The journey begins…

This is my first blog with WWolf. They say every great journey starts with the first step, but in 2019 it starts with building a website, opening social media channels and then writing a blog. 

I have always been fond of the word why? Why asks for explanation, for understanding and insight. Seems a good place to start.

Why WWolf?

I have spent 19 years working in the advertising and marketing space. Never have these industries been under greater pressure. 

It’s fair to say the advertising industry globally is in a state of flux. We have tough times as the industry struggles to convince investors, media and clients of their value at all levels of operation. Australia is no different and it’s clear to see the pressure leadership is under to deliver results.

In particular, the network agencies struggle integrating their legacy agency brands with the new world of marketing agencies, tech companies and consulting firms. Clients continually push for better value from agencies and guidance through the fragmentation that is the modern advertising and marketing landscape thanks to digital. Some agencies are doing well, most are struggling, some are forced to merge and some are going to disappear altogether. Darwinism does not only exist in the animal kingdom alone.

I suspect marketing clients too are struggling to find high-level skills  leadership so desperately needed to traverse the complexity. The reality is it these changes are here to stay and will evolve further. The ability to adjust and adapt are where the opportunities lie. We need to move faster with the times.

Why Australia?

On a personal note I have taken a rather large a leap of faith moving from Tokyo to Melbourne! 

I have arrived on new shores several times in my career with arguably more contrasting cultures than my own from the Middle East to Germany and Japan.  I had just overseen the advertising for over $500 million in marketing spend in Japan and together with other leaders in my agency and fantastic teams more than doubled the size of my previous agency in five years. 

Whilst I came here with no illusions about the challenges I would face I have found it particularly difficult struggling to even get interviews for roles that I am more than qualified for. I certainly wasn’t expecting ‘local knowledge’ to be a deal breaker. I have been told that Melbourne is a closed community but once you are in it, relationships matter most. So I took three important steps to ease into Melbourne – 1) Started playing AFL 2) Found my local hipster coffee shop / barber and 3) Started networking.  

Moving to Melbourne from Tokyo without any business contacts may strike some people as ill advised. Perhaps it was, time will tell, but I always plan with long term in mind and felt of all the cities in Australia, Melbourne best represented the life I wanted to live with my family and could call home (I ignored weather considerations completely).

Creating the Journey

So advertising seems to be in a mess (if all the blogs and linkedin posts are to be believed).

Marketing is in a constant state of transformation driven by technology.  Marketing and communications fragmentation means marketeers are up all night trying to figuring out how to best spend their budgets for best ROI.

Startups are realising that you cannot simply lure people into investing for a quick exit. You have to earn that founder and CEO title by delivering a profitable and successful business.

I would like to be involved with all of those challenges. It’s why I have started WWolf.