Two minutes with… Mike Richards, Director of Capital City Media
In this two minutes with feature, we put Mike Richards, Director of Capital City Media under the spotlight.
Tell us a bit about Capital City Media. Why did you get into media planning?
We started 27 years ago. We saw with consumer media that the industry was getting fragmented and clients weren’t finding all the service elements under one roof. My dad was an account handler at an industrial advertising agency in the 60s and 70s. I’d be taken to his work for some days during school holidays. I wasn’t allowed to sit with him but in the bowels of the agency I’d be given a massive pad and loads of pencils. Everyone would have paper clip fights and swear a lot. I was about ten and thought, this is the industry for me.
What are the latest advertising trends?
Content is suddenly the buzz word (used to be called advertorial). It makes what we do and what you lovely people at MRM do, as overlapping, depending on who has the relationship with the client. I think there is a greater need to talk to the PR agency than the creative agency (this remains important, though). We cannot create content (you possibly can as your forte will be writing and writing something which has a sales message) what we do is identify where is best for the client and in which format. This is why PR and media agencies working together is beneficial.
Has Brexit had an impact on ad spend?
Nothing as yet. We have US clients and the fall in the pound has helped them spend more. I still feel a lot of people don’t quite know what’s going to happen. Our clients, who have good product offerings, are continuing to spend – these tend to be the clients who get how important branding is.
If you could give one piece of financial advice to a teenage version of yourself, what would it be?
When you start earning, start saving, however small the amount. You’ll be glad you did when you’re older.
If you could change one thing about the financial services industry, what would it be?
Stop the regulators going after the smaller guys. The way Martin Currie and Transact were treated after their problems with the FCA was appalling – they would never go after bigger firms.
What would you do if you were Prime Minister for a day?
I’d have the retirement age at the same age as I am today! I’d quite fancy it coinciding with PMQ but am quite vituperative, so that would be why I only did it for a day.
What is your biggest pet peeve, or makes you angry?
People on planes who bring on too much luggage and then proceed to put them in the holds nowhere near where they sit.
Now, tell us a little about your life outside of work, do you have any hobbies?
I am a life member of Kent County Cricket Club, I have a season ticket at FC Bayern München, and I write comedy – mikerichards.blog being my latest incarnation.
What is the one column or website that you read every day?
I do grown-up on my commute and read The Economist, but will also look at www.kicker.de, a website which gives analysis of German football and then, at work, when I do adult again, I’ll always go to investmentweek.co.uk.
What would you do if you received a windfall of £10,000?
I’d ask my mate Darius McDermott where he thinks I should put the money and then invest it in client products. As a kid, starting out at an advertising agency, the chairman always asked us to try and support our clients – we’d be encouraged to shop at Tesco, bank with Lloyds. I worked on the recruitment account for the West Midlands Police. I tried, but failed the medical.