Jude waited for the group to settle down. “Thank you, Pryce. I have some questions.”
“Of course.”
“Tell me more about what you’ve done regarding Instagram.”
Pryce’s smile faded, and Mason was surprised to see him squirm. Instagram was critical to any advertising and marketing campaign for self-care products, and not targeting it was a huge mistake.
“I have a plan, but it’s similar to Facebook, which owns Instagram.”
Without responding to Pryce, Jude turned to him. “Mason. Tell us your ideas.”
Realizing this was Jude’s way of showing the staff he had the qualifications, Mason launched into the spiel he’d given Jude earlier.
“It’s my belief Instagram is the way to go for this brand. There’s a high concentration of fitness, health, and beauty aids advertised on social media in general, and if we just dump another product in and hope to get noticed, we have a serious chance of getting lost. But, paired with a program like Pryce has put together”—he shot a smile over at the man, who sat like a frozen statue—“my suggestion is to find high-profile influencers, give them the productgratis, and have them push it everywhere. Do Instagram stories and reels and IGTV.”
Several team members were showing interest, nodding and chatting with each other.
Pryce’s lips thinned. “Obviously, I thought of that. But in my opinion, it cheapens the product to have it hawked all over the place like an infomercial.”
Treading carefully, Mason held his ground. He believed this was the optimal way, and he wasn’t going to back down. “It has nothing to do with infomercials. I know some very popular high-end influencers who would be happy to work with us to push this product. Their reach is huge, and they’re called influencers for a reason. Of course there’s a fee structure to work out, but wouldn’t we want the most visibility we can get simply because there are so many of the same or similar products? It’s a way to stand out in the crowd, and Gen-Z and Millennials use Instagram now way more than Facebook. And we need to tap into the other social-media platforms out there—Snapchat and TikTok.…Some are here today and gone tomorrow, so we need a presence everywhere.” He faced the table with a winning smile. “I know I’d rather try something Britney Spears talked about than simply watch someone I’ve never seen drink a can of fitness water.”
“Thank you, Mason. All good ideas. I agree with you. Pryce, please meet with Mason today or tomorrow. I want the two of you to flesh out these ideas for the Mojo pitch.” Jude issued his directive, and then Mason listened to several others pitch ideas, still reeling from the fact that Jude had praised him in front of the whole team. He hadn’t thought impressing Jude would mean so much to him, but it felt damn good to be recognized.
Overall, the pitches were all exciting and fresh, and he found himself anxious to get to work. The Company was exactly the type of place he’d hoped to work at.
When the meeting broke up, he left his seat next to Jude and approached Pryce, who busied himself with his laptop. “Hi. I figured I should introduce myself.”
“I know who you are. Doug’s brother.” Pryce gave him his back as he shut down his computer.
Recalling Deirdre’s words, Mason decided to kill him with kindness. “Yep. But I do have qualifications of my own. I’m looking forward to learning from you.”
Pryce’s reaction was anything but welcoming. “I’m not here to teach you about marketing. You’re Jude’s assistant, not a media planner or on the team.” He checked his phone. “Jude wants us to meet, but I’m full up with clients today, so we can do it tomorrow at ten.” He turned away, leaving Mason at a loss, wondering what the hell he’d done to deserve such animosity. He wasn’t trying to steal the account. He honestly thought this was the best way to go.
“Don’t let Pryce the Prick get to you. He’s a massive dick.”
Peering over his shoulder, Mason found himself looking into the laughing, bright-blue eyes of a man with shoulder-length red hair. “Hi, Russell Saville. I’m on the media team.”
“Nice to meet you. Is your opinion of his physical attributes based on personal or professional knowledge?” Mason asked archly.
“Both. Come to my office, and I’ll clue you in.” Russell placed a hand on his shoulder.
“I have to check and see if Jude needs me.” Mason had no intention of getting caught gossiping about coworkers, and when he noticed Jude watching him from across the room, his face growing hard, Mason gave Russell an apologetic smile. “I can’t right now. We can talk later.”
“No problem. We can have dinner if you want. Have a chance to get to know each other.”
Russell came on strong and fast, and Mason debated accepting the invitation, but then decided, why the hell not? His friends from high school and college had all moved away or had families of their own. He had no plans other than to sit and stare at the lookbook and avoid his parents’ questions. Dinner with a good-looking guy who was also a coworker certainly sounded better than that.
“Sure. Hit me up later. I’d better go.”
“See ya.”
Mason gave him a thumbs-up and hustled over to Jude. “Hi.”
Jude didn’t bother with pleasantries. “When’re you meeting with Pryce?” They walked to his office as they spoke.
“Tomorrow morning at ten.” Mason decided not to say anything about Pryce’s attitude. Jude didn’t need to hear him bitching on his first day, and it didn’t matter. He could handle it.
“Good. What did Russell want?”
