Life at Nexxen with Erin Frey

Welcome to the latest edition of Life at Nexxen, a series spotlighting our employees – from their career journeys and go-to advice to the rituals and activities that make up their days here at Nexxen.  

For the latest edition in the series, we talked with Erin Frey, a Senior Account Executive based out of our Chicago office. Erin has been with Nexxen for almost four years, coming from Publicis.  

What did you study at university? 

I studied Communication with a focus on Public Relations and minor in Marketing at the University of Dayton. Go Flyers! I took some sales classes during my senior year that had me considering going a slightly different route. My passion really is people, so after a few years on the agency side, I started looking for something sales-related.  

What came naturally to you in this role, or what have you had to work on specifically?  

So much of sales is the relationships, so my love of people really helps with the relationship-building. Yes, clients buy our products, but they’re really buying us. They choose to work with us, because they trust us.  

Once you started working here, was learning the technology of the platform really challenging? 

I aways love learning something new. When I was on the agency side, I knew how to plan, but I didn’t know the specifics of the technology we were buying. I knew they were running our ads across their inventory and in their DSP, but what does that really mean?  

I was an account manager at Tremor before going into sales, so that’s where I really learned how our end-to-end tech stack works together. I would set up the campaigns with my trader and was able to be more in the weeds, and now I am able to help my clients understand it too. 

At what point in the sales process do you come in? Are you the first people that our clients interact with? 

We are with our clients every step of the way. We help with planning, activating, and post-campaign learning. Part of my job is prospecting, part of my job is maintaining the clients I have, and part of it is evaluating the campaign after it runs and deciding next steps. Every client has different needs, so we need to support them wherever they are in their campaign life cycle. 

Is there a product that is really popular with clients right now that you are having success with? 

I think clients and myself are most excited about the Nexxen Data Platform & Nexxen Discovery and all that we can do with data. We can help clients with audience discovery & planning as well as targeting and activation, which makes it extremely unique. 

PMPs are the present and future of advertising. When we combine our premium supply, unique data solutions and creative services, magic happens. Clients don’t need to outsource different solutions from multiple partners. We can layer it all together in one easy, activatable Deal ID. We try to make it easy for our clients.  

How do you deal with rejection? When clients just say no, we’re not moving forward? 

I’d be remiss to say you get used to being told no, but it is a normal part of any sales role and it’s going to happen. And that’s ok. What matters is how you pick yourself up, because the days are long, but the months are short. The rejection will stick with you that day, but tomorrow you can’t let it hold you back from the next prospect. 

You’ve talked about how to deal with rejection and where you’ve taken the initiative in your career. Any other piece of career advice that you would give to folks in sales? 

Take every meeting, coffee, lunch, etc. Meet every single person you can, because the media world is so small. You don’t need to take every interview per se, but if it’s a networking event, then go! That person or those people may not come back up again.  

People are our resources in this industry. Data and technology will always matter, but you can’t sell anything if you don’t know anybody.  

Is there a specific way that you like to start or end your day?  

Before starting my workday, I love to get some fresh air while walking my dog, Gus. I end each workday writing my to-do list for the next day, so in the mornings I review my list, and then add or check off as I go.  

If I’m not with clients in the evenings, I’ll fit in a workout class. They help me end the day because I’m always connected – Slack, email, etc. 

And what do you do in your free time?  

I love to cook.  I love to eat. It’s great that part of my work is entertaining clients, because I love to try new restaurants. I also got married in October, so I am just really starting to have free time again now that we are not planning a wedding.  

Are there any restaurants that you can recommend? 

There’s so many good places to eat here in Chicago! Right now, I’m loving these two small, mom & pop owned restaurants: a Chinese restaurant called Lao Peng You and an Italian restaurant called La Scarola.