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.
Elise Hedley Dale: Founder and media director at Media Words
Time in current role/time at the company:
Nine years.
How long have you been in the industry?
In February 2025, I will have worked in the industry for 30 years.
How did you get here? Was this always the plan?
I had a vague idea that I wanted to work in advertising, so I studied a course at RMIT while working at Tennis Australia. It was tough to break into the industry back then without knowing anyone, and after trying to crack into radio, I landed a role at Nettlefold Out of Home as a sales coordinator. After two years, I followed my boss to Media Entertainment Group, a business that revolutionised cinema advertising, moving from slides to digital ads. As a fast-growing private startup, it was a rollercoaster ride. My first media agency position was at Guthrie Media, where owner Michael Guthrie was a true gentleman. There, I learned the business's essentials and my role covered everything from media planning and copywriting to invoicing, material instruction and dispatch, and nightly computer backups. I hit my stride at (the original) Mediacom, which became Movitator and then Maxus where I spent eight years working with the same clients, unheard of these days, before leaving to go on maternity leave. It was a great crew, and we had outstanding leadership under Ron Bartlett.
When I was ready to return during the GFC, my position was gone, so I started a media department within a creative agency before finally founding Media Words in 2014 with backing from some of my long-term clients. During the early days, I spent almost six years with Dentsu, culminating in my role contracting from Dentsu New York and reporting to the Sonos Head of Media in LA as the Global Media Lead for Sonos across NAM, EMEA, and APAC. Straddling two worlds of big agency and small independent, I could see the gap between client needs and traditional agency models. I was constantly frustrated by the lack of transparency, so I stepped down and have concentrated on Media Words ever since.
How would you describe what the company does?
Media Words is an independent media consultancy that brings genuine partnership and over 30 years of expertise to every client engagement. Our senior-level team specialises in strategic media planning, buying, and campaign management across all channels. We pride ourselves on every client working directly with the experienced team they meet during pitches - no handoffs to junior staff, no exceptions. I have cultivated a network of specialists who deliver genuine expertise when our clients need it most, so all campaigns are organised by one team. Media Words' purpose is to bring big agency smarts to everyday businesses without the smoke and mirrors.
What’s the best thing about the industry you work in?
The people you meet and the relationships you make - you do nothing without your team or network. It's a privilege to be able to look under the hood of many different businesses across lots of categories. The learning opportunities are endless, and this is what makes the media industry so unique.
What do you do day-to-day?
My first task is always checking in with my clients and my team. I see my number one role as making their work lives easier. From there I could be writing media strategies, updating media plans, checking campaign results and current activity to make sure things are on track. I hate surprises and choose to stay hands-on so I can deliver the most value. I spend a lot of time talking and love meeting new people, I read a lot, constantly catch up with media providers and listen to podcasts. No day or week is ever the same.
Define your job in one word:
Cat herder - my role involves having fingers in many pies and bringing together all the moving pieces to create solutions.
What’s the biggest challenge you face in your role?
Managing expectations is my biggest challenge. There's a lot of swirl and buzz around advertising and media - fancy words and unrealistic promises that can lead to disappointing experiences that are hard to undo. While our landscape is changing incredibly fast, the fundamentals remain the same. I often see a tendency to chase shiny new solutions while skipping over the methodical groundwork that really drives results.
Where do you turn for inspiration?
Podcasts and business communities are my go-to sources of inspiration. I'm constantly reaching out to people on LinkedIn - there are so many amazing professionals out there who offer continuous learning opportunities. It's incredible how willing people are to share their knowledge and experiences.
My favourite advert is:
There are so many. One that stood out to me last year was the Luv a Duck out-of-home campaign (some would say I was slightly obsessed). It's a clever use of humour - and is quite daring using a nearly swear word - it stopped me in my tracks and had me looking twice. It would be great to see brands push this boundary more and not play it safe so much. And Aussies love slang, so it's a good tie-in with this - and we love a laugh.
Words of advice for someone wanting a job like yours:
My advice is to focus on building genuine relationships and be the person who says yes. Don’t dodge hard work and make excuses. Understanding the fundamentals of media planning, in an age of algorithms and automation, human insight and experience, remain irreplaceable.
If I weren't doing this for a living, I'd be:
A hotel influencer - though I'd need to figure out how to grow my following first! I love travelling and have a slightly obsessive passion for hotels. I'd journey across counties and through cities, posting glamorous photos of lobby ceilings, fabulous cocktails, and meals. You'd find me writing detailed reviews about complimentary shower caps and getting paid to raid those tiny fridges!
What’s the biggest industry-wide challenge you’d like to see tackled?
There are several significant challenges, but two stand out:
First, fair compensation and market value recognition, particularly for smaller agencies. Many of us struggle to maintain profitable pricing structures while competing against those who overpromise and underdeliver. This creates a challenging environment where we must balance maintaining professional standards with staying competitive without devaluing our expertise and services.
Second, there is an increasing fragmentation of audience attention across multiple platforms. Consumers now split their time between countless mediums, each with metrics, pricing models, and audience behaviours. This fragmentation makes cross-platform measurement particularly challenging. Understanding deduplicated reach and frequency, accurately attributing conversions, and measuring true campaign effectiveness across a complex media ecosystem remain significant hurdles.
Notable campaigns/initiatives:
It's challenging to single out specific campaigns as each has driven learnings, but a few stand out:
The Suzuki Swift launch campaign using "Shop til you Drop" was a massive success in the pre-digital era. It demonstrated how effective traditional media could be when used creatively.
My pro bono work as Sponsorship and Media Manager for the Mt Eliza Fun Run and Festival has been gratifying. Seeing the tangible impact of funds raised for blood cancer research has been truly humbling.
One of our more unexpected successes has been our ongoing influencer management and recipe creation initiative. This was a project Elissa Booth at Ocean Spray and I started about five years ago by simply rolling up our sleeves and giving it a go. Seeing it consistently punch above its weight and deliver strong results has been fantastic. It's a testament to what can be achieved when a relationship is built on time and trust.
My Mantra:
Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Who has been your most influential mentor?
It may sound cliché, but I've been incredibly lucky to have had many great people support me throughout my career. However, if I had to single out one person, it would be Rob Bartlett. He definitely shaped me in my early years and had a profound impact on my professional development.
Music and TV streaming habits. What do you subscribe to?
Netflix, Apple TV, and Sonos music.
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you:
I hate brussels sprouts.
In five years time I will be:
Balancing work and life better, have no kids at home any more and will live and run my business from overseas, somewhere warm.
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