You probably don’t recognise its name, but you should be able to recall it from the satisfaction it brought. Experiential marketing comes in many forms, all with the goal of offering engaging experiences that connect people with the sponsoring brand – once through live events, but increasingly in digital and hybrid forms.
One of the masters of the art is Irish creative agency Verve, the Live Agency, which over the years has done everything from organising the Vhi Women’s Mini Marathon to supporting Pimm’s sponsorship at Wimbledon, to creating the Aer Lingus float at the Dublin Pride parade, and is currently working with five of the top 10 global brands.
Set up by CEO Ronan Traynor in 1991, the company now has offices in two of Europe’s most competitive creative markets – London and Amsterdam in addition to its Dublin headquarters – and, having achieved a record turnover of €46m in 2022, was successfully acquired by US firm The Opus Group in 2022.
Secret of success
Joining the company in 2016 and today finance director, UK and Benelux, Lucky O’Loughlin FCCA says the secret of Verve’s success is ‘very simply, our teams are the best at what they do’.
‘Being cost effective is important for clients, but so too is being cost transparent’
It’s a commitment to excellence that’s as strong in the finance function as elsewhere. ‘We are not a traditional finance department,’ she says. ‘We don’t only look at the historical numbers, but also future growth. We work with our creative partners from the initial budgeting right up to final delivery.’
CV
2023
Director, Connect Family Resource Centre
2016
Joins Verve, The Live Agency, rising to role of finance director, UK and Benelux
2013
GL accountant, GameStop
2011
Becomes a member of ACCA
2004
Graduates with master’s degree in accounting, National University, Bangladesh
Being cost effective is important for clients, but so too is being cost transparent, O’Loughlin adds. She is proud of the recent introduction of a cost management system that ‘makes everything visible for our partners. They can see the costs involved, hours worked and any discounts we have secured for them. It provides a strong basis for building the relationship in the future.’
The pandemic era was, unsurprisingly, exceptionally difficult for a business based on live and in-person experiences, but as O’Loughlin explains, ‘Within a few months we had pivoted to become not only virtual event experts but, I would say, the leading agency in the area.’
‘We came out of the pandemic stronger and better thanks to our investments in new platforms’
Some brave decisions needed to be made to support this – in particular, ‘choosing to spend on advertising and marketing our virtual services as we experienced an extreme revenue drop’. The finance team was on hand to provide the data to support the strategy and, today, ‘our global presence is much more robust through the mix of hybrid, virtual, and live events. We came out of the pandemic stronger and better thanks to our investments in new platforms.’
The key
It is all a far cry from where O’Loughlin’s career might have taken her had she followed her parents’ wishes. ‘I come from a family of doctors and my parents wanted me to study medicine,’ she says. ‘However, I’ve always been very good at numbers and had an interest in finance.’
Graduating with a Master’s in Accounting at the National University in her native Bangladesh, O’Loughlin found herself faced with the question of how ‘to achieve my goal as a finance professional internationally. I needed a key and ACCA provided it. I have heard ACCA described as an international passport and I totally agree.’
‘I’ve always had the sense that, as we progress in life, we should be giving something back’
Looking to Europe and English-speaking countries to pursue the qualification, ‘Ireland appealed because of its solid economic foundation. I also knew it had a welcoming culture and warm people. The weather was a bit of a surprise, but otherwise I didn’t have any culture shock,’ O’Loughlin says, adding with a laugh, ‘my mother will be visiting this year. She will definitely experience a culture shock.’
O’Loughlin’s career trajectory has not gone unnoticed and she was among the finalists in the Woman of the Year category at the 2021 Women in Finance Awards, an experience she remembers very positively. ‘This type of award is inspirational. It wasn’t just about recognising my career path or my objectives, but about inspiring women generally to see what they can achieve.’
Empowering others
Side by side with her strong career focus is a belief in supporting others. O’Loughlin has been a remote practical experience supervisor for aspiring ACCA members since 2021 and is a board member of Connect Family Resource Centre, a County Louth-based community organisation focused on combating disadvantage and empowering individuals. ‘My parents were always helping people and I’ve always had the sense that, as we progress in life, we should be giving something back.’
Outside of such commitments, O’Loughlin was once a competitive badminton player, but ‘gave this up when I had my first child. He’s three years old and spending quality time with him is one of my great joys.’
‘If I was to give advice to anyone unsure of their career path, it would be to embrace change’
A sense of adventure, intellectual curiosity and a determined work ethic have taken O’Loughlin on a transformative journey – one that has far from peaked.
‘I’ve always wanted to know what’s in the future and what the next chapter of life will bring. If I was to give advice to anyone unsure of their career path, it would be to embrace change and the unknown. I see the future as a magic box – why would you want to give up and miss out on seeing what’s inside it?’
