Our Young Gun profile takes a look at some of the young talent across the advertising, adtech, marketing and media sector in Australia. It aims to shed light on the varying roles, people and companies across the buzzing industry.
Today we speak to Ambire strategy and planning director Ashleigh Pitcher.
Time in current role/time at the company:
In my current role, it’s only been two months! Within the company, I’ve just surpassed the three-year milestone.
How long have you been in the industry?
Just over five years. Two years client-side, three working in an agency.
How did you get here? Was this always the plan?
I reached a point in my previous role working client-side, where I saw all of these amazing results that our agency would present to us each week and I had so many questions! I needed to know the ins-and-outs of what went on behind the scenes.
Within Ambire, I was able to work closely with and learn from Andrea Atzori (director at Ambire) who has a wealth of experience across large international agencies and clients. I was very lucky to be able to absorb lots of knowledge in the earlier years of my career. I’d say that’s helped me to build to where I am today (though there’s still a lot of learning ahead!).
Whether or not this was always the plan - I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of working in an agency and within the media. Performance marketing is definitely something I didn’t see myself doing (having started in a grad role in PR), but I’m glad I’ve found my way here!
Who is your right hand person/who guides you day to day?
My director at Ambire, Andrea Atzori! He’s typically seen and done it all - so when I’m in doubt, I’ll turn to him for guidance.
What’s the best thing about the industry you work in?
You’ll never feel bored or complacent. Particularly in digital, everything moves at such a fast pace, you’re constantly learning.
And the biggest challenge?
Staying on top of everything. Where the fast-paced environment can be exciting, it can also be the biggest challenge. There are some days where you find yourself juggling multiple same-day requests or urgent deadlines and it can be a challenge to keep everyone happy. ‘Managing expectations’ is my mantra of 2021.
Whose job have you set your sights on in the future?
CMO at Adore Beauty, Dan Ferguson! And not just for the potential freebies…
Where do you turn for inspiration?
Whenever I’m uninspired it's usually when I’m feeling burnt out. In that case, I tend to try to exercise, put on a good playlist and clear my mind! That usually does the trick.
My favourite advert is:
I thought the recent ‘Make Lamb Not Walls’ ad was so well thought out. It managed to tastefully play on the catastrophe of a year that was 2020. Particularly loved the final shot of ScoMo arriving late to the party in his Hawaiian lei...
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
Outside of work, I used to spend most of my time training and playing basketball!
In five years' time I'll be:
I’d hopefully have established myself as an influential female figure within the industry. That would be very cool.
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