#BehindtheMask with... Jacques Du Bruyn, MD at Flume Digital Marketing

Flume was recently appointed as the digital media agency for Woolworths South Africa, effective 1 November.

Jacques Du Bruyn, MD at Flume Digital Marketing.

1. So tell us, what’s really behind your mask (literally and/or figuratively speaking).

Literally, the funniest guy that I know.

2. Where are you locked down?

My home.

3. How are you finding working from home or physical distancing at the office / how has your way of working changed?

Initially, it was like being a fish in water. As a digital agency, using online tools, we didn’t see any disruption in our output. However, we have noticed the value of face-to-face interactions and that ultimately people want to be around people.

3. Describe a typical workday, if such a thing exists.

Wake up, run, shower, make coffee, eat breakfast, open the laptop and connect to my second screen. Work/calls/pitches/internal meetings, fetch daughter from school, work, dinner, chill, sleep – repeat.

4. How do you maintain a good rapport with your teammates/clients?

Weekly team-wide pow-wow sessions as well as regular check-ins and messages. It is sometimes difficult with a staff compliment of 60, but that’s why leadership is key and allowing our DNA to flow through our heads of departments.

5. How do you socialise these days?

Over WhatsApp video, or a sneaky coffee meet-up.

6. What do you do to keep fit/healthy and/or sane (physically/mentally)?

I run four times per week, before 7am.

7. What new apps would we find if we scrolled through your phone?

Avo by Nedbank.

8. Share your favourite Covid-19/lockdown-related meme/gif with us.

9. What is the first thing you plan to do when the lockdown lifts?

Take the family on our Mauritius holiday that was cancelled in April.

10. Describe your career and if/how the pandemic/lockdown has affected its course.

As mentioned, we’re a digital marketing agency and we have been really fortunate to grow during this time and keep doing what we do best.

11. Any companies/brands that you feel have responded particularly well to the crisis and/or Covid-19-related campaigns that stand out to you, and why?

Uber Eats, Exclusive Books.

12. What are you working on right now?

A pitch deck for a client that I can’t disclose right now.

13. What does the ‘new normal’ look like to you?

The art of learning how to sell over video calls; creating energy over technology.

14. What are some of the buzzwords floating around at the moment, and some of the catchphrases you utter yourself?

I wouldn’t utter them myself but words like "pivot" and "cadence" come up a lot, and obviously phrases like, “Is my camera on?”.

15. What advice would you give to other industry folk during this time?

Keep up the faith, put your head down and learn how to create opportunity out of uncertainty.

Follow Du Bruyn on Twitter and visit the website at Flume.co.za.

*Interviewed by Jessica Tennant.