The 8 qualities of great brand experience managers

Published: September 2022

Stress in the experience agency world

We bet you can’t name five jobs that are more stressful than that of a manager in the big bad world of brand experiences… that’s because there are only four. That’s right, according to this survey, only those in the military, firefighters, pilots and the police have a more stressful time at work. You don’t hear experience managers complaining though - probably because they’re too busy being organised.

Essential brand experience manager qualities

1. People Skills.

You can’t be quiet as a brand experience manager. Both before the event and during, you need to a be a top communicator and know how to work the crowd. There’ll be the requirement to deal with people at all levels of involvement, from the client, to performers, to support staff and even members of the public. Being able to both understand what people are telling you and to get the best out of each person you come across is an essential skill that is often taken for granted.

It’s important to build relationships when leading an experience or activation, so a brand experience manager can enjoy the up moments and breeze over the down moments. This helps you go far in the industry. Nothing ever goes completely to plan - how boring would that be? It helps to add a bit of humour when we can.

2. Communication Skills.

Not everybody at an activation, campaign event or experience has the knowledge of the team working on it, and some people present might have never even been part of such a team before. The brand experience manager should be able to weed out the jargon and translate it into actionable language to those involved. Remember someone that serves food does so because that is what they are good at, so the event manager must make the procedures of bringing food onto the site understandable so that everything is safe and executed to a high standard.

Being able to communicate with people in a way that delivers a clear message, excites people about what is in front and gets the best performance from each individual is a skill that should be practiced regularly. Getting the best out of people will make delivery much easier in the long run.

3. Organisation.

This one may seem obvious, but a brand experience manager must above all be organised. There will likely be several teams across different disciplines looking to the manager for direction, deadlines and instruction, so being organised is paramount to making sure activities are happening when and where they should be without delay. This sounds intense, but the burden can be lightened by strong preparation and experience.

Check-lists, project plans, tools and systems should all be part of the spinning sphere to help to deal with any request for information as it arises. The role is often compared to that of a plate spinner and rightly so - multi-tasking and delegating will feature heavily in activities once you step out of the office.

4. Passion

A brand experience manager really has to love their job and thankfully, although sometimes stressful, it can also be one of the most rewarding. The chance to see an event go from a tiny acorn to a place where the attendees are enjoying themselves and the client is happy as a result of hard work is one that is hard to come by in other jobs. Savour those moments of success and enjoy them when they come along, even if only for a minute.

5. Calm Under Pressure

The job wouldn’t be the same if there wasn’t pressure, but it’s important to be able to ride the waves calmly. A strong leader needs to be able to make decisions swiftly and take control of any situation that may arise, rather than crumble under the pressure. Not everyone will be able to remain calm, but it’s important to at least look like you are. In this role you are an example to your team, so remaining calm and collected is essential to maintaining that harmonious working environment.

6. Resourceful

“Who’s seen the Duct tape?!” is a familiar war cry back-stage at events, echoed from the depths of a structure by someone trying to ‘just make it work’. All the preparation in the world and the most sophisticated of assembly plans will still require some out-of-the-box thinking at some stage. Murphy’s law is a real thing, so be prepared for something to go wrong. Plan B is king.

7. Experience

In order to take on anything that is thrown at you, having experience in similar situations is irreplaceable. By doing so you gain experience that is invaluable when a similar scenario rears its head in the future. Knowing who to go to when something goes wrong and who to praise when something has gone right comes with time and putting yourself in as many situations as possible.

8. Open to learning

In every situation, you should be looking to learn in preparation for future events. Be it technical skills, practical or interpersonal skills, we can always improve. The best part? All improvements inevitably show in the results of the experiential event. Be open-minded, ready to learn and most importantly apply your learnings from the past. This is a skill in itself and when done right will set the good experience agencies apart from the great ones and help you deliver a successful event. We've noted down some more tips on how to achieve this top-tier experience here.