Gabe Shea shares how genuine connections are at the heart of his work at tms

Meet Gabe Shea, our Account Executive based in our London office. Gabe’s role involves managing innovative brand activations for our long-standing client, adidas.  

Learn more about his experience, advice on building meaningful client relationships, and what life is like in the London office:   

How would you describe what you do as an Account Executive?    

For me, it’s about understanding people’s talents, where they’re best placed in projects, and their best workflows. So, having a strong understanding of the whole agency, the brand, and the landscape of marketing techniques is important to my role. It might sound a bit cliche, but always being adaptive and being able to build strong relationships are two of the most important things in client services work.    

What are some ways that you work to prove value for clients?    

There’s got to be a human connection between the client and the agency for the relationship to be successful. It’s important to show that we understand the bottlenecks and issues they’re facing and are willing to find solutions for them. It’s also the little conversations you can have with clients to show you’re trying to find out more about their needs, we try and research as much as we can because it helps us understand the issues that brands are facing, which means that we can help them in more specific ways.  

What do you enjoy most about your role?   

It comes back to the talented people I’m working with, both internally and on the brand side. And, of course, the actual work we’re doing. I spoke about how much I enjoy culture and sports; I now get to work on projects delivering those things alongside people who I learn from every day by observing them or through direct mentorship. It’s incredible being in an environment where I’m seeing how people go about their craft and then seeing our work come to life in different markets across the world—it’s really cool. 

How would you describe the office culture in London?   

It’s a diverse, dynamic, and friendly atmosphere. I don’t want to use buzzwords, but there are so many people from different backgrounds, capabilities, and skills, which makes it an interesting environment. I can’t tell you how many interesting conversations I’ve had with people at our office socials that I wouldn’t necessarily come across otherwise—I feel like I learn something new all the time. Also, agencies can be intense places to walk into, and there can be big characters that don’t make it easy to just come in and contribute straight away. But there’s none of that at tms. 

What’s one of your favorite marketing campaigns that really impacted or stood out to you?   

The adidas Anthony Edwards A1 launch of his signature shoe had a cool video ad—and I’m not being biased toward my account’s brand, I swear! It felt old school but futuristic at the same time. The copy and the dialogue showed off his character, confidence, belief in himself, and sense of humor. The tagline “Believe That” is the perfect punchy line that just encapsulates his self-belief which really resonates as well. It reminds me that we don’t just love athletes for their competence, but it’s also about their charisma and charm that can make us feel connected to them.    

When you’re commuting home today, what are you going to be listening to?   

I’m into everything, but dance music is my favorite. I’m also really enjoy rediscovering bands that my parents were into like Blur or Fleetwood Mac, but if I struggle to choose anything, then NTS radio is always feature in my house and in my headphones.