The Airtable Community Change Maker Spotlights are a new ongoing series where we will be highlighting inspirational creators across the Airtable Community. We are thrilled to be able to highlight Ashlee Meese!
LM: How would you describe yourself on the back of your autobiography?
AM: I’m a seasoned movie studio executive with 20 years of experience across Consumer Products, Home Entertainment, TV, Theatrical, and Production. I’m passionate about building connections with fans through engaging storytelling with an expertise in digital content strategy and influencer marketing. I currently lead the North America Marketing team at Warner Bros. Discovery where we create retail and consumer marketing initiatives for DC, Harry Potter, and WB Animation in the consumer products division. When I’m not working, I’m either spending time with my husband and two kids, baking, or binge watching baking shows on Netflix (The Great British Bake Off is my fav!).
LM: How long have you been using Airtable?
AM: 3 years
LM: How do you use Airtable? At work? At home?
AM: At Warner Bros. Discovery, my team uses Airtable to process marketing approvals, plan marketing campaigns, manage their budgets, and build custom project management solutions to increase their efficiency and productivity. Full list includes:
- Manage partner marketing approvals (including communication of feedback with licensees)
- Marketing Budget Planning
- Automated Reports
- Digital Asset Management
- Marketing Campaign Calendars
- Event Management including industry trade shows and B2B events
- Executive Dashboards
- Social media editorial calendars
LM: What is your favorite Airtable feature?
AM: One of our favorite features is working within Interface and using automations to review and approve marketing submissions. My team can see all the relevant information submitted by the partner in a record snapshot and either approve the asset, or ask the partner to re-submit with revisions. By using the automations to communicate back/forth with partners, it allows all the communication to be contained within Airtable vs spread out across hundreds of emails. Marketing submissions no longer get lost in email, and the processing time has almost been cut in half. It’s so easy to use and the interface looks great. These features have benefited users on both sides. Within the first few days of using it, one of our partners commented, “I did want to share that from a customer experience perspective, much more user friendly. Thank you!”
LM: How did you learn how to use Airtable?
AM: I started experimenting with creating various bases, but the most invaluable part of the process was being introduced to our Implementation Specialist, Jonathan Katz. I didn’t know exactly how I wanted the base to function, but Jonathan was able to help me map out a custom solution by asking all the right questions throughout the building process. I would call these sessions with Jonathan my “fishing lessons,” because he wouldn’t just build it for me, he would teach me. He would explain the logic behind every step, so I could understand how to do it myself. Creating an Airtable base where I truly understand how it’s functioning “under the hood” is empowering. Its no-code features allowed a nontechnical marketing professional like me to harness relational databases and build workflows customized to my business needs.
LM: If someone is looking to start learning Airtable, what resources would you send them?
AM: If they were within my company, I would direct them to our Airtable rep to get started. I would also recommend that you start building a base with an Implementation Specialist so you can learn all the shortcuts, tips, and tricks along the way.
LM: What is your favorite Airtable project you’ve ever worked on?
AM: The most impactful project I’ve worked on is developing a new marketing approval system to submit partner (licensee) marketing to Warner Bros. Discovery for our review. The solution has saved the team several hours a week by utilizing Airtable forms, automations and numerous Interface pages to review and track marketing submissions.
LM: What is your #1 Airtable product request?
AM: Ability to annotate PDFs via the comments section.
LM : What impact has Airtable had on your workflow?
AM: Airtable has been a complete game changer for my marketing team. With so many built-in solutions to increase efficiency, I’m constantly thinking about our next project with Airtable and how it can benefit the cross-divisional teams across the studio that we work with everyday. With the new two-way sync between bases, the possibilities are endless!
