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Leigh Gammons, EMEA CEO of Wunderman Thompson Technology, will be introduced at today’s “Day in the Life”.

After taking over as CEO in early 2020, Leigh explains how he managed to manage his new role (alongside the arrival of a new baby) while working from his dining table … We also address changing customer expectations and how brands can best meet them .

How big was the challenge of taking on the new role of CEO remotely?

It was a completely new chapter for me and the company. It is the first time that we have a CEO other than our founder and also my first CEO role. What a time to do it!

The rebranding (which became Wunderman Thompson Technology) during the pandemic had its ups and downs, but everyone did a great job making sure we didn’t lose our culture or identity along the way.

I think the biggest challenge for me was working with my teams. I really tried to make sure I listen to everyone and stand next to them in the trenches when things get tough. You want to talk to people and actually spend time with them, but that obviously wasn’t possible, which is not ideal. I tried to really focus on balancing a full day of teams meetings as much as possible with developing those personal relationships and interacting with teams and individuals.

Also, as the CEO, you are the person who shares most of the information with the company most of the time. In the past, you could have one-to-one conversations with company executives and then pass the information on, but it’s not that easy at the moment. I have noticed that you need to be more careful about providing and sharing information.

Tell us about a typical day …

I think having a baby in lockdown changed my attitude towards a typical day. He’s 9 months old now, so it’s getting a little easier and I’m definitely more routine with work.

I try to sit at my desk for about an hour to check my email and respond to any immediate issues when I first wake up. Then taking a step back in the fresh air early in the day really helps clear your mind. Taking the baby and our dog Balu for a walk first has become a morning ritual. It also gives me the opportunity to meet my team away from the computer screen.

Then it’s just a case of getting on with my day. The marathon of teams and Zoom calls can make it quite difficult to get things done and constantly switching between customer calls, internal calls, and company-wide updates isn’t easy.

I make sure to finish each day and spend some time with the little boy. I try to take him with me in the evening to give my wife a little break and then it’s bath time for him. Getting away from the computer in the evening and spending some quality time with my family is key.

How do you maintain an effective work-life balance?

The most important thing for me is that you plan in the time outside of work and stick to it as much as possible. I know this isn’t as easy as it sounds, but I’ve made a conscious effort to spend time with my family. Your laptop is always around these days, but you need to make sure that you are doing other things to keep your mind and body healthy. I always tried to run 1,000 km a year and I kept to this ritual. It takes me outside; I listen to a podcast and try to distract myself from work for a while.

I really urge people to take some time off. Even if you haven’t planned a vacation, it’s important to have a block of time outside of the home office. Turn everything off, switch to autopilot for a moment, and take an annual vacation when you don’t think about work at all. I managed to take a few days off last month and not looking at my computer screen all day made a huge difference.

How has your company’s strategy changed in the last 18 months?

We were extremely lucky. Having clients in sectors that haven’t been too badly affected over the past year has been very fortunate and the transition to remote working hasn’t been all that difficult for us as a tech company.

Even if we’re not out of the woods yet, things look promising and we can envision a future where more of us will be in our offices in some form. Of course it will be very different from what we are used to, but as CEO I want to make sure we focus on the people we work with (employees, customers and partners) to make sure they are in the best position to do this move forward.

I think some of the effects of what we’ve all been through – in terms of wellbeing, new habits, and the way we want to live our lives based on that experience – will only be felt over time. But we’re not going to force anyone back into the office. Organizations that can successfully create hybrid environments have the best transition out of lockdown.

How has customer behavior (or the customer behavior of your customers) changed during the pandemic?

Expectations are higher than ever since Covid. After a year on the internet, consumers are now accepting that this is the standard way to do business. Most of our existing customers are already pretty far on the digital maturity curve, so we’re really trying to focus on ways we can help them use technology to deliver even better customer experiences.

Covid has changed the way we all live, work and consume and we must embrace these changes in order to make the future a better place for everyone. Increased expectations will be vital in future customer interactions. Brands have a lot of power to move forward and we have the knowledge and experience to help them.

What do you forecast for the future?

I hope we all look back on 2020 as the year that things have changed for the better in the modern age, especially for the marketing industry. The way people grapple with ideas, initiatives and opportunities surrounding many of the world’s problems is often created or promoted by brands and companies like ours that people remember more than ever.

We have such a great opportunity to make change for the better and our industry is doing its part to get people on board with the right information at the right time. I often say that customer trust is becoming the new currency, and I truly believe that the most successful companies will be those that consistently maintain consumer trust in the years to come.

What advice would you give someone in your industry right now?

The first thing I would say to someone is that you have to be very open-minded. If we look at where our industry is today compared to 10, five or even two years ago, it is unrecognizable. Don’t think that you know the answers all the time.

Also, in every decision you make, you need to put the customer first. Delivering the right experiences to customers at the right time is critical. Everything else is secondary I would say. With these two priorities in place, the strategy will often take care of itself.