The Art of Account Management: The Role Alvin Newsome Was Born For

Alvin Newsome is a senior account executive at PETERMAYER by day and a stand-up comic by night. He appears on Episode 5 of Second Chance Stage, streaming on Max.

LBB> How did you first get involved in account management and what appealed to you about it? 

Alvin> I stumbled into this field in 2010 as an account coordinator. In a past life, I was working in the sports industry doing ticket sales and just felt like I hit my ceiling. As I was starting to assess my professional direction, I began to look for something new. That something new came as an account coordinator position with a prominent agency in Dallas.

The position combined so many things I loved in sports and entertainment, but I also had the chance to work on multicultural marketing, which is a point of emphasis for me as an African American man. Once I was fortunate enough to get the position, I realised that I was born for this in the fact that I had interest in so many things but provided insights that befit the role of an account person. 

LBB> What is it about your personality, skills and experience that has made account management such a great fit? 

Alvin> I always pride myself on being a transparent and diligent person, two traits that could honestly fit in any profession. But as I’ve progressed in the industry, those traits have made me someone that clients see as a breath of fresh air, and they’ve helped make me a respected professional. It also doesn’t hurt that I moonlight as a stand-up comedian.

For a while, I didn’t think my life outside of work was important to my job; I looked at it as a hobby. But so much of it helps me in the day to day. Being able to present to clients unflinchingly and with humour is important in building a connection. 

LBB> What piece of advice would you give to someone just starting their career in account management? 

Alvin> Establish honest, thoughtful connections with your clients, colleagues and supervisors. I worked on a CPG brand, and a client asked me for work that wouldn’t fit a proper timeline. I was candid in explaining that we just couldn’t do what was being asked of us. This led to that client going to my superior.

The aftermath was uncomfortable; however, my colleagues and that client took away the knowledge that I would always be honest and provide real answers. Those moments help establish your character in the industry and set the path to have a successful long career in the industry. 

LBB> Thinking back to some of your most challenging experiences you’ve had in your career, what do you think tends to lie at the heart of the more tense or difficult client-agency relationships? 

Alvin> All the challenging experiences I’ve had in my agency life have been because of pressures and timing stresses that the clients have coming from their bosses. That’s why being transparent and helpful is important as an account person. It allows you to have the client’s ear and for them to know that you are in their corner. 

LBB> And what are the keys to building a productive and healthy relationship? 

Alvin> Honesty is important in healthy relationships in our industry lives, and personal lives as well. But when our colleagues and clients know they can rely on our word, it naturally builds healthy relationships.

LBB> What’s your view on disagreement and emotion—is there a place for it and if not, why not? If so, why—and what does productive disagreement look like? 

Alvin> Disagreements naturally happen in life. I might want pizza for dinner, you might want a burger. Doing the best work is built on passion, and I’ve found that tempers only flare when all parties truly care about what they’re doing. If the clients didn’t care, you could pass off anything to them, and if the agency didn’t care, the work would be mediocre. As long as we can agree to disagree and keep moving forward, conflict can only be positive when it’s respectful and rooted in the work. 

LBB> Historically, account management has been characterized as the mediator in an adversarial client and creative relationship - what do you make of that characterization, is there any nugget of truth in that or is it wildly inaccurate? 

Alvin> I think the account manager must be the empath of the group. You are trying to provide the client with a service while respecting your actual colleagues, your creative team. So, with that perspective you’re not a mediator but a trusted partner to all sides. 

LBB> These days, agencies do so much beyond traditional campaigns and as account management you’re pulling together creative, experience, data, e-commerce, social and more - and that complexity can often be mirrored on the client stakeholder side too? What’s the key to navigating (and helping the client navigate) that complexity? 

Alvin> Understanding the current advertising landscape helps you navigate the change. I know that sounds odd, but the only way to understand jazz would be to listen to Coltrane, Monk, etc. But another major key is understanding as an account person that you only know so much and that you need to use internal resources that are strong in areas, you’re weak. Your strategy team is your best friend by making the complex simple. Your creative team are always looking for cool things they wish they had designed. 

LBB> What recent projects are you proudest of and why? What was challenging about these projects from an account management perspective and how did you address those challenges? What was so satisfying about working on these projects? 

Alvin> I’m blown away by our recent work for Lumen Technology’s Quantum Fiber internet, called 'Your World, Unleashed.' The campaign is the launch of our client’s fiber internet. Seeing it in ads, billboards, TV, and radio spots is awesome and captures what true collaboration between an agency and client looks like.