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 Clemenger BBDO Sydney interactive executive producer Claire Bisset.
Time in current role/time at the company:
A whopping eight and a half years.
How would you describe what the company does?
Commercial creativity in all its weird, wonderful, traditional and buzzwordy guises.
What do you do day-to-day?
I’m responsible for reviewing, guiding and producing interactive ideas, managing a digital team and driving growth for our clients by championing emerging technology, both internally and with our clients.
Define your job in one word:
Lead.
I got into advertising because:
The blend of business and art drove me to my degree in advertising and marketing. It excited me then and it still does. We operate in a space that is driven by the tension between between creativity and very purposeful, strategic outcomes. I think real creativity comes out of these kind of productive tensions - and more selfishly, I just love working with my team to solve the ‘puzzle’.
What’s the biggest challenge you face in your role?
Realising the perfect solution within all the natural constraints one faces! That’s the reality but we’ve found a fair bit of success in getting as close as possible to ‘perfect’ by engaging everyone in a lot of open communication. Sharing ideas, highlighting the possibilities and limitations of technologies for both teams and clients helps immensely. Everyone can see the whole map and therefore, where we need to focus to get meaningful results.
What’s the biggest industry-wide challenge you’d like to see tackled?
I think there’s great value in focussing on real customer centric solutions and experiences that can actually change the way a customer interacts with a brand. That’s absolutely a challenge worth meeting right now, in my opinion.
Customer data can be the bedrock for unearthing new and interesting opportunities in creating those experiences, but few clients have the martech infrastructure or understanding to unlock a true single customer view to inform marketing decisions. It also requires stakeholder commitment to take these steps – it means the journey can take a long time. It’s on us to help clients through the complexity, help simplify where we can, demonstrate the benefits and go through the process together. This is where clients should find a lot of value in our relationship.
Previous industry related companies you have worked at:
Ogilvy London.
Notable campaigns you have worked on:
Wrigley’s Extra - Extra Support Acts
V-Energy – Wasteland with a V
Who has been a great mentor to you and why?
I have a few great brains to pick. Dave Flanagan who took me under his wing as a junior digital producer and helped me progress my career is a great friend and mentor. My husband works in a similar industry so is a fantastic sounding board. More recently I’ve been a part of the Clemenger mentor programme with Katie Long as my coach and someone who I connected with really quickly. I’ve worked more closely with the team in Melbourne over the last few years and bringing their experience into the mix has been a huge asset, as has our COO Ben Kidney. He is incredibly supportive and great to thrash out day to day challenges with.
Words of advice for someone wanting a job like yours?
The sheer volume of ‘easy to access’ resources out there is amazing. Research a specific area, look at case studies...arm yourself so that you know you are bringing something to the table when you apply for a job.
Beyond that, personally, I’ve always found it best to be hands on, even as you move up in your career, a deeper understanding of what happens day to day will keep your decision making relevant and effective grounded and help the team around you succeed.
The things that you’re passionate about change as the industry and technologies change but pick a couple of things within the mix that you really enjoy and go deeper, be a specialist whilst maintaining a desire and ability to make connections across disciplines.
Ask lots of questions, more often than not other people won’t know the answers either so you can figure it out together.
If I wasn't doing this for a living, I'd be:
Running a business delivering bespoke fancy dress outfits and creatively themed parties
My mantra is:
“There’s always a way.”
My favourite advert is:
If I think back over the last year, it’s got to be Viva La Vulva for Libresse. It’s uses so many different, beautifully crafted techniques to demonstrate the variety of life, it’s an absolute joy to watch! The sound track is just so spot on too.
Music and TV streaming habits. What do you subscribe to?
Netflix obviously, The Great Hack was mind blowing. SBS has some great series on at the moment, if you fancy a bit of Danish Political drama Borgen is a cracker. Spotify entertains me throughout the day
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
I used to be the backing singer for a Blues Brothers tribute band, and I used to Roller Dance back in the day.
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