In this series, British Baker talks to people from across the baking industry to find out about their career path, what their job involves, and the latest trends that are shaping their work.
We’re looking to showcase a diverse range of talent and job types across the industry, so if you’d like to be involved, please email amy.north@wrbm.com.
Name: Aaron Wallace
Age: 27
Job title: Creative & content lead
Company and location: Dougie’s Goodies Bakery, Ballymena, Northern Ireland
Education: Bachelor of Arts in Film Production (First Class)
Tell us about your career to date:
My creative journey kicked off back in 2014 with traineeships and on-set experience in live broadcast and commercial advertising, basically doing whatever I could to get a foot in the door. From 2016 to 2020, while living in Manchester and studying at the University of Salford, I balanced freelance work in film, TV and ads – think late nights and a lot of energy drinks.
In 2020, I made the move back to Northern Ireland and joined a Belfast marketing agency as a videographer, diving into fast-paced client work. By 2021, I landed a video editor role at a major sports retailer, where I quickly moved into a videographer position working across some exciting creative and content campaigns. Then in 2024, I joined Dougie’s Goodies. Originally just to lend a hand with content creation. Fast forward a few months, and I now lead on content and creative for the brand across their high street bakeries, retail partner stores, and online.
Explain your job in a sentence (or two)
My job at Dougie’s Goodies is to bring the brand to life visually. Whether that’s on our social media, website, email, in-store POS etc., my role is to ensure our brand stands out from the crowd and showcases our personality, our ‘do good’ culture and most importantly, our yummy goodies!
What does a typical workday involve for you?
My workday is broken up into the various projects I’m working on. On one hand I can be working with the rest of the marketing team planning and executing content for our social media channels, working on motion graphics for our in-store promo screens as well as designing visuals for advertising purposes such as billboards.
“Content is so important for brand building, and there’s so much more that goes on behind the scenes other than just shooting a video.”
Tell us about a challenge you have overcome recently
At Dougie’s Goodies, one of our values is ‘unconventional’ – we like to do things differently! A challenge I face regularly (which I find really fun) is how I can create and make something different from what everyone else is doing. For example, when we’re creating content to promote things like our seasonal product ranges and campaigns, I’m challenging myself to create something memorable, unique, and authentic.
What are your career highlights so far?
It would be the campaign I’m working on right now, ‘Celebrate With Dougies’. It’s the essence of what the company is all about – whether it’s a retirement, a graduation or a birthday, there’s always a reason to celebrate with a Dougie’s Goodies cake. The creative brings together design, lifestyle imagery and product imagery, which really show off the fun and positive vibes you find at our brand. This has been our most ambitious campaign to date and launches on 1 June across website, socials, and in store.
What’s the biggest misconception about being a content creator in the baking industry?
This isn’t exclusive to the baking industry, but I feel there is a misconception when it comes to content creating and social media roles that it’s not an overly serious role. Content is so important for brand building, and there’s so much more that goes on behind the scenes other than just shooting a video. There’s lots of time spent planning, analysing, and preparing throughout the year.
It’s more than just pressing record on a camera. As a creative, you want to ensure that whatever is being produced is the best it can be, is unique to the brand, and engages the audience in a meaningful and authentic way.
What advice would you give to up-and-coming marketing talent?
Get out there, make something and be creative, even if it’s not for anything. Make it fun, discover your passions, and don’t be afraid to chat to people in the industry to find out what it’s all about. It’s a competitive industry, so it’s always a good idea to have something to show for yourself.
Interested in a career in bakery? Check out Foodmanjobs for the latest vacancies.
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