Edoardo Monti's experiences around the globe have given him a unique edge when it comes to content and the constantly evolving social media landscape. Our featured PLANOLEADER currently serves as Stella McCartney's U.S. digital and social media specialist making him a one-man show with a ton of opportunity! Between liaising with the brand's global digital teams to content production, Edoardo's day- to-day is driven by collaboration and creativity - two factors that he attributes to being key in fostering community-building and brand relevancy. We had a chance to dig deeper into these ideas as we recently met with Edoardo before work at his swoon-worthy apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Read on for more from our coffee catch up which includes Edoardo's digital career history, his thoughts on the relationship between creative and data and so much more.
Please introduce yourself!
I was born and raised in Italy, moved to London when I was 18, landed my internship at Stella shortly after my studies and I haven't left since! I moved to NYC in the summer of 2013 and since then I have been living in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Prior to Stella McCartney what were you up to professionally, what role did digital play in your job description and what have been some notable moments throughout your career so far?
I joined Stella's PR team in London and moved to NY to be part of her team in the States. In the summer of 2014 my role organically evolved into digital-social media because the London digital team really needed some help on this side of the ocean. I am still the only digital team member based in the States, but the 5-strong team in London is wonderful to work with and extremely supportive. My favorite moments at work are events and presentations, where we get to capture content for our channels but also unwind and have fun with co-workers. In particular, I had the best time at our Autumn 2017 women's collection launch this past January. We held a party at the iconic Cotton Club in Harlem, and Alicia Keys performed live! I am also really excited about the first men's collection that we launched in London in November. I have been focusing more on menswear in the past months and working on launching a brand new product category has been an amazing experience so far.
Walk us through your 9-5 schedule: how would you define what you do on a typical work day, what is your favorite aspect of the job and what is something that you've found to be the most unexpected reward as a result of being in this role?
I spend the morning catching up with our European teams, based in London, Paris and Milan; the afternoon is dedicated to catching up on projects, research and production, while the late afternoon is when our Asian teams are back to work so we dedicate time to working with them (we have offices in Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong). I just love working closely with such a diverse team from all over the world: some of my colleagues have become my best friends. I also get to know amazing creative people. NY has an incredible community of super talented artists and we always look for new and fresh talents to work with.
What are some of the biggest misconceptions about working in Social Media at a fashion brand and why do you think this particular industry is best suited for digital?
I feel that people try too hard to push products for sale on Social Media, while recent studies are showing that companies are not earning as much as they thought they could through social channels. I believe in Social Media as a platform to create brand awareness and share key elements about your brand, and it works so well with our industry because a fashion brand can easily produce and feed tons of beautiful visual content to digital platforms.
When it comes to planning/content strategy what have been three of your biggest takeaways as a result of working in the fashion space?
- Working closely with other internal departments is essential: knowing what the marketing and events department is doing for instance, will make it easier for you to plan and allow you to shoot content for social.
- Planning in advance is also key: improvising will most likely result in a sloppy account, but at the same time planning posts 6 months in advance is too much due to the fast-pace fashion cycle. I think that planning 2 or 3 weeks ahead is perfect.
- At last, I'd say that you always have to spend time researching new talents and creatives: something new, fresh and different is what creates more interest in followers.
When it comes to social media content what are your thoughts on the synergy between creative and data? How do they work together and what can one essentially learn from the other?
I think looking at data is essential: understanding what resonates well within your followers' community is important and can definitely help shape and modify your strategy. But I feel that you also should try stay true to your company's ethos and vision, to keep your accounts on brand and fresh.
