Team Accord: Matt Price, Creative Strategist

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12 Jun

Meet Matt, the mastermind behind our communication strategies, whose sharp insights and strategic thinking make him an invaluable asset to our team.

What inspired you to join Accord/ start a career in marketing?

Ask most marketing professionals this question and the consensus is “I fell into marketing”, and those words have come out of my mouth previously. Throughout my Business Management degree, the marketing module appealed to me the most; a marketing placement was secured in my second year of university, and it all became too familiar to make any changes.

Skip forward 18 months into my career and the inspiration to join Accord came from wanting to have more opportunity to be client facing. Following a random application submitted on LinkedIn, it was during the interview process when my decision to join Accord was cemented. From the tasks being discussed, to the people I’d be working with, it sounded like a company where I’d progress my career.

What is your role, and what do you enjoy most about it?

“Matching messages to mindsets” is the frequently used strapline for my role within the agency.

Without giving the generic response of ‘every day is different’, the most enjoyable part of my job is just that. As a Creative Strategist within the Strategy team, I get the opportunity to work across our full portfolio of clients. Gaining exposure to a variety of brands creates unique challenges, offering variety throughout my workload; therefore, every day is different.

What project are you most proud of?

“Enjoy yourself, on a premium value cruise. Enjoy yourself, we’re the one to choose” - introducing Ambassador Cruise Line, a key client that I’ve been heavily involved with in my role. Their most recent campaign was planned across a number of channels, including TV. The structure and organisation of messaging across this incredibly impactful and integrated campaign was a key responsibility of mine. Seeing the final campaign assets (shoutout to Accord’s Creative team) was a proud moment - the hard work really did pay off.

And what do you find the most challenging?

Agency life comes with a handful of challenges, but a solution always follows shortly afterwards - we are problem-solvers after all. But the one to pull out (spoiler alert, the solution is also shared) is the ability to keep track of the variety of tasks to ensure nothing is missed. Tasks come in all shapes and sizes, and it isn’t uncommon for something to slip through the net. But get yourself a pen and paper and create your to-do list. There is a reason to-do lists have been a reliable source for organisation and time management for so many years.

What do you get up to in your spare time outside of work?

Whenever someone asks this question, I start to think about all the hobbies I’d like to have, because in reality my list starts and ends with the gym (and that isn’t as consistent as I’d like it to be). On the opposite side of the coin, and only if it classifies as a ‘hobby’, food and eating out would be added to this list. You should see my photo dumps on Instagram displaying the latest meals I’ve enjoyed.

Outside of this, time outside of work tends to be spent exploring other countries, spending time with family or making more memories with my girlfriend and incredible circle of friends.

What advice would you give to someone starting in the industry?

Read. Read. Read.

Marketing literature fills the shelves in libraries up and down the country. Throughout university degrees and additional studies, marketing books will be recommended from varying individuals. But it was only on entry into the industry that the best book recommendations were presented to me - from other experienced professionals.

For anyone looking to start out in the marketing industry, my top five book recommendations are:

How Brands Grow - Byron Sharp
How Brands Grow Part 2 - Jenni Romaniuk & Byron Sharp
Better Brand Health - Byron Sharp
Lemon - Orlando Wood
The Long and Short of it - Les Binet and Peter Field

Going into the industry with the wealth of knowledge from the above literature allows you to always put your best foot forward.

Read Now: ‘The Long and the Short of It’ celebrates its 10th anniversary

If you could swap your role with anyone else in the company, who would it be and why?

Alex Smith, Senior Video Creative.

With a brain that offers creative thoughts, I’d always choose someone in the Creative team. But video specifically is thriving right now. Video format is the key source of entertainment for most consumers and watching Alex create assets for different clients portrays an exciting journey that delivers powerful outputs. Engaging consumers on an emotional level and creating a narrative for different brands can be accelerated via the use of video and I have a strong feeling it’s the future!

Unfortunately, my video editing skills are limited to creating Instagram Reels - but maybe in another life.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?

Quite an unusual superpower, but I’d want the ability to control time. I’m thinking a unique remote control that allows me to pause time, rewind, fast forward, etc just so I could live in key moments of life for longer. Many memories I have are ones I’d like to relive and there are also moments in the week when I need time to pause, just so I can keep up.

What’s the most interesting book, podcast, or movie you’ve read/watched recently, and why did it captivate you?

2023’s New Year’s resolution involved reading more and finding a style of book that I struggled to put down. James Smith, a successful personal trainer, became the author who inspired me to keep turning the page. Found in the non-fiction section of a bookstore, three books that cover topics connected to health, life advice and confidence captivated me. It was due to the fact I could take what I was reading and put it into the practice within my day-to-day life that I had to keep turning the page.

Some incredible advice across all three topics can be found in the James Smith trilogy and I regularly find myself going back to the conclusion from each book when I need to realign my thoughts and seek direction. Specific titles listed below:

Not a Diet Book
Not a Life Coach
How to be Confident

What’s something on your bucket list that you haven’t had the chance to do yet?

Slightly more time sensitive, but there are a few experiences on my 30 things before 30 list that are appropriate for answering this question. Without listing all 30, the ones I’m most excited for are: