Trailblazers and leaders: Devonne Spence
Devonne Spence | Global Head of PR | GoCardless
How did you get into comms?
I started my career within Investment Banking at Citi then moved to an opening within Corporate Communications.
What does an average day look like?
730am: Start the day with hot water lemon and a BIG breakfast! BBC News, CNBC press digest across fintech and payments sectors. Read emails and manage any media or agency enquiries.
10am: Morning coffee with the marketing team to discuss priorities for the day, manage any campaigns, social media, content or media outreach that is happening that day.
11am: Collaboration with Global Head of Comms, Small Business and Enterprise liaisons to discuss upcoming partnerships or new customers that might create top tier news flow.
12:00: Track any potential news flow via the company slack channel.
1pm: Quick bike ride followed by lunch. My diary is blocked everyday 1230 to 2pm, its important to have time out from all the Zoom calls to keep healthy during this difficult times. Fresh air and exercise is also great for creativity.
2pm onwards: Strategy meetings - I manage a team of five PR agencies. We have weekly check-ins to discuss pipeline, opportunities, blockers etc. Meetings tend to run back to back, close with a planning meeting with our team in North America.
8pm: Laptop away with a final email check at 9pm when our offices in Australia open.
What advice would you give your 21 year old self?
London babyyyyyy.
What is the one thing you wish you’d known when you started working?
That you can do what YOU want to do and you really don't need everyone's approval.
What’s your greatest achievement to date?
My university degree in tech, management and French was perfect grounding for my career and still serves me today. I also worked for a year in Cannes where I came to understand super wealth for the first time! Leeds: my uni town was also the place I learnt to rave:)
Is there a particular comms campaign that you’ve seen in your career that you didn’t work on but wish you had?
My favourite marketing and PR campaign has to be the Manchester United announcement of Paul Pogba (the most expensive football player in history) that campaign was like nothing I'd seen in sport. Man United made the announcement in the middle of the night like a Beyonce album. Fans woke up to a frenzy of social media commentary to the backdrop of grime music and messages of support from Snoop Dogg. The campaign reflected diversity, spoke directly to future Pogbas but also reflected the history of Man United and the players that had come before. Pogba is a player that transcends football and the campaign brought significant commercial revenue to shirt sponsor Adidas but the story amplification was the winner.
What’s the key skill you think a successful comms person requires?
Be a decision maker (backed with as much data/metrics as possible). Be confident in what you can achieve and commit to it. Once the campaign/story has landed - lead the debrief. Your colleagues and management will welcome this trait and trust your judgement.
Devonne Spence is a panellist for the UKBCNPresents Position & Purpose webinar which takes place on Wednesday 13th January at 6.30pm. Get tickets