Our Industry Profile takes a look at some of the professionals working across the advertising, adtech, 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 Adrenalin Marketing Solutions partner Paul Rogers.
Time in current role/time at the company:
Four months, and prior to that two years in 2013.
How would you describe what the company does?
We are a small but fierce creative, design-driven, integrated marketing and advertising agency. Adrenalin Marketing Solutions brings decades’ of marketing experience and strategic strength, combined with a history of innovation and business transformation.
What do you do day-to-day?
Talk with customers, talk with my team and deliver effective marketing solutions on time and on budget.
Define your job in one word:
Enabler.
I got into marketing because:
I enjoy creating innovative marketing solutions that sell a variety of products and services.
What’s the biggest challenge you face in your role?
There are only seven days in a week and 24 hours in a day.
What’s the biggest industry-wide challenge you’d like to see tackled?
Companies have significantly reduced marketing budgets and reduced staffing levels. This leads to inefficiencies in the sales and marketing process with too much box-ticking. Over time marketers have become increasingly risk-averse, at the expense of proactive innovation and great ideas that have huge impacts.
Now we are left with reactive change and campaigns that just add to the noise. We see a reluctance to do hard things and an over-reliance on pray-and-spray digital ads, resulting in a lack of long-term impact and connection. Agencies need to compete on much more than simply trying to outgun each other on PPC, SEO and social media.
If you’re a hammer, every problem looks like a nail, and a much better approach to marketing strategy is to look at a problem and then identify what best addresses a problem in a channel-agnostic way, instead of applying the same tactics to every situation. For example, there might be a place for unexpected traditional marketing integrated with digital innovation. A new idea rooted in an experience-backed strategy is powerful. As Victor Hugo once said: “There’s nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.”
Previous industry related companies you have worked at:
General manager of both Fujifilm Australia and Camera House plus time with Gruden and Blackglass digital agencies.
Who is/has been a great mentor to you and why?
Peter Alsford, founder and MD at Adrenalin. His creative passion, attention to detail and ability to manage change are outstanding. His belief in me has changed my life.
Words of advice for someone wanting a job like yours:
The more people you help unconditionally in life, the more opportunities you will uncover.
If I wasn't doing this for a living, I'd be:
Living in Portugal.
My philosophy is:
Ask ‘why?’ and always remain positive.
My favourite advert is:
The latest Emirates advert with the cabin crew member on top of the Burj Khalifa building was very creative, on-brand and memorable. The viral component was added with the ‘making of video’ when people asked if it was real or fake.
Music and TV streaming habits. What do you subscribe to?
Netflix, Stan, Apple TV, Apple Music and Kayo.
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
I won the Mr Pacific Trophy whilst in Ibiza.
In five years' time I'll be:
Continuing to build the Adrenalin agency and playing golf off a lower handicap than I currently am.
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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