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 Adform commercial lead ANZ Angus Blackwood.
Time at the company:
One year in the role and company.
How would you describe what the company does?
Adform provides marketers with the only truly integrated digital advertising solution where they have full control over their creative, data and trading in the one platform.
What do you do day-to-day?
Manage the commercial operations and relationships for Adform here in AU/NZ. Represent the brand and educate the market on the shifting landscape and Adform’s place within it.
Define your job in one word:
Enterprising.
I got into ad tech because:
I love the collaboration and the people. I also love the challenge of working out the best way to skin a cat (thankfully, there’s usually more than one).
What’s the biggest challenge you face in your role?
Shifting perception. Despite continuing tech consolidation, there’s still an inherent scepticism around the proposition of a unified solution for key areas of a marketers’ toolset although this is evolving.
What’s the biggest industry-wide challenge you’d like to see tackled?
ID management. Or lack thereof a unified solution. We’ve made progress with some of the consortiums and industry initiatives, but there’s still a way to go and we’ve got to carry the torch together. Increasingly cookieless environments are also going to quickly evolve how we manage this at an industry level, so it will be interesting to see where we land collectively.
Previous industry related companies you have worked at:
Joy Agency, Adacado.
Notable ads/campaigns you have worked on:
NBA League Pass in the US.
Who has been a great mentor to you and why?
A recently passed luminary of the creative advertising industry here takes this award. Mike Chandler was possibly Australia’s greatest ever typesetter and a genius at his trade. Mike came into my life late in his, but taught me so much about it and what’s really important. Success is happiness, not the other way around.
Words of advice for someone wanting a job like yours?
Learn from your mistakes. Asking for help is not a weakness. Inject yourself into the subcommunities your chosen vocation provides. Practice listening every day.
If I wasn't doing this for a living, I'd be:
Tearing down the side of a mountain on a snowboard somewhere or working on my surfing skills. Potentially learning a bespoke or long-forgotten trade of some kind.
My mantra is:
Be a human with qualities you’d want in a friend. Get better at something every day, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant. And don’t take yourself too seriously.
My favourite advert is:
The Alzheimer’s Association of NZ did a series of award-winning TVC’s in the mid-2000’s, one of which you can view on YouTube:
Personally, the ad resonated because it reflected a similarly shameful, trivial approach I’d had to a loved one suffering from partial deafness. The message was clear, the creative framing bang on and it evoked an inner dialogue around empathy that genuinely had the power to alter perception (it certainly altered mine).
Music and TV streaming habits. What do you subscribe to?
Spotify, Netflix, SBS On-Demand, Kayo Sports & Blinkist (great app – look it up).
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
I’ve travelled to 30+ states in the US of A. And I did it with a chest-length beard.
In five years' time I'll be:
Continuing to work with brands and agencies in the tech space on solutions that just makes things better.
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
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