Staff Spotlight: The Marketing Team
Meet our new Marketing Team in our latest Staff Spotlight.
What is your role at the Corn Exchange?
Amy Brown - I'm the Marketing Manager, I lead the lovely marketing team!
Eden Harrhy - I'm the Marketing and Communications Coordinator, I do some social media, work with the press and write content for our news page on the website.
Emily Ayling - I’m the Marketing Officer, so I do all the social media bits!
Eleanor Davis - My role is Marketing Assistant. I contact companies who are coming to our stage, make web pages, emails and I am also the facilitator of the weekly film email that details all the films showing in our cinema!
What is your work background?
Amy Brown - I studied Communication and Media at the University of Leeds and then I worked many part time jobs before starting as Marketing Graduate at a motoring association. I worked my way up to Marketing Executive and then took a four-month travel break before applying at the Corn Exchange.
Eden Harrhy - I decided not to go to university after finishing my A-Levels and instead went to The Watermill Theatre as their Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation trainee in 2017 for one year. I ended up staying there for 5 years in total working in most departments including Stage Management, Production, Technical, Accommodation and of course Marketing. I made the decision to purely focus on Marketing and left theatre to work at a local online wedding directory where I wrote content, managed social media, worked with clients and delivered marketing packages. After a year I decided to look for a workplace closer to home and to my heart and that's when I applied for this position at the Corn Exchange.
Emily Ayling - I graduated from Bournemouth University with a degree in Television Production. I then worked at a farm park filming content for them, creating advertisements and social media content, then found my way to the Corn Exchange.
Eleanor Davis - I graduated from Bath Spa University, where I achieved a first-class BA (Hons) degree in Graphic Communication. The year of my graduation, I focused on pursing freelance illustration with my work featured in Cog Design's newsletter, Old But Gold Vintage and the independent good news magazine, Paperboy. Following on from my degree, I completed an internship, with an ethical documentary film company as a Junior Editor where my role expanded into design and marketing.
What does a typical day at work look like?
Amy Brown - No day is the same at the Corn Exchange which is why it keeps the role fresh and exciting. A typical day revolves around a lot of planning such as, preparing campaigns for the upcoming season and seeing how we can maximise sales for our shows which includes looking at advertising options including print, digital and social media (whether that is paid or organic). We do quite a lot of email marketing so my role also involves planning the emails that we will send throughout each month and at the moment we’re doing lots of prep for panto! I also can't forget to mention proof reading, a key aspect to all of our roles is proofing everyone's work to make sure its the best it can be.
Eden Harrhy - There is never a dull day in the Marketing department as there is always something different to do. Generally I will start by going over emails, reading sales, email and show reports that have come in overnight and then make a start on my job list for that day. Grabbing a hot drink from our Café Bar is always a must in the afternoons. I can highly recommend the hot chocolate and any of the delicious baked goods on offer.
Emily Ayling - Everyday is very different which is what I love so much but typically I will come in check through emails for any social media post requests from our visiting companies or internal requests, I’ll then get to work writing and creating the posts for that day. I also help out with our large emails that we send out, as well as doing graphic design work. My favourite days, however are days were I get to shoot content! Two highlights were making our Wes Anderson inspired Instagram reel back in the spring and more recently going along to the first read-through of Beauty and the Beast to shoot content too.
Eleanor Davis - A typical day in the office starts with a cup of tea, whilst checking through the emails from companies we have coming up in our program and keeping the Corn Exchange website up to date. I spend the morning making emails to send to our subscribers - my favourite is writing the film email which I get to do once a week! Around lunch, I pop over to front of house to check if there have been any flyer deliveries and I make sure to update the existing ones. I try not to get tempted by all the Camillas Bakes in our Café Bar and inevitably get a cake. Then once I've had my lunch, I come back to my desk to get started on contacting companies for their show information, all while answering the marketing phone line. At the end of the day I usually make the digital screens that can be seen in our foyer and then sign off for the day!
What do you enjoy most about your job?
Amy Brown - I love working with such friendly and inspiring people and working in an industry that I find interesting and exciting. I really enjoy the amount of varied shows that we have on offer and having the opportunity to go and see so many diverse shows, both indoors and outdoors - an excellent bonus!
Eden Harrhy - I think the fact that each day is never the same and we have clear targets to reach within that. I also love the sense of community within the organisation. We all help each other where we can and there is a lot of thought surrounding the wellbeing of the team both physically and mentally.
Emily Ayling - I love how close-knit we are as an organisation, it feels like a little community and it’s nice knowing the names of everyone in the company vs working in a HUGE corporation!
Eleanor Davis - A big part of my role is being the point of contact to send designs for all the amazing shows we have at the Corn Exchange - I find it fascinating being able to find out about all the exciting events we have coming up and getting to learn about these through research and then seeing the shows as well!
What inspires you to do your job?
Amy Brown - Seeing our hard work pay off is extremely inspiring and encouraging that we get to work with incredible staff and impressive companies on a day-to-day basis. For example, it was very exciting when we had Luke Jerram’s Museum of the Moon in the summer as we were very lucky to have a completely different piece of visual arts in our auditorium and it was inspiring to come up with creative ideas to market the installation.
Eden Harrhy - Watching the results of our hard work and what it brings to the local area.
Emily Ayling - Just being creative and having fun!
Eleanor Davis - I am forever inspired by the hard work I see from all the amazing staff at the Corn Exchange, from the creativity of everyone in the team to the productions we have on our stage and the place we take in the community.
What advice would you give someone who wants to work in theatre/the arts?
Amy Brown - Don’t give up as your opportunity will come along! I would also advise getting work experience in many different areas as possible, so you can find out which part of the industry you would like to work in.
Eden Harrhy - Contact your local arts centres/theatres and get experience. It's not all about having a degree in something, experience is something that will always shine through and by getting your foot in the door in your local area, it will benefit you hugely.
Emily Ayling - Make stuff in your own time, keep creating because the more you make the more creative ideas will come to you. I’ve been making fun little videos and messing around on photoshop since I was 14, who’d have thought just by teaching myself those skills for fun I’d actually turn my hobby into a career!
Eleanor Davis - There is always a place for you. I have felt lost so many times in my life and I have found that there is always a space waiting for you when the time is right.
If you're interested in a career in the arts take a look at our Careers in the Arts programme which is in conjunction with the Watermill Theatre. You can find out more about Careers in the Arts here.
