B&T 30 Under 30 Shortlist Submission

Outline your career path and any key achievements to date.

Perhaps by virtue of its mystique and allure – I always thought the advertising industry was too glamorous for me to be accepted into. Starting my career as a Coordinator at Mediacom however, I quickly learnt that advertising can be a fruitful industry for almost anyone; provided they are willing to work hard and ask the right questions. Doing just that, I worked as a Coordinator for 1 year and 9 months before being promoted to Investment Executive within another team in the office.

Throughout my time I’ve learnt that modern advertising is a far more complex and technical industry than what meets the eye; building a solid foundation of knowledge across both traditional and digital platforms. After a year of working at Mediacom, it occurred to me that only two things are constant: competition and change. To survive in an increasingly noisy and cluttered market, it takes creativity and innovation to cut through the mix. For this reason, I’ve immersed myself into as many facets of media as possible, always eager to establish a diverse and versatile skillset that garners a unique perspective both for the work I produce and my position within the industry.

The cut-throat, competitive nature of advertising serves as a stimulus for ambition in my formative years and remains the driving force behind my constant desire to learn more. Using this desire as fuel, I have submitted entries into WPP Atticus Awards and Cannes Young Lions which were met with recognition and praise by peers and superiors. I have earned my stripes in digital media through gaining my Certificate I and II in the MFA Digital Foundations program. These achievements, combined with my significant contribution to the Mediacom cultural landscape led to nomination by our managing director for an Ad News Young Guns Profile which placed in the top 10 most read for the country throughout 2018.

What makes you a future leader in your chosen field?

Working in an industry in which the only constants are competition and change, my career will invariably be met with a variety of challenges and unfamiliar working environments. When faced with a steady stream of curve balls – I think a strong sense of versatility and resilience (and good hand eye co-ordination) are the strongest weapons to have in your arsenal to ensure consistent home runs.

My time in the industry to date, albeit relatively limited, has afforded me a world of experiences across multifaceted roles in which my versatility and resilience have developed tenfold. Within these roles, I have quickly mastered tasks that align with my natural skillset but have also, at times, been challenged by aspects of the industry that I have not picked up quite as easily. Although being thrust into the world of digital advertising with little to no prior knowledge seemed incredibly daunting at first, I was able to build my digital foundations with persistence over time, through an adaptable mindset and an everpresent eagerness to learn. I believe that this is the sort of tenacity and determination that is required not only for an effective worker, but for a dynamic leader.

Now working in a position in which I can share my knowledge and experience with others, I have learnt that humility and understanding are required between teacher and student for versatility and resilience to be born and nurtured. I’m proud to be a part of and contribute to a thriving work culture in which outdated, hierarchical power dynamics are a thing of the past. In sharing knowledge in all aspects of my life, I have been a stern believer in enabling and empowering as opposed to instructing and demanding. I believe a future leader in this industry is one who champions versatility, resilience, creativity and ingenuity through processes that enable and power workers to fulfil their potential.

What represents success to you?

My personal successes thus far can be categorised by an eagerness to push the boundaries and to try something different. In such a competitive industry, to be successful I believe we need to find ways to let our natural abilities and interests shine. Without celebrating unique passion and nuance, we inevitably become cogs in a chain, rarely eager to diverge from the status quo. Successful agencies establish inspiring, fertile workplaces in which staff are encouraged to try things differently and to approach briefs with a new perspective. I am lucky enough to work in such an environment in which drag queens are dancing through the office as I put the finishing touches on this submission.

At the risk of sounding cliched, I’ve found that success in this industry is truly represented by one of marketing’s core principles: a point of difference. In 2018, Mediacom was lucky enough to have Global CEO Stephen Allan grace us with his presence. After regaling us with various anecdotes of global pitches and international business, one core truth stood out:

“Every agency has data in a pitch process - by the time a client hears that every agency has ‘the best data’, they will lose interest. What they will remember is the people and the ideas.”

In an increasingly digital business landscape, I believe Stephen Allan’s insight can be applied to companies across all categories. As global business leans on data as their key asset and selling point, they run the risk of failing to stand out. Older advertising moguls such as William Bernbach has even suggested:

“One of the disadvantages of doing everything mathematically, by research, is that after a while, everybody does it the same way.”

Finding and celebrating different perspectives that are born of authentic, unique experience is the key to producing creative and effective work and is the key to both individual and agency success.

What do you think needs to be improved in your industry and why?

The marketing tools and technologies that have surfaced with contemporary digital media have presented modern advertisers with a double-edged sword. While digital advertising may seem sharp, shiny, cost efficient and appealing on face value, it can enchant us with both a blessing and a curse. Indeed, these tools make consumers more targetable, reachable and traceable than ever before; however as the number of ways we can touch an audience has increased, I believe the quality of the conversations we are having with consumers is decreasing. From my experience, this stems from an overly strong emphasis on media investment purely for the sake of cost efficient mass reach, with less consideration for the quality of the placements and their relevance to the campaign.

By the industry championing the ability to reach people as opposed to advocating for the ability to truly connect, we often deny ourselves the opportunity to tell a brand’s story in engaging ways. While more traditional media may at times be less cost efficient in reaching audiences at scale, I believe many mainstream formats provide more effective opportunities to advertise due to the context in which audiences are consuming content on them. For video advertising especially, platforms like YouTube and Facebook often garner negative reactions from consumers as a result of the experience they have with ads on the platform. The ‘permissibility’ from the consumer’s perspective on YouTube or Facebook is substantially lower, often due to the length of the video they originally opted to consume. We need to ask ourselves more often: would I be happy to consume a 15 second ad before a 10 second video?

For us to move forward, maintaining engaging, emotional conversations with our audiences at mass, we need to think of them less as ones and zeroes and more as flesh and bone.

Describe your attributes in no more than five words.

Curious, hungry, passionate, creative, ambitious.

Please include a written reference from either your current employer, a client or service provider.

Katherine Williams, Managing Director - Mediacom Brisbane:

Jack started with MediaCom approximately two years ago as a Coordinator and has since been promoted to an Executive. It’s been a pleasure to see Jack develop over this time, first achieving successes on an individual campaign level to later driving success of agency-wide initiatives.

I’ve witnessed Jack work hard on bettering himself and growing his skillset, with his trade press article acknowledgements giving him confidence to take chances and believe in his own voice.

Jack demonstrates a genuine thirst for knowledge and information, is extremely passionate about his pursuit for delivery of innovative work and is highly driven and motivated. I agree with his five attributes - Jack is definitely curious, hungry, passionate, creative and ambitious, but he also has a strong sense of social justice with high personal integrity – highly sought-after attributes of an emerging leader in today’s business landscape. Jack volunteers with gusto, is generous with his peers and always looks for the opportunity in any challenge, so it is a pleasure to support his nomination for 30 Under 30.