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.
Jesse Proud, Client Development Director at GroupM
Time in current role/time at the company:
I’ve been at GroupM for just over 2 years now.
How would you describe what the company does?
We combine innovative AI technology, advanced omnichannel solutions, data driven creative and best in-market programmatic talent t0 drive real business outcomes for our clients.
What do you do day-to-day?
I work closely with our clients and provide solutions to help them solve complex marketing challenges, whilst also maximizing their digital media spend ROI.
Define your job in one word:
Exciting!
I got into marketing/media because:
I always loved the idea of helping businesses grow as well as the constant learning journey the world or marketing and media provides. And free beers of course.
What’s the biggest challenge you face in your role?
My biggest challenge was also a key drawcard to the industry for me, and that’s keeping up with the constant change and innovation around all things marketing and ad tech.
What’s the biggest industry-wide challenge you’d like to see tackled?
While a lot of organizations are prioritizing sustainability, as an industry we’re no where close to where we need to be to drive real change. There is a huge workstream dedicated to media decarbonization at GroupM locally and globally, and really ambitious goals. We are making massive progress but I’d love to see rapid progression and big commitments on reducing carbon emissions across our entire industry.
Notable campaigns you have worked on:
Over the las few years, it would have to be working alongside our State Government clients on delivering important messages around COVID-19 and more recently, vaccination. Seeing the work we do really have an impact on people’s lives and health shows that what we do really can change the world.
Who has been a great mentor to you and why?
An ex-News Corp colleague and good friend, Simon Schultz. He’s always been a great sounding board and kept me hungry and motivated throughout my career.
Words of advice for someone wanting a job like yours?
It’s a challenging industry, but an extremely rewarding one. Always push yourself to learn more, ask questions and back yourself.
If I wasn't doing this for a living, I'd be:
Living in Toronto running a Melbourne inspired café / coffee roastery.
My mantra is:
If opportunity doesn’t know, build a door.
My favourite advert is:
The “Hard Earned Thirst” campaign for VB is pretty hard to beat.
Music and TV streaming habits. What do you subscribe to?
My Spotify library is a bit of a mixed bag. At the moment, I’m listening to a lot Drake and The Velvet Underground. I told you it was a mixed bag. As for TV, I’ve just finished Succession which was awesome.
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
I played the drums for 10 years.
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