Get to know the media director at Union agency in Charlotte, NC as he talks about media campaigns in the time of COVID, planning campaigns and more.

Matt Ashbridge | Media Director | Union

Take 10: with Matt Ashbridge, Media Director

One of Union’s <a href="https://union.co/articles/take-10-matt-taylor">two Matts</a> and our unofficial bourbon connoisseur, Matt Ashbridge has always been fascinated by marketing. In his younger years, that took the form of creating competitive product descriptions for items he was selling on eBay. He began his true marketing career by launching digital marketing for a medspa, then leaving it all behind to teach English in Italy and Spain, and to handle marketing for a group of English academies. When the business took a turn, Matt came back to Charlotte and joined Union (then Studiobanks), where he’s been for the past six years.
He has also since cultivated his love for cooking, grilling and adoptable pit mixes. Matt calls his three-year-old pup, Russell, one of the better decisions he’s made. The two met shortly after Matt had ankle surgery and had to roll around on a knee scooter for six months. Russell was happy to pull.
As media director, Matt oversees <a href="https://union.co/services/data-brand-strategy/data-science-analytics">data and analytics</a>, and works with clients to determine the best ways Union can help them achieve their business goals. Behind the scenes, he’s busy ensuring the team, which includes experts in paid media, organic search and email marketing, is delivering successful results through media campaigns. Recent projects include launching a new email strategy for a racing team and initiating an SEO project for a collision repair network. 
So, how is he still doing all of this from home, now that Union is a <a href="https://union.co/articles/remote-digital-agency">remote digital agency</a> for the time being? Matt shares a look into his setup, and into strategies for media campaigns during a pandemic.
What’s your work-from-home setup like right now?
It’s kind of funny. I was working off my coffee table for the first week or so, but it was killing my back. I don’t really have a good place to put a desk, so I actually have two boxes that I put my coffee table on top of. Now it’s desk-height and working out great.
Why do media campaigns continue to be so important during this pandemic?
Digital media campaigns in particular are super important right now because the reality is that people have never spent more time online than they’re spending right now. It’s a unique opportunity that brands have to get in front of people and build a relationship and have their attention in a way that they never have before.
What’s one piece of advice you’d give to a brand that wants to keep advertising products and services during COVID-19?
Make sure that you’re aware of the current landscape and that you’re doing everything you can to get those products to people in a safe way. From a tactics and strategy perspective, you need to really understand where those customers are online and how they’re spending their down time, to determine the right way to reach them. You don't want to be tone deaf. Consider: What’s the best way to position your message around what you’re selling while also not coming across as opportunistic and insensitive?
A lot of brands have paused paid media campaigns during COVID-19. What’s a good way to redirect that budget to maintain marketing momentum?
As an organization, think about what are other things you’ve hoped to accomplish from a marketing perspective that you’ve never had time to do before? Now, we can focus our attention and efforts there to get the stuff done that we never would have been able to do when times were normal. So when we come out on the other end of this, you’re more prepared to be successful in your marketing efforts.
What’s the first thing prospective clients should consider when it comes to planning a media campaign?
Making sure they have tangible and defined goals set, leading into these conversations and leading into discussions around strategies and budgets. Digital media campaigns in particular can scale up or down drastically. What you spend and how you spend it is directly correlated to what your goals are and what you’re trying to accomplish with the campaign.
What do you want clients to know about Union’s campaign capabilities when they start working with us?
We’re extremely data-driven and obsessed with actual results. Clicks and impressions and engagement only mean so much – we’re focused on conversions and ROI.

Get to know Matt as he answers our 10 questions from his (interesting) work-from-home setup

What’s the best part of your job?One of the most rewarding parts of my job is seeing people succeed and seeing them grow in their careers and seeing them get promotions, which I’m involved in from a management perspective. I get to help guide them with focuses and honest conversations to help them grow professionally. On the client side, if we know what a client’s goals are and we’re running campaigns, we’re able to see data and analytics, what’s happening, where we need to pivot – and seeing those direct results and seeing the proof of the work that we’re doing is also really rewarding.Any side projects you’re working on?I started a meal prep service for my friends. I’ve been doing bulk meal prep and they’re paying me for it. It’s been a fun way to do my cooking. On the menu lately, there’s been pesto salmon, chicken thigh fajita bowls and bulgogi beef.What’s your brand?Actions over words. This is a concept I try to focus on in my personal life, and it’s something I value and look for in others. On the work side, it’s really easy to make big promises and talk about what we are going to do with clients during the new business process and what we are going to achieve. It’s another, much harder, thing to actually put that into action. We pride ourselves in not just talking about it, but actually doing it, and having the data and results to back it up. What are you up to at home when you’re not working these days?Hanging out with Russell. I’ve been doing a lot of cooking, bourbon sampling, catching up on some shows and movies, and exercising with the bikes I just assembled. I also bought a record player and started a record collection. I’ve been listening to a ton of music from the past, and new music I’ve never heard before.

Union is a creative &amp; performance marketing agency that creates omni-channel campaigns, unleashing creativity on a data-driven world, helping brands produce memorable, measurable and repeatable results. Obsessed with data-driven performance, we believe every marketing dollar should be viewed as an investment. Our clients expect a meaningful return and we prove the ROI of our work with quantifiable data.

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