Our Industry Profile takes a look at some of the professionals working across the advertising, ad tech, marketing and media sector in Australia. It aims to shed light on the varying roles and companies across the buzzing industry.
This week we speak to Rubicon Project country manager for AUNZ Rohan Creasey.
Time in current role/time at the company:
I joined Rubicon Project in 2013 as a solutions engineer manager and was appointed country manager in January 2018.
How would you describe what the company does?
We provide technology to automate the buying and selling of advertising across any channel - web, app, video, CTV, audio and out of home.
What do you do day-to-day?
That’s a great question as no two days are the same. My focus is constant though: ensure the team can be the best they can be, which in turn ensures that partners and clients are getting the best possible outcomes from working with Rubicon Project.
Define your job in one word:
Puzzle-solving.
I got into advertising/ad tech/marketing etc because:
Oil is found in far-away places. I was working for an oil company that was acquired and shifted its operations to North East Scotland and despite the great geology there (seriously!) I didn't fancy the cold, grey climate.
Instead I took the opportunity to travel through China and New Zealand, before I landed a role with New Scientist in London. The role was in pre-sales and required self-taught coding and enjoying working with people. That was the beginning of a journey that in 2013 brought me to Rubicon Project in Australia.
What’s the biggest challenge you face in your role?
There are three challenges: constant context switching; the expectation that you're a master of everything and ensuring you take people with you along for the ride.
As a side note - our industry evolves at an extraordinary rate and many struggle with the complexity of it all. However, I believe we shouldn’t expect everyone to know everything and that no one should feel bad for not knowing, nor should they judge someone for it. I try to encourage all to stop for a moment and ensure they’re not overlooking the most important part of our ecosystem - people.
What’s the biggest industry - wide challenge you’d like to see tackled?
This flows on from my last point. The biggest challenge is education. It’s hard to find information of value, relevance & clarity and there are remarkably limited options for those wanting to learn, whether they are new starters or even senior folk in our industry. I believe that if everyone had a better understanding of our industry things would look very different.
Previous industry related companies you have worked at:
New Scientist (world’s largest weekly science & tech magazine), Adify (a US-owned network) and an independent UK publisher, Dennis Publishing.
Notable ads/campaigns you have worked on:
It was great to be involved in the launch of programmatic audio and digital out-of-home here in Australia. Although they’re not campaigns per se, it’s exciting to be leading the way for the industry and enabling advertisers to buy programmatically across these channels.
Another favourite was a competition campaign we ran at New Scientist. The prize was to be cryogenically frozen when you died. Seriously! The eventual winner opted to take the 'written in small print alternative prize' of a holiday in Hawaii. It's a debate whether that choice was short-sighted or super smart..
Who is/has been a great mentor to you and why?
My first boss at New Scientist was perhaps my greatest work mentor, though I didn’t realise it at the time. She ensured everyone in the team enjoyed what we were doing, challenged us with different projects and ensured we were learning along the way. She also allowed individuals to be different and managed our work hours to ensure we pursued our lives outside of the office. It has shaped my views about what managing people is about and how to motivate my team to deliver great results. She was simply brilliant.
Words of advice for someone wanting a job like yours?
If you’re talking about wanting a job in this industry - do it. There’s no doubt the industry is challenging - it's fast, you need to be patient, calm, and open to constant context change. So you'll have to give a lot, but in return you'll be rewarded in the form of opportunities and experiences.
If you’re talking about a job in management – it’s among the hardest things I've learned in my life (tech is easy by comparison). Management is people focused so if you're choosing it purely for career progression or money, then it's probably not the right thing for you to do: find a different option.
If I wasn't doing this for a living, I'd be:
Living in my campervan. I’m not sure how I'd earn a living, but I'd be enjoying the mountains and beaches, the snow and sun. I'd throw a frisbee more often. Pretty simple things really.
My mantra / philosophy is:
Now is a time that will not come again so take it all in.
My favourite advert is:
I may upset some with this answer, but I’m usually making tea when ads come on! Ha. That said anything that's smart, makes me think or laugh, or question is what appeals to me. Volkswagen ads are always good, so too Apple and Nike’s recent campaign with Colin Kaepernick is fabulous.
Music and TV streaming habits. What do you subscribe to?
All the usual suspects; NetFlix, Stan and Spotify of course. I'm a late adopter to podcasts too, having started to listen to a few in place of reading on my commute recently.
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
There's plenty so I’ll share two. I founded a sports club in London, Hot Custard, that has over 700 members. And in 2011 I won a silver medal at the Touch Footy World Cup playing for England. Australia thrashed us 19-2 in the final. Given the game was just 40 minutes that is a helluva score even against what was the world's best team!
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