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 IMA managing director APAC Patrick Tully.
Time in current role:
I’ve spent three years leading the IMA Sydney team, but have been in the Sydney marketing landscape for the last 17 years.
How would you describe what the company does?
We’re part of a full service global integrated comms agency that builds real brand for real people that live and last in the real world. We also consult and build capability in all things marketing and brand strategy through our consulting offering, fusion.
What do you do day to day?
I work with a brilliantly nimble team on anything from social strategies, long term brand building campaigns and strategic challenges - from brand positioning to portfolio optimisation.
Define your job in one word:
Eclectic!
I got into the industry because:
Way back when I joined Diageo on their graduate scheme, marketing was exciting, indispensable to building business, well respected and even quite well paid!
What’s the biggest challenge you face in your role?
Time (not enough of it).
What’s the biggest industry wide challenge you’d like to see tackled?
Creating a new marketing philosophy or paradigm that replaces consumerism, demand creation and our obsession with commercial growth with responsible consumption, value creation and collaborative / sustainable growth.
Who has been a great mentor to you and why?
When I joined the fusion consulting business as a partner, I was lucky to join two existing partners who have inspired and educated me for well over 17 years.
Words of advice for someone wanting a job like yours?
Never look at it as a job as that will misshape your expectations and stunt your professional growth. Look at it as either a step in your journey or the journey itself.
If I wasn’t doing this for a living, I'd be:
An airline pilot or scuba instructor!
My philosophy is:
Kindness is its own reward.
My favourite advert is:
My fave brand campaign is Snickers - You’re not you when you’re hungry. It’s simple, endlessly funny, adaptable and based on a product truth – Snickers Satisfies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkAnLtqWDhc
Then, my fave advert is VW Passat Superbowl ad from 2011. It’s an oldie but a goodie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n6hf3adNqk and it’s totally true to the VW platform of ‘if only everything in life was as reliable as a VW’, which goes all the way back to the snowplough commercial of the 1960s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABcckOTVqao
Music and TV streaming habits. What do you subscribe to?
Both my music and TV choices are quite eclectic. In my ears, I’m listening to bands like The Cure and The Police, and genres like rap, 80’s Britpop, classical and more.
In terms of TV, I’ve often got sport or documentaries on, mixed in with crime drama, history, international affairs, and of course, MAFS.
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
I’m not always as relaxed as I seem.
In five year’s time, I'll be:
Working less and playing more… here’s hoping!
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