Meet Ollie, Senior Account Manager

Tell us a little bit about you

Born in Bromley, made in Sevenoaks, studied in Leeds and completed at Picnic. At school I was unsure as to what I wanted to do as a profession. Unfortunately a football career looked unlikely, despite a few worldies in the lunchtime football classics. Upon taking up some career advice at school it was obvious that I could use my interpersonal skills within the advertising world. I studied Marketing and Advertising Management in Leeds and loved my experience there. It was all study and no play in Leeds and I have been able to use my skills within the industry and started working in 2017 at a disruptive player in the market Collective (TI Media). In terms of first jobs, it was a dream. I met some life long friends at the company and some inspirational figures that I still use for guidance years later. The Adtech  journey took me to Sublime and then Picnic.

Describe your role at Picnic

I am part of the commercial team at Picnic. We are still relatively new to the market and it’s exciting reaching out to brands with innovative and exciting ideas. It is also inspiring to see the growth we are going to achieve in the coming year. In sales, it is important to believe in the product you sell. Our ad formats are inspired by the engaging experiences of social media but placed on premium mobile inventory that prioritises the user, which makes the offering highly effective. When taking our product to market it’s nothing but positive feedback. And driving the proposition to each agency is such a rewarding and fulfilling experience.

Outside of that, I guess my role at Picnic is to be the number 1 pool player, make Dad jokes and give a ‘crooner’ experience when singing at the Karaoke nights.

What excites you about the industry?

I think the most exciting part about the industry is that it still has so much scope for evolution. There are so many niches within the industry with more being found/discovered all the time. It will be interesting to see what will happen with the VR world, cryptocurrency and evolutions to the social media channels. It will also be exciting to see what the industry will look like when Picnic takes over the global advertising environment.  

What are your passions outside of work?

Apart from reading the works of Geoffrey Chaucer and Phillipa Roet...I am a HUGE sports fan. Football, Golf, Tennis, Rugby, Cricket, Darts. I will watch it and I probably will play it. I am a 15 handicapper at golf and I am always on the look out for fellow budding golfers. I am also a season ticket holder for a South East London football team.

Other than that, I love my music and have been to Glastonbury the last two times amongst a number of different festivals. My music interests stretch from techno/house/dance to bands such as Royal Blood and the Arctic Monkeys. This is proven by my two karaoke songs being Abba- Gimmie Gimmie and Radiohead- Creep.

Finally, tell us a fun fact about you that people may not know.

Lanzarote.. Summer 2005.. I won best singer in the kids club after belting out there ain’t no party like an S Club party. I still have the medal at home for proof.

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