FM 2023 complete (1) - Flipbook - Page 28
Meet the MD –
Tracy Sorgionvanni,
We Are Collider
In Tracy stepped up to MD at innovative
brand experience agency We Are Collider.
This is an abbreviated version of the
interview that can be found online at
fieldmarketing.com by using the search on
the website.
WhatpartofthenewroleasMD
excitesyou?
It’s difficult to identify a specific part of
the role that excites me. We have such a
strong and talented team of people who
have a brilliant work ethic and live and
breathe our company values, so I really
believe that the world is our oyster. And
the chance to be at the helm, steering that
ship alongside such a wonderful CEO is
what excites me. Also, the opportunity to
bring in new talent, give them interesting,
fun and rewarding work and watch them
flourish.
female role models as I went through
my career. Living, inspiring examples
of the fact that it is possible to
overcome barriers to female
development in the sector
(unconscious and conscious bias,
poor recruitment practices, lack of
flexible working to support parents,
imposter syndrome/lack of
confidence…). Being a mentor and
role model is important to ensure our
wonderful industry benefits from a
diverse range of experience, insights
and approaches that only equity and
diversity in the workplace can bring.
Whatambitionsdoyouhavefor
WeAreCollidergoingforwards?
At the moment, for me it’s about
building on an already strong
foundation and optimising across
people, profit, process and profile.
Putting us in the best position to
attract the best talent and serve brave
and exciting clients who will value
brilliant work. I’d love for We Are
Collider to be seen as a ‘top tier’ agency within
the sector and to make the major players
nervous when they see us on pitch lists! In
terms of silverware to give us some formal
recognition – an Agency of the Year trophy and
a ‘great place to work’ mark certainly wouldn’t
go amiss.
How important is it to be a role
modeltowomenintheindustry?
Incredibly important. Apparently only 28%
of the leadership roles in the events
industry are held by women although we
are well represented across the industry
as a whole. It’s a complex issue and one
that I hosted a webinar to discuss with
female experiential leaders on
International Women’s Day. I saw a meme
yesterday that resonated with me – “I am
a woman that a younger me had always
admired but never really imagined they’d
be and that’s my greatest
accomplishment”. I never imagined it
because there was a distinct lack of
Meet the director – Julian
Duncan, Big Picture
Earlier in the year FMBE took the
opportunity to catch up with Julian
Duncan, director of Big Picture, an agency
that has a great track record at FMBE
Awards in the consumer electronics sector.
This is an abbreviated version of the
interview that can be found online at
fieldmarketing.com by using the search
on the website.
opportunities and routes to market. The
received wisdom on the future of retail
seems to change daily, so flexibility and
contingency planning will be the surest
way to ensure we can continue to support
our clients, whatever the future holds.
We believe that our field teams who
provide the more traditional face to face
experiences are also best placed to
deliver the virtual ones as well. This way
How do you see the current state
we can ensure that as the needs of the
oftheFMBEindustry?
Is it one of opportunity or threat to you or market change, we will always have skilled
resource to support it.
your clients?
The industry has needed to diversify in its
approach to customer engagement as the
retail environment changes. Those
agencies and manufacturers who have
embraced this will continue to find new
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Summer 2023
Whatwerethelandmarks
successes for Big Picture in the
last12months?
The growth of our B2B commercial teams
working across the globe is something we
are very proud of. To be able to support
every segment from consumer all the way
to large enterprise demonstrates the
scalability of our solutions. We have also
begun a world-wide roll-out of an online
Learning Management System after a
successful pilot, allowing us to influence
product training and sales engagement to
a global market. But success is measured
not only by the new clients who join us,
but the existing ones who see us as an
extension of their core team and not as
an external agency.
How would you like the agency to
haveshownitsprogressin12
months’time?
Whilst we have made many advances in
our hybrid service model, there are still
many solutions our current and future
clients would benefit from. Growth in
digital or face to face activities on their
own would be somewhat successful. But
growth in the number of clients to take
both as a way of being able to scale up
and down as required, would benefit both
the client’s ROI and the future of the
amazing teams we support and develop.
Big Picture has always been driven by
data, so we have developed some
powerful data management and analysis
tools using the PowerApps and PowerBI
platforms which are now being used by
clients globally. The key to success is
utilising all the services we provide to
ensure we are providing all our clients
with the best solution given the changing
landscape.