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.
Neil Shoebridge: partner and co-founder at SKMG
Time in current role:
Five years.
How would you describe what the company does?
We call ourselves a strategic communications consultancy because that is what the market understands. At the end of the day, our focus is to drive ROI for our clients through earned media strategy and communication.
It starts by asking the client what they need their audience to understand and, more importantly, why. Then we work out the key messages that need to be landed to drive the influence and the reputation they need.
From there it’s a three-pillar strategy: action, explanation and amplification. We consult on the right activity to undertake and talk about, find the best way to explain it to achieve buy-in, and then we amplify it to the right audience to make sure the message sticks.
What do you do day-to-day?
Um, lots. A lot of engaging with our clients. A lot of writing, from strategies and corporate “narratives” to media releases, speeches and everything else in between. A lot of talking with media to understand what they want and need; it’s not just about helping the clients nail their message, but being a trusted newsroom for journalists, who are increasingly time poor and need sources they can trust.
Aside from working in the business, there’s working on the business. I talk to my business partner, Andrew Knowles, every day about where we take SKMG next and how we can grow our team.
Define your job in one word:
Storytelling.
I got into my industry because:
I was a business journalist for over 20 years, wanted a change, moved into an in-house corporate communications and publicity role, and never looked back. Journalism and strategic corporate communications are in the same world: it’s all about finding the story and telling it your target market.
What’s the biggest industry wide challenge you’d like to see tackled?
The perception in some quarters that communications equals PR. Of course, PR and publicity can be an important part of what we do, but it’s just one tactic we use. The communications industry is a lot more. The UK and US markets are more advanced than Australia in the way they use communications businesses and provide a lot of great case studies as to how earned communications consultancies can really drive value.
Businesses like ours are really at their best when they’re relied on as trusted advisors, not just mouthpieces. We spend the bulk of our time working with clients on their overall business strategies and targets, and amplifying those strategies through long-running communications plans. It’s important, because the days of spin doctoring and alternative facts are gone: having a seat at the table to consult on the right strategy and actions to amplify has an exponential impact on the outcome. It’s in our company values: we amplify the good, not hide the bad.
Previous companies:
B&T magazine, Fairfax Media (BRW and The Australian Financial Review), Ten Network.
Notable campaigns/initiatives:
We’ve done a lot of amazing work with market-leading clients across a lot of industries; from media owners like Seven West Media, QMS and Forbes Australia, to the music industry with ARIA and operational excellence and sustainable engineering with dss+. But because of the confidential nature of most of what we do, our best work is likely something you’ll never hear about – at least from us!
Having said that, we’re very proud of some specific campaigns, like our pro-bono work with the music industry’s charity, Support Act, helping to raise awareness for initiatives like AusMusic T-Shirt Day in the business community while the music industry struggled through COVID. We helped launch the biggest indigenous food database ever recorded with The Orana Foundation in partnership with the South Australian Government; and during my time at Ten, the workplace giving program Ten Gives in partnership with UnLtd.
Who has been a great mentor to you?
I’ve always been a stubborn and fiercely independent person, so when I was younger I never thought I needed a mentor. In hindsight, that wasn’t a smart decision. While I’ve never had a mentor, a lot of people have had a big, enduring influence on my career and how I work over the years, including David Mason (B&T), Glenn Burge and Judith Hoare (AFR), Heidi Volpe (Fairfax), Lou Barrett (Ten and News Corp), James Warburton (Seven West Media, yes, a client), Barry O’Brien (Atomic 212°, another client now)… and many, many others.
Words of advice:
It’s pretty simple: Work hard. Work fast. Never miss a deadline. Be honest. Be transparent. Always respond to emails, texts, phone calls and so on as soon as you can. Over-service your clients. Always keep a sense of humour. Balance your professional and personal lives (sometimes easier said than done).
If I wasn’t doing this for a living…
An American country music star, selling out stadiums around the world.
My philosophy is:
Take your career seriously but don’t let it define you. What you do shouldn’t be who you are.
My favourite advert is:
I love big TV commercials, so the recent one from NRMA with huge streams of water shooting out of the ground is a favourite. It makes you watch it. The message is clear. The branding is strong.
Music and TV streaming habits: what do you subscribe to?
All the local and overseas marketing and media trades, the AFR, the SMH, all the News Corp Australia newspapers, The West Australian, Financial Times, Forbes Australia, The New York Times, MediaPost, Billboard, McKinsey and other management consultancies, Deadline Hollywood, Billboard, 7plus, Netflix, Stan, Disney+, Amazon Prime and more. And Spotify, which is played a lot.
In five years time I'll be:
I’ll be right here, with the SKMG team, doing great work for our current clients, and the ones we haven’t signed yet.
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