Erina Jones
Director of social, digital and AVOD
UKTV
It’s no mean feat to be leading a team of 19 at the age of 30 but that’s exactly what Erina Jones has achieved in her eight years at UKTV.
Since joining the broadcaster in 2015 as a social media manager, Jones has risen to head up its social and digital output as its director of social, online and AVOD. Her tenure has seen UKTV’s social media reach grow significantly. She’s also played a key role in many UKTV firsts, including the launch of a commercial YouTube channel for its flagship channel Dave, and a podcast centred on its original-content TV show Hypothetical.
Away from the office she has earned a scholarship from The Marketing Academy, the prestigious programme that has helps develop leaders. She gives back to the industry, too, sitting on the ISBA advisory council as well as volunteering her time as a mentor for Bloom, a professional network for women working in the marketing and communications industries.
Little wonder, then, she was descried by her nominator as “super smart, extremely humble and hugely passionate, knowledgeable and effective in her field”.
Jones, for her part, sees her success as proof that the days where social is seen as an “add-on” to the end of a campaign are over. “At UKTV, I’m proud that social media is a department in its own right and has a voice at the leadership table beside marketing, media, creative and comms,” she says. “It’s put me and my team on the same level as the more traditional and established areas, meaning we can create impactful work holistically rather than in silo, with social being at the heart of our ideas.”
Despite being very much at the coalface of new technology, Jones believes a balance needs to be struck between staying ahead of new advances, but keeping in mind the fundamentals. When it comes to new opportunities her mantra is to “test, learn, integrate” in order to find out what will be effective for the business. “However, I think a huge challenge for marketers, as the world continues to evolve at the pace it does, is getting distracted, and the ease of losing one’s path and focus.”
She continues: “As a leader, too, it’s your responsibility to ensure you can declutter, cut through the noise and provide focus for your team, as well as your senior stakeholders.”
As to where she sees marketing developing in the next decade, she believes “soft skills” will need to evolve in the context of where the world is now and where it’s going. Highlighting the economic downturn, the polarised political climate and the digital transformation that many businesses find themselves operating in, Jones believes marketers will need “resilience” in order to guide the industry through a tough period.
“Be comfortable with uncertainty and embrace change,” she implores. “Continue to practice and perfect influencing key stakeholders when marcomms spend and resource can be seen as a cost easy to cut, rather than an investment.”
"As a leader, it’s your responsibility to ensure you can declutter, cut through the noise and provide focus for your team, as well as your senior stakeholders."
