In this series, AdNews takes a look at some of the professionals working across the advertising, adtech, marketing and media sector in Australia. This time it's OMD Australia group transformation director Elizabeth Calwell.
Time in current role:
Four and a half years.
How would you describe what the company does?
OMD is one of Australia’s leading media agencies, delivering ‘Performance with Integrity for our People and Partners’ in everything we do. We bring consumers and brands together through best-in-class omnichannel media planning, forging strong partnerships and enabling it all with effective use of data and technology.
What do I do day to day?
My role is to simplify the complexities of data and technology to help deliver more effective communications experiences and unlock business value.
So, day-to-day, it’s a mix of devising strategic plans and roadmaps that help our clients move from point A to point B in these areas, leading education and upskilling for both internal and client teams, helping optimise the OMD product to adapt to ever-changing needs and overseeing project delivery to bring this all to life. It’s a diverse role requiring lots of juggling and problem solving!
Additionally, this past year I’ve had the pleasure of being part of the OMD Exec Next program. Along with the rest of my cohort, I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside the executive leadership team in solving a wide range of problems affecting the entire agency. As someone who’s role is grounded in driving change, this exposure and mentoring has been invaluable in broadening the range of perspectives I consider each day.
Define your job in one word:
Connection.
I got into my industry because:
I was an aspiring journalist honing my craft at uni during the rise of web 2.0. I loved the internet, communications theory and wanted to make the world a better place through communications. Serendipitously, I found the media industry which turned out to be the perfect environment in which I could do just that.
What’s the biggest industry wide challenge you’d like to see tackled?
Matching our capability evolution to the pace of the technology evolution.
I believe that our industry can’t truly benefit from all the wonderful gifts of evolving technology if only a few specialists understand it, so I’m continually working to help bridge that gap through education and conversation.
Previous companies:
MediaCom UK, Mindshare AU, Dentsu AU.
Notable campaigns/initiatives:
I’ve been lucky enough to have worked on a huge amount of diverse and interesting campaigns over the years, but the thing I’m most proud of recently is an internal initiative.
Over the past 18 months, I’ve been reinvigorating an our ‘OMD Beyond’ education forum, which is designed to take some of the industry’s trickiest future facing topics and simplify them for all.
Bringing the whole agency together, OMD Beyond explores everything from changing privacy legislation, data strategies, machine learning, AI and more. We present each topic with a touch of fun and creativity to help make the complex more tangible (who knew Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory and data clean rooms had so many similarities?!).
It’s been a real joy to see engagement with the forum and collective understanding grow.
Who has been a great mentor to you?
I’m lucky enough to have a wise network of family, friends and colleagues who always play devil’s advocate and help me be my best self, but lately, it’s really the two Taylors:
The first, my fearless leader Taylor Svarc (group head of transformation). Her words of wisdom (typically reminding me to ‘control what I can control’) guide my decision making every day, helping me to become a more objective and effective problem solver.
The second, the incomparable poetic genius of Taylor Swift, who reminds all of us that ‘haters gonna hate’ and ‘never be so clever, you forget to be kind’ amongst many other valuable lessons applicable to both life and work.
Words of advice:
Old ways won’t open new doors.
Tech is always looking forward, which means you can never truly be an expert in it (a fact that’s humbling as a reformed perfectionist). The pace of change means there are always new ways to solve problems, new technologies are always emerging and you’re never going to know all the answers. I’ve learned the best way of navigating this is to be curious, learning and adapting as we go.
If I wasn’t doing this for a living:
Someone once told me that it’s written in the stars that I’m supposed to be a writer. I guess there’s still time!
My philosophy is:
Take pleasure in the process.
As I’ve touched on, a valuable lesson I’ve learned working on the digital and technology side of our industry is that things change rapidly. Some technology is enduring, others more fleeting (RIP DMPs) and sometimes campaigns just don’t go to plan. So, this means that sometimes the right decision is to walk away or pivot from something that’s no longer fit for purpose. I’ve learned over the years to try and focus my energy on learning as much as I can through the process, regardless of the outcome.
My favourite advert is:
I love the unexpected Oreo’s ‘You Can Still Dunk in the Dark’ (still brings a smile to my face) and anything I can sing along to.
I also loved what we did recently with Dulux - aligning their colour swatches with Taylor Swift tracks. I loved how they embraced the mutual connection of colour with the emotional and cultural moment that was The Eras Tour.
Music and TV streaming habits. What do you subscribe to?
Reading: Havard Business Review, NYTimes.
Podcasts: The Optimism Project – Simon Sinek, How to Fail with Elizabeth Day, Happier with Gretchen Rubin.
Viewing: Masterclass (recently enjoyed Alexis Ohanian’s take on entrepreneurship!).
In five years time, I'll be:
Time will tell what the robots have planned – but for now, I’m trying to be open to all possibilities.
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
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.