To enable a fluid relationship between content creators, their management and brands (that are keen to work with them), there are a few key qualities and thinking-points that are critical to have.
One being HONESTY. From my previous work experiences, I’ve overheard so many conversations in the office with the words budget and dishonesty in the same sentence which quite frankly, scares me! What I’ve learnt from watching the Backstage at SITC webinars is that you need to make being upfront about budgets and contracts your top priority when management speak to brands on behalf of creators. James, CEO at Rocket spoke about this really well when he said that you should be thinking about your next holiday and ask yourself the same questions for a potential partnership. Where is my destination? In other words, which creator are we looking to work with? Have we been to this destination before? How much is it to get to our favourite destination? When we get there, what’s the plan? It’s definitely a tool that I’ll think about when I’m involved in any kind of partnership.
Next up, invest time in figuring out the team you’re working with. I suppose this helps from either side, whether you’re on the brand team or creator team. Make sure that you know who will be your contact on the brand team and understand how that person fits into their own team. What’s his or hers title? Who works above them? Who works below them? Is there anyone that will be assisting him/her along the way? Once you’ve worked out how their team puzzle fits together to create the brand, get to know the team and create good relationships with them. At the end of the day, you’re both working towards the same goal of brand exposure and fantastic content so being on the same page with everything will make the outcome the best it can be.
This last point works for the creator, the management and the brand; having a growth mindset. In the webinar that I recently watched, Simon from The Sharper Group spoke about the crux of being a good manager is always looking for potential and making the conversations that you have between creators and brands a reality. I spoke to someone else in the industry recently on the phone and she said that she’s always looking five years down the line for the talent she looks after. Seeing potential in people is what I’ve learnt to be key in managing creators and can lead to some big, exciting things!
To summarise, the key is to go above and beyond for the people you’re working for and alongside. It may seem obvious to some but this really does seem like the key to success in this industry.
Photo by Kenrick Mills on Unsplash
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