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.
Roger Kong: Consultant at Fiftyfive
Time at the company:
1.5 years
How long have you been in the industry?
7+ years
How did you get here? Was this always the plan?
I don’t think market research is in the initial plans for anyone, it seems like most of us accidentally end up here! I undertook an internship at Colmar Brunton at the start of third year university and have not looked back since.
Who is your right-hand person/who guides you day to day?
I have some amazing mentors and a great team who trust and provide me with various responsibilities and opportunities that help me to grow every day.
What’s the best thing about the industry you work in?
Being able to work across a diverse range of clients and industries. I have been petitioning for a ‘random facts’ trivia night for market researchers as we are full of weird and wacky insights.
My colleague Marissa Tsioutsis and I just won the Australian ‘Research Got Talent’ Award through the Australian Data and Insights Association and the global ESOMAR Foundation. Our submission was to help young people find a path out of homelessness with For Change.Co, which was incredibly rewarding. We now get to compete in the global competition in September.
And the biggest challenge?
Working on a large number of projects at the same time, as well as being able to build confidence and skills in others in a way that best suits their learning style.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Mentoring more people in our industry more broadly and making a bigger impact with our clients every day.
Where do you turn for inspiration?
I am fascinated by sports psychology and strategy, and how I can implement these in a work environment!
My favourite advert is:
This Carlton Draught ad is so impressive and memorable at the time. I think I was 11 years old when it first came out.
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
I am the 72nd descendant of Confucius. The Kong family has the longest family tree in history!
Whose job have you set your sights on in the future?
I would like to run my own business one day.
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