Marta Jimenez, Content and Experience Director at OMD Spain spoke to La Publicidad about her experience starting a new role during the coronavirus pandemic.
The alarm clock goes off and I am looking forward to a new project. I turn on the radio, make my morning coffee, and listen to the new daily COVID-19 figures. Lockdown means I can’t kiss and hug my new OMD Spain team, so we settle for a video conference.
The coronavirus pandemic has changed our lives. I often think of all the delayed vacations, weddings and even divorces! I fantasise that all of this will soon just become a documentary that we watch on TV.
I don’t know where I will sit when we return to the office. I have the moving box stored in a closet unopened. COVID-19 has forced me to create a new workspace at home, where family and video conferences coexist several times a day. The “new normal” is where the barking of your dog, the purring of your cat or the doorbell ringing are part of incoming messages. I’d say this experience has made us infinitely more human in the eyes of our companions. In normal life, this might have taken a little longer. At OMD, we say that all this will make us better (#thiswillmakeusbetter) and I am convinced that this is true.
Business during the “new normal”
Everyone has gone through different phases. Clients are deciding how to adapt their businesses to the situation, and the media and producers are looking for a way out. Scientists are constantly analysing the coronavirus curve and its reflection on the economy. Then we were looking at how people have adapted to confinement and now, finally, the opening and return to activity of most of our clients.
During several editions, in the “Business as unusual” reports we have talked about changes, new habits and trends. We also addressed, inspired by Jeff Bezos, the idea of what will continue. This has inspired me a lot. First, the need to stay connected. Secondly, creating new environments for brands, and lastly, creativity and generating ideas.
Out of all the different types of crisis that are going on e.g. health, social, human, economic etc. At OMD, we are working so that there is now idea crisis. We are hunting for the appropriate messages for each brand through empathy.
We no longer work in the office, we now work from home. Tips for doing it efficiently are everywhere. During these months we have confirmed that it is more than possible. We save time commuting, reduce costs and increase productivity. In my opinion, I think there should be a review of the “social rules” of teleworking: cameras on always, looking for gaps for “virtual cafes” with easy conversations and sitting with the team without a purpose.
My first day went very well. After my coffee, a messenger arrived with his laptop and mobile. My first meeting with Cristina Barranco was full of energy, and then with my new colleagues, the Content & Experience team. OMD is my new virtual house. Every morning I travel from my house to my other house, without leaving the first, and living virtually in the second. Enjoying both families.
