I had a seriously cool, penny-dropping moment this week.
I’m the newbie in the office and, whilst I felt like I’ve found my feet pretty quickly, I had a mini epiphany over a cup of coffee yesterday afternoon.
It’s all about the team. Everything pretty much boils down to the fact that every single member of Idenna works proactively together to produce an outcome that not only ultimately satisfies the client, but also showcases the talent of everyone involved.
I’m a writer through and through. Since I could spell my name I’ve dreamt of writing bestselling novels, critically acclaimed articles and moving prose. I love to read and my writing is heavily influenced by fiction and pretty poetry. Even though marketing is a whole new ball game for me, I was over the moon when I was offered the position of Creative Content Writer at Idenna.
Let me set the scene. We were tasked with writing a minimalistic and stylish introductory newsletter for one of our clients. An email pings into my inbox: “Hey bird, meeting in 5 about this.”
So far my workload had been well within my comfort zone; blogs about coastal walks, Instagram posts for picturesque places, lots of emails and phone calls about cute animals and the occasional newsletter for gorgeous venues. Could I put together text for a sleek, refined, expensive product, when I myself am absolutely none of those things?
Deep breath, take the dog out for a quick walk, push the I-totally-cannot-do-this attitude back down my throat.
It all started in the Copy team. The Account Manager for the client had the original ideas. She explained it calmly and exactly and, even though I was slightly panicked, she couldn’t have laid it out for me more simply. There was a rough design in biro on the back of a piece of paper, but I could instantly tell that she knew exactly what would work and what the client wanted.
Our Copy Editor is always, always on hand to help. She helped us brainstorm, pointed me in the right direction and promised me she would help me with anything I needed. I think I smiled unconvincingly and sloped off back to my desk.
Ball back in my court, I didn’t let myself stare at a blank screen for too long. As many people also find, starting is the hardest part. Luckily my Copy team had pushed me pretty hard in the right direction and all that was left for me to do was run with it. After lots of research, website trawling and scribbled spider diagrams, I had produced something I was happy with so I sent it to back to the rest of the Copy team, who then sent it back with a couple amendments. We had settled on a final draft.
The next piece of the puzzle was in the hands of our Web and Graphic Designer. Within minutes, the biro doodle became a living, breathing, email newsletter. Exactly what we pictured in our minds eye became a reality. Moving GIFs were created, images were scaled and inserted, my text was pasted in and the project took form and was dropped back in my inbox. Simples.
I guess I assumed that was it; in my opinion it looked great. Our Copy Editor is always sunshine and rainbows, but she has also a hawk eye for detail and is great at digging deep for constructive criticism. “Why don’t you run it back through the graphics team and see if it can be refined further? It looks great, but I think they can make it sparkle.” I’m slowly gauging the high standard that we work to here at Idenna. Everything always looks perfect.
It returned looking incredible. I didn’t even know the newsletter needed something until it came back looking the way it did (and that is why I am a writer and not a graphic designer…) Every little part of it looked polished, perfectly portraying the business it was representing.
All it needed was a few final finishing touches. The client wanted to add in video (cue my frustration when I couldn’t centralise the media), but our Project Manager and Producer has a mastermind for coding and fixed my problem in about five seconds. Our Copy Editor then re-read, tweaked and approved the finished piece before I sent it off to the client.
One newsletter has taught me a lot. For one, by combining my raw skill for writing, with the knowledge and support of everyone here at Idenna, I am absolutely capable of doing anything I put my mind to. And secondly, I have learnt that every single member of the team here has something unique and compelling to offer. From the original idea, progressing through each stage and to finally reaching a stunning outcome.
The team stitches everything together seamlessly. All skill sets are utilised and personified in everything we do; be it complicated film projects or engaging social media posts. There’s so much going on behind the scenes, always with a helping hand or an exciting idea. I’m so excited to bring my writing to the table, I can’t believe that words, my favourite thing ever (aside from my dog), have allowed me to shape a career in Cornwall, my beautiful home. I feel proud to be part of such a rad team.