The Fishbowl: Georgina Iceton, AEG Europe
The Media Leader’s interview series asks the media industry’s top salespeople 10 revealing questions, drawn from our fishbowl. The questions will be drawn at random and contain some tricky posers set by the commercial chiefs themselves.
This week is Georgina Iceton, VP partnership activation, AEG Europe.
Georgina Iceton has worked at AEG in partnerships and business development since 2007.
In her current role she is responsible for selling and activating naming rights and sponsorship partners for AEG’s venues, festivals and events including British Summer Time, All Points East, The O2 ,the OVO Arena Wembley and more.
Prior to that she worked at outdoor media owner JCDecaux for more than four years as a senior business development manager.
She started her career in acquisitions and sales at broadcaster ITV.
**Peer question** How many days do you go into the office and why?
I work compressed hours which means I do five days in four — at first this was quite an adjustment but I now love the quiet hours at home each evening. It allows me to tidy up the remaining work from the day in peace.
I try to work from home on a Monday to help stretch my day, and in the office three days divided between The O2 and our head office in Blackfriars.
** Question from David Trencher, head of large customer sale, EMEA & Australia at Reddit.
What’s the quality that people admire most about you?
Often people admire how I juggle being a Mum of two with a busy career too. But that’s really only been made possible by the incredible team I work with and the flexibility within my job.
The international work actually lends itself quite well to my working pattern as I can pick my work up in the evening when the US team are just starting their day, or early when Australia/Asia is awake.
What keeps coming up in conversations with clients at the moment?
Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty. Brands want to keep the customers they’ve got and develop deeper relationships. When a service related brand is just price/promotion focussed, the customer can easily cut ties.
If a brand can develop a deeper relationship; understanding their customer interests and responding to them through smart loyalty programmes, then the customer is less likely to leave.
By reducing churn you grow because you keep the customers you’ve got, while customer acquisition is made easier too by demonstrating you’re a brand that cares and values your customers.
Which advertiser would you love to work with (but don’t already) and how would you sell a sponsorship opportunity specifically to them?
I’d love to work with eBay because I admire what they are doing to tackle the sustainability issues of the fashion industry, and I think that has such a huge role to play within the once-in-a-lifetime events that we host through our venues and festivals.
When Lana Del Ray played American Express presents BST Hyde Park this year, I had no idea how much her fans related her to floaty white dresses and I think we could have teamed up with eBay to drive people to their platform to make a more sustainable fashion choice.
Name all the streaming platforms you subscribe (pay money) to.
Hayu. With a crazy work/life balance when I do have time to stream I want mind-numbing junk TV and reality programmes fit the bill – Real Housewives, Summer House, Below Deck – love it!
I’m a lifetime Sky customer and currently working my way through the box of set of Succession.
I’m an Apple Music girl. I have too much invested in my Apple Music to jump ship to Spotify now, although I am curious about life on the other side.
**Peer question** If you could change one thing about the industry – what would it be?
Sadly, there are still not enough women in senior positions in the entertainment industry. There are some heroes out there — Sally Davies at Abbey Road Studios, Lucy Dixon at WME and Lucy Noble at AEG Presents are all people I admire but I’d love to see more female leadership across the board.
**Question from Ed Couchman, head of sales for UK & Northern Europe for Spotify, previously UK general manager at Snap at time of interview.
Who’s your best friend in the industry?
This sounds cheesy but my husband Glenn Iceton works in advertising too, and he’s still the person I go to the most for inspiration when working with brands and keeping up with advertising trends.
What is one of your greatest achievements?
I’m the business lead for AEG’s Family ENG and we put forward a proposal to change AEG’s parental leave policies which was accepted. This has extended the paid leave and made it more equal between birthing mother and partner as well as providing greater support for returning parents as they transition back into the workplace.
By encouraging partners to also take extended leave with a new child I hope that this provides opportunity for both parents to have that important bonding time with a new child, as well as help address the gender pay divide suffered by so many businesses. I was incredibly impressed and warmed by how open AEG was to accept the proposals put forward and to bring in these changes.
Outside your own company, which sales team is doing really well?
ITV are really changing the game at the moment with their integration of data and their platforms.
**Peer question** From a work perspective, what were you most proud of in the last year?
Launching American Express presents BST Hyde Park in 2022 after a two year gap from Covid was a huge feat. Not only were we a little bit out of practise with a new team in many areas, we also had a new naming rights partner as well as Vodafone, Asahi, Hard Rock and Accor all with signature partnerships and all box fresh to the festival.
The event didn’t go without its problems but the way the team showed up, pulled together and delivered time and time again was a true reflection of what AEG Global Partnerships is — a division within a business built on people who are dedicated and the best in the industry.
Our mission statement is to Reimagine World Class Partnerships and through that event I witnessed that taking place within every step.
**Question from Kelly Williams, managing director for commercial at ITV.
Read more Fishbowl interviews here and see what media’s top salespeople say about working in the industry and what concerns their clients. To suggest an interviewee, contact [email protected].