Our Young Guns profile takes a weekly look at some of the young talent across the advertising, ad tech, 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 Sparro key account director Hannah Jones
How long have you been in the industry?
8 years.
Duration in current role/time at the company:
9 months.
What were you doing before this job and how did you get this gig?
Affiliate Account Director in Melbourne. My current gig is the result of having lunch with Morris Bryant (co-founder of Sparro), after explaining the operational and management experience I had gained since our last meeting. Sparro is Webjet’s search agency, and I previously worked at Webjet!
Define your job in one word:
Rewarding.
What were your real and cliché expectations of working in the industry?
Real: Fun. Cliche: Long hours.
How does the reality match up?
Reality - loads of fun. I love working with clients from a broad range of industries, and particularly enjoy the networking and relationship building side.
How would you describe what the company does and what does your role involve?
We provide data-driven, successful digital marketing campaigns. My role is varied, from working with our key clients to managing the team, while always ensuring there is cheese on the table at 4pm on a Thursday for ‘cheesy Thursday’s’.
Best thing about the industry you work in:
It’s constantly evolving and there’s always something new to learn.
Any major hard learnings in the job so far?
It’s near impossible to make everyone happy.
If you had to switch over to another department, which would it be and why?
We don’t have any other departments! We’re a hands-on team of 30.
What's exciting you about the industry right now?
AI.
What concerns you about the industry and its future?
Ensuring we’re prepared for voice search and being flexible enough to integrate with AI solutions.
Who's your right hand person/who guides you day to day?
Sparro founders and partners Morris and Cam Bryant.
And your almighty mentor that you hope to dethrone?
I don’t think you can dethrone the partners/founders! However I hope to continue to learn from their experiences and success.
Career-wise, where do you see yourself in 2020 and how do you plan on getting there?
Starting Sparro Melbourne!! Expanding our Melbourne client base.
What is the elephant in the room? The thing that no one is talking about – but they should be.
Everyone is talking about AI, but I don’t think we’re talking about the impact it will have on the jobs available in the future.
Where do you turn for inspiration?
My support network - friends and family.
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
That’s a tough one - I am definitely an extroverted over-sharer!!
Favourite advert is:
'Dumb Ways to Die' - Melbourne's Metro Trains ad campaign
What’s your personal motto?
When I used to play basketball it was always ‘when the going gets tough, the tough get going’. I think it relates to work and life as well.
I got into advertising/ad tech/marketing etc because:
Advertising and marketing has always interested me. I studied psychology and marketing - consumer behaviour and marketing’s influence is really fascinating.
If I wasn't doing this for a living, I'd be:
I probably would have become a teacher.
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