first show of Love on Tour in NYC
He has become so much of my personal brand that when any member of my team sees anything about Harry, they send it to me. There’s no stronger connection than that branding. I even have a small statue of Harry from his Grammy’s performance on my desk; from the performance where the stage moved backwards. I’m always telling my team to be inspired by Little Harry, because the stage is going to move backwards, everything in our jobs is going to get messed up and things will go wrong, but, if you put in the work, it will speak for itself, and you’re going to win Album of the Year. That’s a real Harry moment and I feel like we should all be more Harry.
LBB> What piece of his work do you keep coming back to and why?
Meg> It’s not just one piece of Harry’s work – it’s everything about him and what he stands for. I love music, I love a shared experience, I love performance, I love community. Music can be a real vessel and a vehicle for so many good things to happen.
It’s a no brainer that Harry is my inspiration. He’s unlocked so much happiness – not just in me but in the community that surrounds him. More than that, I’m deeply engaged in Harry being responsible for me finding the love on my life, determined to prove my sisters wrong and meet my future husband at a Harry Styles concert… but that’s understanding partnerships in another dimension!
