Ever wondered what it’s like to work in Communications and Marketing at Guernsey Electricity? Kita gives an insight into her role Communications and Marketing Assistant.
What is your role at Guernsey Electricity?
My job sits across both marketing and communications, which means I get to do a bit of everything and speak to most of the business.
Internally, I’ll post corporate updates and find ways to connect with our 250+ team across GEL. Moving beyond the doors of our workplace into the wider world, I need to translate our insider knowledge into user friendly comms to help keep our customers in the loop. I’ll do this in a few ways, including engaging social media content which includes behind-the-scenes staff videos and Throwback Thursday content which highlights GEL’s walk through history on which we schedule on – you've guessed it – every Thursday.
Switching my mind to marketing, I’m involved in campaign planning, from early talks right through to rolling out the campaigns live to our island audience. Much of our marketing world is around behaviour change, as this makes a big difference in better energy management. For example, a recent campaign that might stay stuck in your head is our ‘Sleep, Heat, Wake, Repeat’ campaign that played across the radio, YouTube and social media. We used marketing techniques here to grab attention and remind customers to heat their water overnight from 11pm to 5am as this makes a significant reduction to our island’s carbon emissions. If it got stuck in your head, we did something right.
One of my favourite parts of the job is getting a behind-the-scenes look at what’s going on across the many departments of GEL. From capturing photos to creating a video that tells a story and connects with the viewer. Ultimately, we do a lot here at GEL, which means there is a lot of content to capture – which I love!
How does your job help keep the island running?
What a big question!
For me, it’s all about keeping people informed and taking them along as part of our journey. That could be understanding better what happens during a power cut, looking at our past and to the future, or demonstrating ways they can save energy. Plus, there’s the odd road closure and power cut to tell people about too...
A big part of my day job is finding creative ways to help people learn more about who we are, and all that goes on behind the light switch. Let’s face it – few people really think about what keeps their modern life running (until there’s a power cut!). I honestly sometimes wish everyone could spend a week here as it really gives you a whole new appreciation for the work that goes into it all.
What other industries have you worked in?
I’ve had a bit of a mix when it comes to previous roles.
Most recently, I worked at a communications agency where I got stuck into everything from social media to PR. Here, I picked up loads of great experience working with a wide range of clients across many industries.
Before that, I studied law for six months... turns out studying law isn’t quite like the show ‘Suits’.
And before that, I worked in beauty. So, I’ve gone from nails to legal documents to Instagram reels.
Now I’m working in-house at GEL, it feels like the perfect fit. I enjoy every aspect of the work I do, not to mention how lovely and welcoming everybody is.
What does a typical day (or week) look like for you?
I kick off my day in mum mode. When my son is awake and bags are packed, I’ve then got my ‘second’ job to head to – sometimes as a parent it can feel like you’ve done a full day’s work before getting out the front door.
Then I switch to work mode. Here I like to kick off the day by catching up on emails and getting my priorities sorted for the day. I’m a big fan of a good old to-do list, colour-coded of course. As no two days are ever the same, it’s very much needed! One minute I might be heading over to the power station for a tour, then next I could be helping plan an upcoming marketing campaign. In between the regular meetings, I’m usually juggling social media management, reporting, creating content, and everything in between.
Most recently, much of my focus turned to creating content for GEL’S ‘Powering Life for Less Event’. My brief was to showcase the event held at St Pierre Park and give people an insight into what would happen on the day, plus the take home messages as at its core, the event was designed to provide people with practical, accessible ways to save energy and money.
If you popped along – thank you! If you couldn’t make it, click here to see a highlights video.
Most people will only ever see the tip of the iceberg when it comes to comms and marketing. If ever you see a 30-second TikTok video you love or attended an interesting event, just remember that from planning to final polish, that may have taken weeks and weeks to put together.
What is your proudest achievement so far?
Hands down, it has to be being a mum. My son has completely changed the way I see the world and makes me appreciate the little things so much more.
As a working mum, I know that my free time and weekends are his childhood, which make them even more special.
What was your dream job growing up? Or what did you want to do when you grew up?
When I was little, I wanted to be a vet. Then I wanted to become a makeup artist, then a tattoo artist, then a therapist!
Thinking about it, that’s probably why I enjoy my role now so much as I get to tap into my creative side everyday through content creation, and the psychology when considering how people may think. It feels I’ve landed in just the right spot.
What is the most unusual thing about your job and how would you describe it to someone who knows nothing about it?
Not exactly unusual, but I’d have to say the most misunderstood part of my job is what goes on behind the scenes in our small team. Every message, post, or campaign is carefully considered and we’re always looking at things with our customers top of mind. After all, we’re all customers too!
It’s not just about making things look good, ‘dressing up’ presentations or ‘prettifying’ other people’s work. We need to bring the often-unheard voice of the customer back to the office and make sure the messages GEL delivers are right for the customer and it feels right for the people we’re speaking to.
If you could swap jobs with anyone for a day- who would it be and why?
Oh, another tough one... but I think I’d have to choose to swap with Molly-Mae for the day! I know it might sound a bit basic, but I’d love to experience what it’s like to have that level of influence, even if it’s just for 24 hours.
She’s not just a social media influencer; she’s a mum, entrepreneur, fashion influencer, and a now Netflix star who’s built a huge platform, and strong brand, from the ground up.
Proving that if you work hard and stay true to yourself, great things can happen – a brilliant role model for young women.
Not to mention, borrowing her wardrobe for the day would be an added bonus.
Who inspires you the most?
Every time I’m asked this question, I get a bit emotional as it has to be my mum. She’s been such a strong role model in my life, and if I can be even half the mum, she is to me, I’ll know I’ve done a great job.
What advice would you give your younger self?
There’s so much I’d love to tell my younger if I had to pick a few little bits of advice, they’d be:
- In a world you can be anything, be kind.
- You spend a lot of time in your mind so make it a nice place to be.
- The world around you is beautiful, when the world within you is peaceful.
What are the best benefits offered by GEL in your opinion?
The best benefit for me has to be the culture here. From day one, everyone’s been so kind and welcoming. Joining a big workplace like this can feel a bit daunting at first, but honestly, everyone has been nothing but lovely!
Bonus question – who do you like to follow on LinkedIn and why?
One of my absolute favourite brands to follow is Sisters and Seekers and not just on LinkedIn!
They absolutely smash their social content across every platform. Their content is not only super engaging but also so aesthetic 👏
