Trailblazers and leaders: Andre Bogues

Andre Bogues | Senior Culture & Entertainment Manager | Diageo

How did you get into marketing/comms?

I always wanted to go into something creative and fast-paced, so during my second year of university, I did an internship at a fashion PR agency throughout London Fashion Week. As you could imagine, it was very busy, there were people everywhere and a lot of events to manage. And I loved it. I was studying law and anthropology at the time and decided to abandon a legal career, applied for a grad scheme at a big PR firm, and now here I am. 

What is something that you do everyday without fail?

Check Twitter. It really has become my go-to social media platform. It covers the intersection of so many things I care about: news, LGBTQIA+ rights, creative inspiration, and memes (a lot of memes).

What is the best piece of advice that you’ve received? And who gave it to you?

When looking to start a new project or even a new position, always make sure there’s a job to be done. It’s easy to get blinded by the idea of creating something cool and flashy or going to work for a company that’s recently been killing it but you have to ask yourself, “is there a job to be done here?" What’s the bigger goal and how are you adding value? There’s a lot of ‘stuff’ out there, it's important to not just add to the noise. An old mentor gave me that advice!

What is a tool/hack that you would recommend to anyone starting out in PR/Comms/Marketing?

Set Google Alerts for the things you’re working on or the things you really care about. Also, it’s easier said than done, but try and inject positive energy into every single task you do - even the admin ones.

What’s your greatest achievement to date?

I truly believe the best is yet to come but if I had to pick something, it’d be the recent Johnnie Walker campaign we just launched in GB. It’s a campaign that has a strong message around representation and has had such a great response from the community it speaks to.

Is there a particular comms campaign that you’ve seen in your career that you didn’t work on but wish you had?

It’s less of a comms campaign, but everything around the Gucci x Dapper Dan collection was great. I think I would have liked to work on it to ensure that Black creatives were championed and celebrated before people called Gucci out. The fact that Gucci held itself accountable, so publicly, is something a lot of brands can learn from. 

What’s the key skill you think a successful PR/comms/marketing pro requires?

Creative problem-solving. Essentially, everything we do addresses a problem. You’re tackling an insight, dealing with a crisis, or trying to find a new way to talk about a brand. It’s all about putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

In three words, describe your approach to your role/work? 

Cool, calm, creative.

What’s a question every PR/marketing pro should ask themselves?

What’s your overall purpose? How does all the work you’re doing tie together? What’s the impact you want to create?