Edd Hood is Director, Communications, at JMI, the world’s largest motorsports agency. ESA Future Leaders Board member, Lizzie Isherwood, spoke to Edd about his role, how he got to where he is today and the highlights of his career to date.
In a nutshell, what does your role as Director, Communications entail?
In a nutshell? {laughs} I guess the core of my role is developing and managing the communications output of all JMI’s clients that are associated with the London office.
How did you get into sports marketing?
Following an extended time after university travelling and working overseas, I wanted to find a vent for my passion for sport – and get someone else to pay for me to watch more! Having secured a contract role in financial communications in London, I used the geographical benefit of being in the heart of the action to apply to a number of sports agencies for intern positions. My break came with Generate Sponsorship where I worked until moving to Karen Earl Sponsorship (now Synergy) for a three-month contract role for the 888.com World Snooker Championship. As the client didn’t renew the role was not made permanent, however it gave me a great glimpse of what was possible and kick-started my career to where I am now.
You moved from an account management role to a communications position. Did you encounter any challenges in that transition?
Communications is often seen as an “art” whereas account management has the perception of being a “science”. Depending on the history of the organisation, and the DNA that runs through it, there can be those who therefore feel that process and protocol, things that can actually be measured in a more tangible way, trump the more creative side of business. As someone who has (or had) a background in the “science” part and who moved into “art”, I’ve hopefully gone someway to dispelling the myths that the skills aren’t transferable.
There can also be challenges in moving from a world where you only have to manage one client, to managing a portfolio of several. Whilst single clients have a variety of stakeholders and markets, the objective should remain the same. But working with eight clients brings eight different reasons for being in the sport! No amount of training and preparation can instantly allow someone to understand everything all the time and, as a self-confessed “impatient individual”, I found this frustrating. I had to change my mindset and recalibrate my thinking in order to get around this potential issue.
What is the best part of your job?
The people within the organisation, and the sheer diversity of work that every day seems to bring. Oh, and did I mention the opportunity to travel and see all areas of the globe! That’s a pretty special part of what I get to do.
What is the most important thing you’ve learned in your career?
Trust in people and the team around you, and back yourself. Generally speaking, most of those in the industry have got to hold senior positions because they know a thing or two. Use them and learn from them, but also don’t be afraid to suggest different solutions to the problems that may come up. Even if it’s not accepted, it may lead someone else down a thought process that wouldn’t have happened if you’d kept quiet.
What advice would you give someone looking to get into a similar role?
Think about brands having stories. The reason why you buy a product or use a service is often due to an emotional connection, not merely what the product or service does. The ability to convey that story to a consumer in a creative way will make you stand out from the crowd. Also, don’t separate communications and account management too much. There’s actually very few positions within the corporate sector that don’t rely on communications to some degree, so if you’re a good account manager then you probably have the core skills to be a good communications professional, you just may not have realised it yet. Both roles are intrinsic parts of the sponsorship package and the closer they can work together the stronger an agency’s offering will be.
What are the stand-out moments of your career so far?
An immediate success that I can recollect was being part of the team who changed the focus of the UBSF1 account, and moved it from being 100% hospitality-led to bringing on board two dedicated communication specialists to help deliver and curate global content. This was born out of trust in both JMI’s position as an adviser as well as the quality of content possible from the people within the agency.
Another moment which springs to mind was around the UPS PR activity in Singapore, where JMI built a car out of plants! I think it’s safe to say there was a significant amount of skepticism, both in the concept and also in just how we were going to deliver this! However, the team stuck to its guns and completely nailed the delivery of that “blue sky” idea. The results we achieved clearly demonstrated that the idea had relevancy, and delivered on the objectives. And it’s something that is still talked about, and held in high regard, a year on.
Give three qualities that you think are important in a role such as yours.
I think that the following qualities are important generally, but I value; creativity, a sense of humour and tenacity. If you’ve got those then you’re 90% of the way to being good at what you do.