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.
For our last Young Gun, we spoke to LIDA (M&C Saatchi) Sydney strategist Sarah Elsmore.
This time we chat to BBC Advertising programmatic account manager Luke Fox.
How long have you been in the industry?
About four years.
Duration in current role/time at the company:
Six months.
What were you doing before this job and how did you get this gig?
After starting my career at Carat, I made the jump across to the DAN trading desk Amnet, where I was most recently working in a product specialist role. I decided to make the move to the publisher side in search of some new challenges. I put my ear to the ground and shortly after managed to land this job.
Define your job in one word:
Consultative
What were your real and cliché expectations of working in the industry?
That you get to work with a wide range of pretty interesting people, and most of them enjoy a drink or three.
How does the reality match up?
Pretty close for the most part.
How would you describe what the company does and what does your role involve?
The mission of the BBC is to enrich people's lives with programmes and services that inform, educate and entertain. My role in a nutshell involves helping brands reach their desired target audience across our digital properties via programmatic buying.
Best thing about the industry you work in:
Without a doubt - the people.
Any major hard learnings in the job so far?
I wouldn’t say it’s major, but it did take a few weeks to get used to the shift from working on a few big long term projects, to a lot of small, shorter term campaigns.
If you had to switch over to another department, which would it be and why?
Probably IT. I’ve always been pretty decent with computers and do enjoy pulling things apart, figuring out how they work, and putting them back together.
What's exciting you about the industry right now?
That in such a short amount of time, programmatic has grown to become part of the everyday vocabulary of almost everyone who works in the digital media industry and that it’s only set to continue growing.
What concerns you about the industry and its future?
While on the one hand the media industry is tasked with helping brands achieve their advertising objectives, on the other hand there is still a lot of self-interest and sometimes (too often) that takes priority.
Who's your right hand person/who guides you day to day?
I wouldn’t say there’s just one. I’ve been quite fortunate to be surrounded by pretty great people in all of the roles that I’ve had so far.
And your almighty mentor that you hope to dethrone?
To dethrone anyone is a bit dramatic. It's media not Game of Thrones.
Career-wise, where do you see yourself in 2020 and how do you plan on getting there?
I wouldn’t say there is a specific place I see myself being in three years. So long as I’m still challenged, learning new things, and heading in a forwards direction, I’ll be happy.
What is the elephant in the room? The thing that no one is talking about – but they should be.
How deals done at the group/company level flow down and end up influencing individual campaigns and if that influence is actually positive or negative.
Where do you turn for inspiration?
I’m going to be really lame and say my lovely Mum. Even though she could have retired years ago, she still works as a nurse in emergency and intensive care just because she loves helping people.
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
I love nothing more than finishing a night out with a bit of a karaoke session.
Favourite advert is:
Most Australian beer ads, but this one is a top contender:
What’s your personal motto?
It's just a ride
I got into advertising/ad tech/marketing etc because:
I had to pick something to study after school and marketing sounded kind of interesting. Following graduation I stumbled into my first job at Carat.
If I wasn't doing this for a living, I'd be:
Flying planes
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