Industry Profile: Zoe Chan-Iverach at POLY
AdNews Industry Profile takes a look at some of the professionals working across the advertising, adtech, marketing and media sector in Australia. It aims to shed light on the varying roles and companies across the buzzing industry.
Zoe Chan-Iverach: Digital Producer at POLY
Time in current role/time at the company: Just short of 18 months at POLY/oOh!
How would you describe what the company does?
oOh! is Australia’s leading Out of Home media provider, with a 35,000 strong network of Out of Home advertising locations. POLY, oOh!’s creative and innovation hub is in a unique position to take our collective expertise and encourage our clients to utilise our public spaces to create value, capture attention and push the boundaries of creativity.
What do you do day-to-day?
As a digital producer within the POLY team, I act as a conduit for many internal stakeholders. I’m responding to media agency briefs and working with our sales teams to bring their client objectives to life across our network, collaborating with our creative technology team on solution design and working with our designers and strategists on how to innovate within our digital product capabilities.
Define your job in one word:
Sweet spot. Okay, two words. I consider myself extremely lucky to sit at the intersection of creative, technology, strategy and design in the OOH media space.
I got into the media industry because:
I was craving a more creative way to utilise my technical skills. There’s a moment of magic to be found when you stretch existing technical capabilities with creativity to find the right digital solution.
What’s the biggest challenge you face in your role?
Balancing stakeholder priorities and relationship management is a large part of each brief I work on – in the background there are pillars to hit to ensure cost to business, strategic priorities and client objectives are met alongside the thirst to innovate. There are a lot of moving parts that come together to produce desired outcomes.
What’s the biggest industry-wide challenge you’d like to see tackled?
Moving from client side in the technology space, it’s become apparent that the media industry lacks diversity of voices and opinion. Intent is the key here and to be a beneficiary of the change, driving any initiative needs to be done to tick more than a box. We know from numerous studies that diversity of people and opinion foster greater collaboration, creativity and innovation. At all levels of our industry we can benefit from ensuring we are reflective of the diverse cities we live and work in.
Who has been a great mentor to you and why?
Pete Galmes (ex POLY Creative Director) passed on some invaluable lessons on trusting each part of your team with their creative process. In the technology space, Ian Grant (oOh’s Head of Technology) has passed on knowledge and resources as I develop my skills as a producer, juggling stakeholder priorities for both technology and creative. I’ve been fortunate to develop a great professional relationship with, and work under the direction of Gabrielle Stolojan-Filipesco (Head of Operations Content, Marketing Creative & POLY). Observing Gabrielle’s leadership and how she navigates obstacles to drive strategic objectives has been a great learning curve.
Words of advice for someone wanting a job like yours?
Understanding business strategy is just as important as your desire to innovate creatively. Seek to understand, ask why and bring an open mind to the right solution.
If I wasn’t doing this for a living, I’d be:
Working closely in the delivery of interactive and engaging digital products. I love the creative space that evolves when a digital solution meets a demand.
My mantra is:
Less a mantra, more a belief that personal and professional growth occurs when you’re ready.
My favourite advert is (and why):
The Matilda’s ‘Til It’s Done’ campaign (Ogilvy Australia/Group M) during the recent FIFA WWC perfectly captured the excitement, emotion and tone of the nation during this time; the campaign was executed in the OOH network and is a poignant reminder of the value that OOH adds to public spaces.
Music and TV streaming habits. What do you subscribe to?
I’m not brand loyal. I’m currently in my Disney+ streaming rotation and taking notes from Jenna Lyons on Real Housewives of New York.
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
I was a competitive figure skater until I was 14, expressing creativity by connecting audiences with storytelling has always been something I’ve loved.
In five years’ time I’ll be:
Without being prescriptive, I’d like to think I’ll be more comfortable with failure, more self-assured with what I do (and don’t) know and hopefully, a proud dog mum.