The Art of Account Management: There Are No Shortcuts with Ed Howarth
Having led UK, EMEA, and Global accounts within a variety of sectors, for both mid-sized agencies, and heavy hitters like WPP (Wunderman and JWT), Ed has acquired a unique skillset for navigating complexity at speed across a breadth of clients. It’s this experience that has perfectly set him up for his current position at OLIVER as deputy CEO and chief client officer, where he works across some of the agencies’ largest clients.
LBB> How did you first get involved in account management and what appealed to you about it?
Ed> Account management appealed to me from an early age; for me, it was a perfect mix of business and creativity. I was sure it was a good career fit and pursued it with a lot of passion. It wasn’t easy to break into, I found myself competing with the Oxbridge set, but I was determined!
Flash forward to today, my role at OLIVER is all-encompassing; bridging account management, but also stretching far into global agency solution design expertise, change management processes, and application of the very latest technologies and innovations. Our unique approach means that account management within OLIVER is unlike any other role within the industry, something we’re incredibly proud to offer, and it provides a huge amount of job satisfaction to me.
LBB> What is it about your personality, skills, and experience that has made account management such a great fit?
Ed> I love the mix of running a commercial business, combined with what we deliver for our clients; the creative product, which drives these businesses forward and tempts an end user to use our client’s product over a competitor. I’m deeply competitive at heart, so I love the thrill of it.
I also love that each day is truly and constantly different. I’m lucky to get the opportunity to work across so many varied sectors, and it’s a privilege to get as close to our clients as they let us be. By becoming truly embedded in their business, we learn so much about their worlds, and this closeness is critical in helping us deliver value for them. This takes trust, but in return, we deliver performance and award-winning work.
LBB> What piece of advice would you give to someone just starting their career in account management?
Ed> Firstly, go for it! It’s never been a more exciting time to be in the industry. This sounds cliché, but we are at such an exciting period of technology, global connectivity, and actionable data coming together – and this role is at the centre of so much of the action.
Secondly, be prepared to work hard, really hard. Take every opportunity you can to grow and learn; your growth (and sustainability), are in your hands. You will get to work with some brilliant people who will inspire you daily, never take this for granted; not many industries have such a collection of vibrant talent and you will learn that your role in account management is to unlock and connect this talent, not always to be at the front.
Lastly, focus as much as you can on learning the tools to build trust and understand quickly how valuable this is. Then, do everything you can to never break this trust, it’s the most valuable thing you can create – whether this is with your colleagues, clients, or networks.
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?
Ed> Not having a shared goal and KPIs can lead to significant issues. You may be able to muddle along for a while, however, every successful relationship ultimately needs to be aligned to a shared goal and KPIs so that you can hold each other to account.
This vision should deliver on the here and now, but also contain a big stretch as to ‘where we go next’ so clients know you’re invested in their business success long term.
LBB> And what are the keys to building a productive and healthy relationship?
Ed> Trust. But also have fun. We laugh a lot at OLIVER; it’s underrated and easy to forget when the pressure is on, but the equation is simple - happy people deliver brilliant work, and in turn, this brilliant work delivers performance for our clients.
We really focus on getting this balance right across all our client teams, and I’m so lucky to work with very inspiring people every day. We have our challenging moments, as does any business, but we look after each other. Nothing beats the feeling of going through a challenge together and coming out the other side stronger and united; it bonds you very quickly and the trust it creates can lead to a bond for life.
This transcends into real chemistry, connected narrative and storytelling, and when you’re with clients, this chemistry shines through. In the world of marketing where talent can access a lot of the same or similar technology and data, it’s the creativity and chemistry of your teams that can set you apart.
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?
Ed> Healthy debate is a necessity of what we do, we deal with shades of grey every day. I work hard to ensure that everyone in the room gets to speak and put forward their opinions.
We focus very hard on diversity within our employee base at OLIVER, this helps us to ensure that our output is also diverse, inclusive, and big in its thinking – and productivity comes from this. As you work up the ladder and become more senior, you quickly realise that it’s not always about you having the answer, instead, you need to bring the right people together and facilitate those important discussions that lead to the best outcomes for your teams and the client.
LBB> Historically, account management has been characterised as the mediator in an adversarial client and creative relationship - what do you make of that characterisation, is there any nugget of truth in that or is it wildly inaccurate?
Ed> The account management role is a privileged position, allowing you to see the full 360 dynamic of the relationship. It's then your job to be acutely aware of each and every potential path that could play through.
Most importantly, being your client’s closest partner is critical to success. An ability to translate what is being asked into a solution that a whole team can follow, and staying true to it is a key defining quality of someone brilliant in this role.
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?
Ed> There is no shortcut for this, you have to do the work. Understand what is going on in your client’s world; listen and research to ensure that you are aware of the latest trends, tech capabilities, and innovations in that space. It’s incredibly fast-paced, but instead of being intimidated by the task at hand, you have to fully absorb yourself in it.
Practically this doesn’t mean you can be an expert, however, you need a core 360 understanding to help your client and team navigate the complexities and nuances at hand. Working with brilliant specialists helps a lot, and your role is to then know when and where to best deploy their talent for the best result.
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?
Ed> At OLIVER we design, build, and run bespoke in-house agencies and ecosystems on a global scale for some of the world’s biggest brands, across a variety of sectors and industries. As such, we are solution design experts, and so our account management teams are exposed to a plethora of challenges that span the fundamentals of setting up and running efficient and effective in-house ecosystems, as well as their ongoing marketing output.
The exposure to so much more than just a traditional account management role, whether it be problem-solving around tech, AI and automation, strategy alignment, people management, award-worthy creative work, and more, is what makes our teams the best in the business.
Recent challenges we’ve overcome at OLIVER were during a time when many businesses were navigating a turbulent economy, budget cuts, a cost-of-living crisis, an ever-growing need to do and be better sustainability-wise, and more.
The flexibility of our model and its processes, the access we have to incredible technology and AI tools as part of The Brandtech Group such as Pencil Pro, and the dedication of our people have meant that we have remained our clients’ closest partner. We stretch and flex to our clients' needs in a way typical agencies can’t, as we’re there on the ground with their people, fully embedded in their businesses and aligned with their strategies.
Agility and scalability have been key in addressing these challenges and have not only enabled our clients to adapt quickly to evolving business and consumer needs but in a way that doesn’t sacrifice quality or consistency. What’s been at the heart of all that problem-solving? Clear communication, trust, and partnership. All of which are key building blocks for a solid career in account management.
