Emma Fletcher

5.55 AM

My alarm goes off and I slowly hop out of bed and get into my gym gear, eyes still half open. I’m not a morning person but I like to get to a 6:15am F45 class. Whilst I don’t like the early wake up call, I do like to work out every day and often events or catch ups with friends occur after work and I know if I don’t work out in the morning, I won’t work out at all, instead favouring social catch ups in the evening! 

8.00 AM

I head to work. Sometimes I like to walk the 30 minutes it takes me to get in, sometimes I get the bus. Today I drive because I have a car spot at work this month which is very convenient! As soon as I arrive at work I meet with my mentor, Jemma. Today we are meeting in the office for a quick chat about my upcoming graduate rotation, however usually we catch up over brekky once every two months to check in on work and life. I really enjoy our catch ups, as Jemma provides valuable perspective on any issues I may have or decisions I am dealing with (plus I score free smashed avo toast!).

8.30 AM

We head back to the office and I open my laptop for the day. I check my calendar first, so I can plan my day and make sure I am prepared for all my meetings. This afternoon I have a capability workshop, and before then I have a few WIPs (“work in progress”) with both external creative advertising agencies, as well as internal teams, so I know today will be busy. I also check any emails that have come in overnight, file away any that don’t require action and add to my to-do list those that do. 

9.00 AM

Whilst I have already had a coffee at breakfast, some of the team are heading upstairs to the kitchen to make some coffees. We have an awesome coffee machine that we can use anytime and whilst we make the coffees we chat about what’s happening at work and what our plans are for the weekend. 

9.15 AM

I start on my to-do list. It’s early December and the festive season is kicking off – I have been tasked by the Marketing Director to put together a Holiday Guide that includes a range of cocktail recipes using our products (they are all available to order on house account, our internal employee order system). I also decide to include a list of venues to visit if heading out around Sydney over the holiday period and I enlist the help of our field sales team to put that together. It’s been a fun job putting the content together. We have an internal design team that have developed an awesome looking guide with my content. Today I am reviewing the final draft and it is looking awesome and I give the go ahead to produce final art.

9.45 AM

As an activation manager, I manage the delivery of executions in on-premise venues (pubs, bars and clubs) and I also am in charge of post-activity measurement and evaluation. Today I am finalising the evaluation of a Bundaberg activation for NRL Footy Finals. I am working on my Excel skills and enlist the help of a finance manager to guide me through the process of analysing sales data and comparing sales results from our activity versus last year. Tomorrow I am presenting the results to the head of Customer Marketing so I make sure that I understand my data and have provided key learnings and recommendations for activity moving forward. 

10.30 AM

I am the project lead on two activations, one for Smirnoff and one for Johnnie Walker, which we will launch in a few months. When we develop an activity we have to do it well in advance – we have internal approval guidelines, and we create things like bar mats or menus that can take months to produce. To help us deliver these projects, we work in conjunction with external agencies. I have a weekly WIP with them to run through the projects and our deliverables, like creative strategy and execution standards. Today we are in the final stages of approving a bar mat and display for the Smirnoff kit. We are working on a spinning wheel on the bar mat so that when a consumer is waiting for a drink at the bar, they spin the wheel and it chooses them a soft drink or juice mixer to have with Smirnoff vodka. It’s fun and the spinning wheel solution works, so I give the go ahead for full production.  

11.00 AM

Innovation is an important strategic pillar of growth for DIAGEO and we are constantly working on ensuring we are ahead of the curve with drinks trends. Launching a new product requires input and support across a number of functions and is a truly collaborative team effort. This year, one of our big launches is Pimm’s on Tap. I am the shopper marketing lead on the project team that is working together to bring this concept to life. I work alongside innovation, supply, finance and sales teams to get this project to market and we have weekly WIPs with the whole project team to check in on the progress and work through any potential issues. Pimm’s on Tap launched two months ago, so today’s WIP is focussed on the executional standards we are seeing (i.e. the marketing visibility in venues) which falls under my remit, as well as the performance of our sales teams. 

11.30 AM

Back to my desk to follow up on a few actions that have come out of the Pimm’s meeting. I need to make sure that some deliveries of beer tap fonts I organised last week have made it to their destinations. I also tackle some of my to-do list, which includes reconciling the on-premise budget and spend for the year so far. I have kept good records this year so my preparation doesn’t take too long.  

12.15 PM

We have a lot of food options near work with a number of delis or Greenwood Plaza which is just up the road, but today I have my own lunch. I often bring my lunch to work and I will eat it in our bar that overlooks the harbour, or on nice days I’ll head up to the rooftop and enjoy the sunshine. A few of the other grads and I go up today and have fun discussing our upcoming holiday plans.

12.45 PM

On my way back downstairs to my desk I bump into our Events & Sponsorship Manager, Erin. Erin gave me tickets to a festival that was on the weekend just gone and she was keen to hear how it was. The festival was really fun and whilst I was there I also made sure I took mental notes on the bar experience and how our brands showed up, so I shared my thoughts with Erin. Smirnoff is our major festival brand and we recently launched a Smirnoff variant called Pure. Erin did a great job of ensuring it had top visibility at the festival bar.

1.00 PM

This year I led what has been the biggest project spend in the on-premise channel. It was a project across a number of DIAGEO brands like Johnnie Walker, Bundaberg Rum, Captain Morgan and Tanqueray, and it delivered menus and bar visibility items (like bar mats and back bar displays) for our field sales teams to activate in on-premise venues year round. As part of the delivery I am also capturing learnings because we will continue this program in the future. I have planned a catch up with Diego, who has just joined our team from DIAGEO in Peru. Diego led a similar program in Peru for Johnnie Walker and he shared his learnings and experience with me. Whilst the Peruvian and Australian markets are very different, Diego had some great suggestions on how we could improve the menu and develop the serve strategy for Johnnie Walker over the next year. I start to build it into some of the learnings I am building that will form a part of my recommendation on how we execute year two of the program.

2.00 PM

Our capability manager Ann-Marie has organised an afternoon workshop for the graduates. Sometimes we have capability workshops that focus on selling or negotiation skills that run across one or two days, but today it is focussing specifically on behavioural styles, so we have booked out the afternoon to focus on it.

5.15 PM

I have couple of friends who work nearby coming in this afternoon for a drink at HarBar, our internal bar. It gets its name from the amazing views we have over Sydney Harbour. It never gets old looking out across the Harbour Bridge, Opera House and city skyline! The bar is open from 5pm every Thursday and Friday (3pm on a Friday during summer when we get to finish early!) and the bartenders are some of Sydney’s best. We are spoilt for choice with almost any cocktail you can think of, as well as Guinness on tap.  It is a great way to end a day at work with a drink or two with friends or work colleagues.

7.00 PM

I leave HarBar with my friends and we say goodbye and make our way home. When I get home I make myself a quick steak and veggie dinner and enjoy relaxing on my couch with some TV – it is great to rest up after a busy day at work! 

10.30 PM

Off to bed now! It’s Friday tomorrow and I set my alarm for a bit later than usual. DIAGEO has a flexible working policy, so on Friday’s I like to sleep in and go to a later F45 class.