A Day In The Life Of Clare Donald

08.45: Leadership Team Weekly Breakfast. Monday mornings are never the easiest, but I actually look forward to these weekly catch-ups. Charlie, Mick, Kevin and I spend a really useful hour discussing pitch updates, looking at work and sharing thoughts about people and innovation projects.  We sort of put the week in order and the world to rights.  Roughly 60/40 balance.  And plenty of mutual teasing keeps a perspective on things.

10.00: Neo@Ogilvy Autumn Briefing. 2017 predictions in the world of media & advertising are officially underway & the media arm of Ogilvy are hosting a briefing to kick things off.  Can’t believe we’re nearing the end of another year….   

11.00: ‘Working time’. It’s amazing how I have to block out my diary to protect my day for email catch up, meeting prep and THINKING. My very lovely PA, Jo is a staunch defender of my time. 

12:30: Stepping out for a walk around our very beautiful block.  Along the river to the Tate Modern and back is a really useful 15 minutes.  Helps to clear my mind and re-set for next session.

13.00: Our CCO Emma DeLaFosse is heading up Ogilvy’s contribution for the Common Ground project led by WPP & the UN.  Today we’re looking at the gender diversity brief WPP have taken on. There has been an incredible amount of attention given to the gender debate throughout the industrythis year so this initiative seems to naturally spur an abundance of ideas. 

14.00: I meet the digital team weekly for status and updates, and James is always a great source for inspiration.  Today he and Will are presenting thoughts about AI and chatbots. Makes me think of how we could use the technology for a number of our clients.

15.00: Ogilvy Change meeting. Talking all things behaviour change & how we’re applying that to an upcoming campaign for Amnesty. It’s hard not to feel inspired when around people whose job titles are Senior Choice Architects or Mind Modelers, and with Chief Cheerleader Rory Sutherland, there’s never a dull moment.

16.30: Makerspace briefing. We’ve recently gone to market with a new way of working that focuses on bringing ideas to life in beta - from products to experiences, apps to content. We ‘hack’ ideas to give clients a real sense of how the finished thing would work - a much more successful way of selling an idea.  Watching the team bring this plan to life has been a fascinating nod to the way advertising is evolving. 

18.45: Time to GO HOME! I always try to get away by 6.45 so that I can get home to have supper with the family at 7.30.  It’s rare that I don’t have a bit of email scrutiny after we’ve eaten, but I much prefer to do that at home having caught up on their days. With two teenagers it’s always enlightening.  Very ready to fall onto the sofa for some TV downtime.  Peaky Blinders is my latest obsession - what’s not to love about post-WWI gangsters from Birmingham?