Welcome back to Behind the Brand.
Every month, we spotlight the people behind our work, their backgrounds, creative drivers, and perspective on where live experience is heading.
This month, we sit down with Account Manager, Alex Smith, to explore his role on the ground, project highlights, and what’s inspiring him right now.
I am the first point of contact for my clients, acting as the bridge between them and the various departments within TRO. My job is to work with them to unpack their ideas and translate them into impactful experiences that deliver great results, giving them the most value for their investment.
A key part of my role is making sure that I’m taking clients along for the journey and working collaboratively so that they have the confidence in us as a trusted partner, rather than a supplier.
I’ve been at TRO for 2 years now!
I love live music and theatre, and I try to get to as many shows as I can. I’m especially into anything immersive or a bit unexpected, and that definitely feeds into how I think about our work, looking for those extra details or surprises that make an experience stand out.
I’ve also been lucky enough to go to Glastonbury quite a few times. It’s such a creative environment and always gives me new ideas.
I also love travelling and discovering new places, whether that’s exploring a new city, experiencing different cultures or finding hidden gems to eat and drink. Whether I’m travelling, training or catching up with friends, I’m constantly taking inspiration from the experiences around me, which often influences how I think about creating engaging and memorable brand experiences at TRO.
For me, although it’s great to see what’s out there on LinkedIn or Instagram, real-life interaction is much more inspiring than what you see online, especially when it’s so easy to use smoke and mirrors to claim something was super successful. If I see an activation or installation that I can visit, I’ll always make the effort to check it out for inspiration.
I love checking out the Coachella activations every year but haven’t made it there yet!
I’ve worked with Liquid I.V. since I joined TRO, and I’ve been lucky to produce their festival activations across 2024 and 2025. Festivals are great to work on because everyone’s already there to have a good time, so it gives you a bit more freedom to have fun with what you create. I really enjoy the challenge of cutting through everything else going on and giving people something that grabs their attention.
I would love to work with an artist on a concert pop-up, offering fans a one-off experience that’s just for them. I think there’s so much fun to be had in these spaces and you can really get into the details, knowing that the fan base will be super critical.
You have to be collaborative and a great team player to work in this industry, but you also need to have a point of view and not be afraid to speak your mind or voice your opinion, especially when you think it will benefit the work.
Staying reactive to change and new opportunity is so important and is essential to building that trust will your clients.
Asking questions gets better results. There have been so many times when I’ve asked what I thought might be a stupid question, and it turns out everyone wants to ask the same thing!
