Why I Love Mondays

Paul Dervan, Brand and Campaigns Manager, O2 Ireland

Company: O2 Ireland

Job description: Brand and Campaigns Manager for the consumers segments. My team create all the advertising, direct and digital marketing as well as managing the o2.ie website and our social media.

Likes: Nothing cheers me more than a good fight about a headline for an outdoor ad. A few of my colleagues write some exceptionally charming copy. That also makes me smile. I like big picture stuff and spend considerable amounts of time thinking about how we can organise ourselves and our budget to do things cheaper, quicker or with fewer handovers.

Career ladder: I’ve been in O2 for almost 8 years, always in a brand and marketing comms role. I’ve been lucky to work for some very smart marketers like Paul Farrell and Damian Devaney. My manager Jonnie Cahill, Head of Brand in O2, is a top guy – and is probably thinking of giving me a bonus:) Prior to O2, I spent some time with Cybercom, the talented digital agency. Before that, I spent a few years with Interactive Return, now part of digital agency Radical.

Qualifications: I did a Business degree in Trinity after school. Then, about ten years ago, while working in the digital agencies, I did a diploma in Direct and Interactive Marketing with The Institute of Direct Marketing, UK. While working in O2, I did an MBA in Smurfit UCD during the evenings.

Working hours: In O2, the focus is more on delivering results, and less on watching the clock. The actual working hours are flexible. Most of my team work from home one day a week. It is not unusual for people to work late or weekends. My own hours are normal enough unless we’re about to launch a new campaign. I live just next door, so tend to disappear for a couple of hours every day or two for some ‘paulie time’. My colleagues think I’m just going home for a sleep but I like to turn off email and scribble boxes and circles on my notepad. That clears the head.

Breaktime: I’m fond of the coffee. A lot of meetings happen in the canteen over subsidised coffee. The office is by Grand Canal dock so there are lots of decent coffee shops around too.

Social media credentials: In December 2007 I sent my first tweet – to Southwest Airlines asking them if they really follow each and every one of their customers. I remember thinking “Customers generally subscribe to brands, not the other way around and that this was a very interesting innovation in customer service”. I’ve been blogging about brands and marketing for a few years. I like to write and blogging is a good way to articulate my thoughts. As I’m responsible for O2’s social media strategy, I’m interested in facebook and their fast innovations, but I’m actually not a big user of it myself. I just look at wedding photos when I get tagged. I’m a regular user of LinkedIn though and impressed with how they are making their stuff easier to share.

News: The Irish Times is my homepage. I get Irish Times twitter updates too.

Onsite or offsite: I’m mostly onsite.

Why do you love Mondays: I don’t like Sunday nights. I find my head is racing with list of things to do and I don’t sleep well. Monday mornings are good though. I get a coffee and don’t turn on email till I’ve listed out the stuff that needs to be done. This generally involves some scribbling of boxes and circles on my notepad.