It’s been a while since we profiled your brand reps – aka business development managers and executives etc. to give them a couple of their official titles.
Some might say it’s been too long. So here’s the eighth of our ten, and we enjoyed catching up with them so much and there are so many of you doing a similarly grand job, we’re going to feature reps every month. Get in touch if you want to be included.
Olivia Ennis
Business Development Executive
Glasgow city and west end
Olivia Ennis, 26, is Business Development Executive for Pernod Ricard covering Glasgow city centre and the west end. She’s been in the role for just over a year (she covered the off-trade for Pernod Ricard for about two years beforehand) so found herself very much in the eye of the pandemic storm without being furloughed, although she was briefly seconded. And loved it.
Says Olivia, “I haven’t been furloughed at all and Pernod Ricard reassured us at the beginning that our jobs were fine and this came as a tremendous relief of course. At one point I was seconded to HR and this is not something I ever would have conceived of doing before, but I learned a lot about the mechanics of the business and spoke to people I would never normally speak to. It was truly invaluable and has helped me in my BDE role.”
March is when Olivia went back to role preparing for activations, around St Patrick’s Day actually. “It was and still is very much about building relationships up again. We did a Jameson Whiskey masterclass at Kitty O’Shea’s in Glasgow via Facebook and the bar also streamed live music. Technology is a part of the job and this shows no signs of abating, we have come too far. But I think that customers are looking forward to the personal touch after the year we’ve all had.
“It’s also been great to see more creativity and new places opening or getting ready to open. Owners and operators have had time to sit and think and get to work on new projects and pivot their businesses. They are all looking for support from us and it’s great to see the industry working together even more closely like this.”
What makes a good brand rep aside from the obvious social skills you must possess? “You must be a good listener. Confident. Pick up on non-verbal cues. This job is a lot of account management. Driving sales and engagement long-term, not just getting it in and leaving them to it.”