Time in current role/time at the company:
In April it will be 2 years at iProspect.
How long have you been in the industry?
My role at iPro has been my first taste of the media industry.
How did you get here? Was this always the plan?
To be perfectly honest I didn’t know what a media agency was when I went into the interview. If you Google ‘media agency’ you don’t get many helpful results. I liked numbers and wanted to learn about digital marketing, so the role digital marketing analyst sounded good to me.
Who is your right-hand person/who guides you day to day?
Shae Healey, Director of my team, has taught me so much since day one. I am super grateful for the guidance in building my skills and confidence, as well as the continued support throughout my career. There are also a lot of other experts within the agency I look up to, Rox, Matt and Bonnie to name a few, and plenty more I hope to learn a lot from!
What’s the best thing about the industry you work in?
It’s fun, it’s fast paced and it keeps you on your toes. There is always something new happening or an insight you can dig deeper to unlock. Working on a range of clients and staying tapped into what excites them or makes them tick is a great way to stay engaged with current news and trends.
And the biggest challenge?
Everyone is exposed to thousands of touchpoints of media per day – and no one notices a billboard, bus stop or a dynamically retargeted creative more than the person who buys them (except maybe the teams selling them). So, it can be hard to switch off. Once you’re logged out, you’re coming into contact with the placements you’ve been strategizing over all day on the bus home or on the weekends.
Whose job have you set your sights on in the future?
The title “Head of…” has a nice ring to it.
Where do you turn for inspiration?
The team around me! What I find really cool about working for a large company is the range of people I can turn to when I have a question – we have plenty of subject matter experts as well as a Global team who I have learnt so much from.
My favourite advert is (and why):
There are three adverts that come to mind when I think back; the Qantas I still call Australia home TVC with the Australian Girls’ Choir (the edition last year brought a tear to my eye), the Paul’s Smarter White milk “I just want milk that tastes like real milk” creative – the simplicity here stuck, and the Reading Writing Hotline ad. I don’t think I registered what this ad was for back in the day, but the jingle was so catchy it had me singing a long every time. If you sing “one three double oooh six triple five” to anyone around may age, they will probably be able to finish the jingle with “oh six”. The fact these are all TVCs that aired when I was primary school is slightly alarming – but that gives me something to aim for! Hopefully I can be apart of my favourite ad in the future.
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
I like to think I was a baker or a pastry chef in a past life.
In five years' time I'll be:
I want to be a channel expert, though at the moment my focus is on learning a little bit of everything so that I have the context across all channels, this way I will be able to make unbiased and informed recommendations.
I am also very interested in further exploring the sustainability of the industry. While I used to think the impact of digi channels was minimal, learning about all the energy the data houses use is mind blowing. We need more awareness around this (as well as other environmental impacts of the industry) so that we can work together to develop solutions and ensure we are thinking sustainability when making such large investments. As planners and buyers, we have a huge part to play in minimising the environmental impact – this is something I’d like to be part of.
Mikayla Gordon is Senior Client Executive, at iProspect, a dentsu company.
This article originally appeared in AdNews.