1 year at Space & Time – Q&A with our Media Director Andy Griffiths

What’s your role at Space & Time?

Media Director – overseeing the Media Planning and Buying team at S&T and looking after our London office.

How has your role changed over the last year?

From day one I was brought in with a pretty fluid and broad job remit. The last year has been incredibly dynamic, and I’ve found myself playing a bigger role around our New Business output and supporting our Head of Programmatic on strategic development of his specialist team.

What’s been your passion project over the last year?

I was really lucky to be managed by a fantastic guy named Ian Anderson (now an authority in Retail Media) in my first ever media sales role back in my Publicis days, and I’ve retained a real passion for performance management and staff development ever since.

Over the last year I’ve focussed on defining and implementing a framework for growth and progression, which has been hugely rewarding. I’d like to think that our Media Team now have a clear understanding of what’s expected of them, how they can develop and progress, and the management/support to do so.

Another passion is Mental Health, and the agency has made some huge progress in how we approach this over the last year, which I’ve loved being a part of.

What’s been the highlight of your time at Space & Time so far?

Tough one as there have been so many in such a short period! My direct reports have doubled over the year I’ve been here, and I’m really proud of the team we’ve built and the talent they have. Implementing performance management to the extent it’s helped secure promotion for 30% of my team has been amazing and wouldn’t have been possible if it weren’t for the agency’s meritocratic culture.

Icing on the cake would be having dusted off the guitar and taking over our boardroom one night a week to jam with our PPC Team Manager Steve Jones!

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

Get a dog (just one of the examples where my wife was right…).

What film, album or book best describes your life?

The book Nine Lives by Matt Dawson.

Who is your favourite person to follow on social media?

It’s not a person, and this is going to sound contrived, but I’ve always enjoyed good ads ever since I was a kid. As a result, I love following Brilliant Ads on LinkedIn (highly recommended!).

Outside of that following my guitar heroes generally makes up my social feeds!

In today’s turbulent times what do agencies need to be doing for clients and staff?

More so than ever agencies have a responsibility to provide expertise and analysis, but in an actionable relatable way. The industry continues to innovate and adjust post GDPR, whilst brands are increasingly looking at in-housing. Providing guidance, training and leadership to both clients and staff alike can deliver real tangible value over and above a service or product.

What does the media industry look like for the rest of 2020?

I wish I’d been given these questions before COVID-19! I think that’s a tough one to judge, but what is clear already is that a number of really strong opportunities are arising from the shift in audience behaviour. Some publishers are enjoying sharp rises in readership, whilst the increase in online activity has created an abundance of inventory, with CPMs dropping and allowing advertisers to test digital tactics easier than ever before.