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.
Simon Jarosz: Chief creative otter at We Are Otter.
Time in current role/time at the company:
2 years, 6 months
How would you describe what the company does?
We work with our partners to help them achieve their ambitions, avoiding homogenous values and marketing.
What do you do day-to-day?
Make sure the right people are working together to the right outcome.
Define your job in one word:
Geek
I got into the media industry because:
After graduating as a graphic designer, I wanted to go anywhere that paid me to work on Apple Macs. I was obsessed with design and art direction and quickly became the go-to-guy on software like QuarkXPress, Illustrator and Photoshop. After a short internship at McCann Erickson, in Manchester, I hit the streets with my portfolio and found myself in a branding agency, the rest is history.
What’s the biggest challenge you face in your role?
Changing the perception of what creative work can be, partnering with all stakeholders and delivering powerful storytelling in a format that suits the audience.
What’s the biggest industry-wide challenge you’d like to see tackled?
I find it frustrating that so many in our industry still work in their walled garden. There are some incredibly smart people in this industry, I’d like to see different disciplines working together as brains trusts for clients.
What are you most excited about in the next 12 months?
Post Covid, people are actively seeking brands to lead them out of such an uncertain era, who are striving for a ‘better normal’. I’m excited to see how this change will herald unconventional thinking and I’m excited to be helping clients understand how creative can be a part of that journey, and deliver more for them.
Who has been a great mentor to you and why?
I had the pleasure of working with Mark Pollard many years ago here in Sydney, I really liked his practical application of thinking, and his philosophy around strategy.
I’ve been incredibly fortunate in my time to work with and for some of the best creative leaders in the industry. I’m proud to have done my time in the agency networks like Publicis, WPP and back when The Monkeys were drunk and the indie powerhouse of Australia.
Words of advice for someone wanting a job like yours?
Constantly strive to understand what other skill sets offer. Collaborate, strong creative will inspire others.
If I wasn't doing this for a living, I'd be:
Art was always my thing, as a kid struggling with dyslexia, drawing, painting and other visual media became my preferred language. I’d like to think I’d be creating stories and using stories to connect people in some other way.
My mantra is:
Never stop learning, knowledge is a gift
My favourite advert is: Snickers, you’re not yourself when you’re hungry, from the launch with Betty White, the vernacular was brilliant, the friendly insults made it so relatable, the insight just kept going.
Music and TV streaming habits: what do you subscribe to?
HUGE Tolkien fan, as an art student I traversed through Middle Earth, into Lovecraft’s alternate realities and beyond. I’m drawn to long-format TV shows and how developed both the character and worlds are becoming.
I also feel we are experiencing a renaissance in journalism through podcasts, the world is still coming to terms with a murder conviction 40 years after, through the power of investigative journalism and the podcast platform. These two mediums help nourish the need to escape and the need for justice. Bit of Maslow’s hierarchy in there I think!?
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
I was once held at gunpoint by the Hungarian Secret Police.
In five years' time I'll be:
Still telling stories.
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