Our Industry Profile takes a weekly 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.
Last week, we spoke to GumGum publisher business development manager Nadine Livesey. This week we stay in Sydney to speak to Amnet national managing director Indy Khabra.
Duration in current role/time at the company
One year in my current role and about 3.5 years with the company
In one sentence, how would you describe what the company does?
Amnet are the programmatic experts for the Dentsu Aegis Network, specialising in programmatic buying, strategic planning, analysis and activation of audience-centric data. We leverage data, technology, media and expertise to enable more meaningful and personalized messaging insights by providing a single, consistent and deep view of the customer.
In one sentence, what does your role involve?
My role is to manage the rapid growth our business is experiencing, leading strategy and influencing the way traditional channels become available programmatically, and steering our clients into the addressable and connected economy.
Within the last six months/year, what stands out as the company’s major milestones?
Some accomplishments I'm really proud of include relaunching our data management platform called Amnet Audience Centre, providing Dentsu Aegis Network clients with unparalleled access to premium bespoke audiences at scale, enhancing optimisation capabilities and ROI with our performance offering, and being an industry leader in programmatic TV. I'm also proud of our proactive approach to brand safety that includes our OpenSlate partnership which commenced in early 2016.
Internally we've welcomed some great new talent and realigned the senior leadership to prioritise sustainable and smart growth focused on supporting our clients’ business objectives while building innovative products and partnerships.
Best thing about the industry you work in:
There's never a boring moment. I love the pace of change and the passion that people have for learning and innovating.
Previous industry related (ad land/ad tech) companies you have worked at:
Excite, ThinkSEO
Career-wise, where do you see yourself in three years time?
Not using the word programmatic and being a mad data scientist...Sort of a Bill Nye meets Bear Grylls, but with data and technology.
What is the elephant in the room?
The thing that no one is talking about – but they should be. The robots are coming...but they aren't taking over entirely as human interaction will always be a necessity. Automation supercharges programmatic with the ability to ingest enormous amounts of data, so much that humans cannot possibly compare. So I think the evolution is now we need specialists (aka humans) that understand the machines and algorithms and, more importantly, understand human psychology and behaviours of real life consumers. And, it takes a human to know when the ability to personalise at scale becomes creepy or invasive.
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
I'm a bit OCD .. Everything has a home !! LoL I'm sure there's a few that already know that ..
Top networking tip:
Listen. Silence is better than bullshit.
My favourite restaurant for a business lunch is:
Bar Cupola – you can actually hear the person across from you
My favourite advert is:
IKEA commerical .. sale with the lady leaving and yelling to the husband 'Start the car … start the car' https://youtu.be/NlWCLw75XnE
My must-have gadget is:
Just got a pair of noise cancelling headphones. Music gets me in the zone and now my office doesn't have to listen to me blasting house music.
My favourite media is:
Anything with sports content.
My favourite TV show is:
House of Cards or HNIC
The last book I read:
Automate This
My mantra/philosophy is:
In football, the worst blindness is only seeing the ball
I got into advertising/ad tech/marketing etc because:
I like numbers and whiteboarding. Programmatic wasn't a childhood dream but I can't think of anything else I'd rather be working on today.
If I wasn't doing this for a living, I'd be:
A dancer in Michael Jackson's Cirque du Solei show.
In five years' time, I'll be:
I often share a quote that says something like, a year in the digital biz is like a dog year – equivalent to seven years in a regular person's life. So I guess I'll be 35 years smarter.
Define your job in one word:
Transformative
What's your poison:
Old fashioned - I always forget they're double shots!
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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