Paul Sigaloff, Verizon Media ANZ (previously Yahoo7) managing director talks about the launch of a new event for our industry’s brightest young talent.
Brand Love Academy, launched just in time for Valentine’s Day, offers the best talent from media agencies and brands the opportunity to learn and be inspired by the brightest minds across our industry and beyond.
Paul explains how Brand Love Academy will help young talent fall in love with their careers and ‘build brand love’.
Tell us about Brand Love Academy. What is it and what is the ethos behind the event?
Brand Love Academy is a new industry wide initiative aimed to help build our industry’s brightest talent, both personally and professionally. On March 27, Verizon Media is bringing together top emerging talent for a two day educational program.
Verizon Media’s vision is to ‘build brands people love’, and what better way to build a company that talent loves than by looking bigger and investing to build an industry full of great talent? Brand Love Academy is our chance to invest in the future and nurture our industry’s brand love.
What can attendees expect to gain from participating in the day, and why should senior leaders take advantage of this opportunity to nominate their rising talent?
The two day event will focus on education, self reflection and improvement, whilst building your own personal brand. We have a number of inspirational speakers lined up to lead workshops that will teach creative brainstorming techniques, nurture personal well being and offer handy tips to navigate your career.
Brand Love Academy is a great opportunity for senior agency leaders to recognise and reward their top talent in not only an inspirational, but also an interactive, practical way. At the end of day one we’ve included a pitch and present challenge, giving attendees the chance to put their newly learnt skills to the test, with the winners taking home an all expenses paid trip to learn from the best at Advertising Week in New York.
Who is eligible to be nominated, and what are you specifically looking for?
Brand Love Academy is an exclusive, invitation-only event for rising stars within the media industry. We are asking senior agency leaders to nominate individuals they consider as their top 5%, the best of the best, with 1-7 years of industry experience.
We will be looking for individuals that are passionate about the digital media industry, go above and beyond when contributing to campaigns, are actively involved within the industry and show leadership beyond their years.
What is the importance of Verizon Media investing in and nurturing local talent and business?
It will come as no surprise to anyone that the media and marketing industry is facing continual change and that impacts our talent whether it be attracting, training or retaining. You only have to look at the headlines everyday to see the level of unprecedented movements within senior leadership. It’s not just limited to the C suite, trends are exactly the same when you look at young members of the industry.
We want to be part of the the solution, and Brand Love Academy offers Verizon Media the opportunity to work at a grassroots level to nurture and support up-and-coming talent, with the experience and resources we have.
I genuinely believe that investing in future talent now will create a long-term legacy, something we are really focused on and proud of as a business that aims to build brand love.
Verizon Media has always had a strong presence in NZ. What is it about the local market that differentiates from AU and the rest of the world?
We have actively been in market across NZ for over a decade as a crucial part of our local strategy. Alongside offering New Zealanders amazing content through our editorial brands, our focus is providing our customers with an integrated platform solution via Oath Ad Platforms to access native and DSP at scale through a premium brand safe environment.
Is there a local event, what will it look like and when will it happen?
All successful nominees will be offered the opportunity to travel to Sydney compliments of Verizon Media to take part in the program alongside talent from across the breadth of Australia and NZ.
NZ has a reputation for punching above its weight in media and creative circles. Why do you think this is?
From talking to people, it seems ‘necessity is the mother of invention’ when it comes to the Kiwis and this environment offers teams a fantastic opportunity to work across all aspects of campaigns, rather than being siloed into a specific role.
Kiwis have an extraordinary reputation globally for being entrepreneurial and innovative which delivers exceptional creative work, inspiring and educating the industry globally.
What’s next for Verizon Media, what is exciting you this year?
Well if the first six weeks are anything to go by, 2019 is going to be nothing short of an incredibly eventful year for the business.
Our consumer brands like Yahoo Finance, News, Lifestyle and Sport are engaging with more people than ever before as we continue to nurture and invest in new areas such as events. For instance, we’re bringing Yahoo Finance into the real world later this year with our first APAC All Markets Summit.
Oath Ad Platforms, our suite of intelligent advertising and publishing solutions, continue to evolve in providing brands with smart data-led advertising solutions that deliver clients business objectives.
And our content studio RYOT is going from strength to strength, delivering some really smart and innovative campaigns that utilise the power of our data and content capabilities.
For more information about Brand Love Academy contact brandlove@verizonmedia.com
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