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 Live Group digital marketing director Sam Edmond.
Time at the company:
Almost four years.
How would you describe what the company does?
Live Group is a payment solutions provider that creates products and services to help small businesses grow.
What do you do day-to-day?
I work across multiple brands that fall under the Live Group umbrella, so any day can be completely different from the next. Most of my day is spent talking to stakeholders and partners (mostly on my fingers on Slack), ensuring projects and campaigns are running smoothly. It’s a solid mix of both strategy and making stuff happen.
Define your job in one word:
Diverse.
I got into digital marketing because:
I’m from a family of writers and was always obsessed with the internet so when social media came along, I was fascinated with how people interacted and communicated online. After starting in social media marketing I developed a desire to understand everything digital marketing related.
What’s the biggest challenge you face in your role?
Balancing different projects and making sure the decisions we make are the right ones. We aim to be as agile as possible, but it can take substantial time to develop new competitive products. With a plethora of tech options, it can be very costly in the long term if we were to choose to invest in wrong technology and the market ended up heading in a different direction.
What’s the biggest industry-wide challenge you’d like to see tackled?
Small businesses being able to futureproof themselves by embracing technology and setting themselves up for the years to come. The world is rapidly changing, so its important businesses have a solid understanding of where payment tech is heading.
Previous industry related companies you have worked at:
This is my first role in a ‘fintech’, but I’ve previously held digital specific roles at leading financial institutions including AMP Capital, Aussie Home Loans and Aspen Group.
Who has been a great mentor to you and why?
Professionally I’m lucky to have had a few great mentors along the way, in different facets of my work too from technical gurus to inspirational marketing leaders. Overall though I’d have to say, my father, he’s was a decent marketer himself, so I’ve always been able to lean on him when I need some impartial advice or extra motivation.
Words of advice for someone wanting a job like yours?
In the world of payments, there is a seemingly endless number of things to understand. The same can be said for digital.
Be curious and ask questions to find out how things work. The more you know, the more value you can add. The answer is often easier to understand than you may have initially thought.
If I weren’t doing this for a living, I'd be:
Probably doing something to do with sports statistics and data. Ask any of my good mates and they’ll tell you I’m obsessed with facts and stats.
My mantra is:
Always be prepared. Most of the time that you fail or let yourself down is because you haven’t prepared yourself well enough. Also, don’t sweat the small stuff. I like to think I’m unflappable and that usually nothing positive comes from panic and stress.
My favourite advert is:
I can’t go past Sportsbet's Elite Average Games, specifically the Men's Synchronised Bomb Diving. Any man who loves sports can relate to them on some level.
Music and TV streaming habits. What do you subscribe to?
Spotify, Netflix, Amazon Prime. I’m more of a music guy than a show watcher.
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
We’re a tight group and there’s not too much my colleagues don’t know. Probably that I’m a big fan of metal and hardcore genres. I’m in my late 30s but I’m still up for going to shows, even if it means going on my own!
In five years’, time I'll be:
Either continuing to help Live Group go global or running my own business. I’m happy right now so I’m not looking too far ahead right now.
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