Laura Pioli is an Italian-raised, UK-based Senior Digital Marketing Expert with an impressive career working with brands like McLaren, Serie A, and Anthropologie. Inspired by some of the greatest writers like Fitzgerald and Fante, Laura is a passionate writer currently working on a novel. She has recently become a popular and comforting voice for the job seeking community on LinkedIn through her authentic posts about the current job market. In this interview, Laura shares her journey of how treasured novels can turn into creating powerful messages online.
Where did you grow up?
I am fully Italian and moved to the UK 10 years ago. I grew up very lucky in a sense. My childhood was pretty good compared to how I am living now- I think the times have changed. Right now, If you are not rich, you’ve become lower class in a sense. I grew up in Parma which is a very small town. Everyone knows each other and knows your business. It is a place that talks a lot and that’s why I always felt the need to leave. I moved out when I was 18 and lived in America and now the UK for the last 10 years.
Were there traces of writing and creativity in your upbringing?
I started very young. It started with reading and then developed into writing. For school in Italy, I started getting compliments early on for writing assignments. I need to write, it’s part of my daily routine in a sense. I think it also developed from watching films because my mom is a massive cinema person. She made me watch a lot of films and cartoons that influenced me. After three years of a journalism degree, I moved into media marketing because it was a way for me to keep being creative without necessarily publishing a book.
For me, writing a campaign is like writing a book. I always wrote short novels, and I wasn’t sure if it was a phase or if it was going to become my specialty. In Italy, unless you are already established, they don’t want to publish short novels. This is the opposite of America where anyone can write short novels or collections of short novels and get published even without being known in the Italian publishing world. When I was in uni, my tutor always warned me about short novels because they’re not easy to publish. Even so, I always kept writing short novels and I finally started writing a book. I do marketing campaigns for now, but writing keeps the creativity going.
Who would you say influenced your work the most?
I do follow writers a lot, even if they’re dead. My biggest influence comes from American writers like Don DeLillo, John Fante, Fitzgerald, and Salinger.
Can you talk about the greatest lesson you’ve learned in your career?
I’ve been in sports marketing for 6 out of 10 years here and unfortunately, the greatest lesson is that as a woman, you’re always going to have to work 10 times harder. I’ve been in football marketing so my LinkedIn timeline is full of mostly white, British males getting promoted and hired constantly. I don’t think I’ve seen a woman get hired in the jobs I had for a long time. So the lesson has always been to work 10 times harder than a man, which is not a great lesson, but there is no point in denying it either.
Do you have a favorite project that you’ve worked on?
My favorite was the Wembley 100 campaign for its 100th birthday last year. It is the biggest football stadium in the UK and is used for a lot of big concerts. The campaign itself was pretty simple, but no one else thought of it- that is what made it brilliant. It took me three months to work on it. I gave full freedom to everyone to take on whatever account they wanted and I provided only the hashtag in the account. Everyone became really creative about how to wish Wembley a happy birthday. Some did videos, or TikToks, or tweets. FIFA did a whole video remembering nostalgic moments at Wembley and a stadium in Italy did an LED projection over their stadium saying “Happy Birthday Wembley.” There were a lot of different events, it was probably the most seen and watched marketing campaign at Wembley. We reached more than 500 million people because if you think about one club alone, like Real Madrid, they already have over 60 million followers so it was a massive outreach. I am very proud of it, although to this day a man did take credit for it.
You’ve been able to grow your reach on LinkedIn, what is your advice for getting seen and heard online?
I think like everything in marketing there is no trick or secret. I do believe marketing is luck as much as you try testing and experimenting. If you go viral or not, it’s pure luck. I talked to someone this morning who let out all of their frustration saying they don’t get the same numbers that I do or the same achievements or engagement on LinkedIn.
First of all, it is not a competition. Second of all, in my case specifically, it hasn’t led to anything. It would be great if it led to a job, but at the moment it’s just numbers and great results. I don’t think there’s much to be jealous about. It’s important to be vulnerable and honest in your message. Keep trying, really keep going, and do as much as you can in the best way possible. I believe in being vocal and transparent, not in being artificial. Last year I had a bad year with employment and I was desperate, but I am not ashamed. I am asking for work which I don’t think is anything to be ashamed of. If people don’t speak up, nothing is ever going to change. We need to speak up.
