What could be better than spending the day at school? Spending a day at GroupM’s offices! Perhaps.
Yesterday, in a bid to help out working parents with childcare arrangements, GroupM hosted Family Fun Days at its offices in Melbourne and Sydney.
With reptiles, face painting (and regular painting), reading, headbands and social media campaign analysis spreadsheets on the cards, it’s safe to say that the cherubs of GroupM had a blast.
The day was organised by Tina Zissis, EA to CEO Aimee Buchanan and Claire Aylott, GroupM project and office manager in Sydney, and in Melbourne by executive assistants/office managers Sue Vinci (Wavemaker) and Sue Franklin (Mindshare).
In Sydney, kids were treated to a face painter, arts and crafts, story corner with the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, and a mini petting zoo with rabbits, guinea pigs, a piglet called Mabel, and one-week-old chicks (all called Gary!) and a duck
In Melbourne, there was a reptile stage show with snakes and exotic animals as well as a face painter and arts and crafts.
TikTok and Pinterest partnered with GroupM on the days.
“It’s the best day of the year – and the most chaotic!” said Buchanan.
“Some of our team told me that their kids were talking about it for months afterwards last year, which is just so touching. For the parents on our team, work is what takes us away from our kids and it’s just so nice to be able to make them a part of it and create those memories.”
Outgoing EA Zissis added: “Our Family Fun Day is truly the best day of the year, and has been my personal favourite since we launched it three years ago. We spend so much time at work, so to be able to blend that time with our families is pretty great, and seeing the joy on the kid’s faces is priceless. It’s pretty special to be able to get to know the people behind all the emails too and connect on a human level. The only downside is everyone’s kids think it’s like this every day and they want to keep coming back in!”
EssenceMediacom’s chief product officer Matt Scotton said: “Family day is such a highlight, my boys talked about coming to dad’s work all year! They spent a solid three hours straight in the petting zoo this year.”
