Our 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.
Chris Fraser: CEO of Intentional
Time in current role/time at the company:
I have been at Intentional for eight years, and CEO for the past two years.
How would you describe what the company does?
Specialist digital ads agency - SEM, paid social, programmatic and the creative required for each channel.
What do you do day-to-day?
The last 12 months saw me come off the tools and focus on our team and agency growth. It’s humbling that our clients and agency have had their best year ever!
My day is now a mix of check in calls with the team, agency marketing and speaking with clients on their long term direction rather than day to day goals.
Define your job in one word:
Leadership.
I got into marketing/advertising/media/tech because:
My grad role launching Abbott’s Village Bakery saw me manage the website build, and this got me a job at Nestle as a digital brand manager which opened up a lot of doors. Working at Nestle and seeing digital strategies across multiple brands piqued my interest in that agency style of working.
What’s the biggest challenge you face in your role?
The short term focus of digital advertising can prevent implementing long term thinking and plans. I am consistently working with the team and our clients to think beyond the next or past month.
What’s the biggest industry-wide challenge you’d like to see tackled?
Quality measures or standards for digital media. There are just way too many horror stories every day of clients not having access to their own ad accounts, being mismanaged or given ‘set and forget’ campaigns.
I would love to see a CPA-style accreditation that goes beyond the Google and Meta exams.
Notable campaigns you have worked on:
Intentional and Thankyou grew up alongside each other, albeit Thankyou had a much larger scale up. They have been a constant inspiration and I always look fondly upon their ‘Chapter One’ launch. We used long form video - 10 minutes! - to promote a crowdfunding campaign that reached its target audience.
Studying the Patagonia ‘Do Not Buy This Jacket’ from uni days, to then having the pinch me moment of helping relaunch the platform during a Black Friday campaign via online video was a career highlight.
Who has been a great mentor to you and why?
Les Binet - never met him! But his content helped me bridge my two worlds of brand marketing and performance marketing. The Long And Short Of It is my #1 book recommendation.
Words of advice for someone wanting a job like yours?
Be comfortable with being uncomfortable; just when you think you have figured things out, there’s likely a big change just around the corner.
If I wasn't doing this for a living, I'd be:
A brand manager.
My mantra is:
The biggest gap in life is between knowing and doing.
My favourite advert is:
The original iPod Silhouette Ads. To me it’s the original masterclass on benefit and brand advertising versus feature and product.
We have the pleasure of working with incredibly talented fashion and design brands, often with companies that have mastered a technique or a process that is amazing. Yet we often have to be the ‘bad guys’ and instead of speaking of those groundbreaking features, write copy and deliver a static ad that can communicate one clear benefit within three seconds.
I remember catching the train to uni and one day seeing that the white headphone cords had become the ultimate fashion statement. For all the engineering brilliance of the iPod, the ads never spoke about this.
Music and TV streaming habits. What do you subscribe to?
Spotify - Odesza was my #1 listen in 2022. Netflix - think I’ve watched Love is Blind in all countries.
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
We work remotely and most afternoons they wouldn’t know I’m working barefoot.
In five years' time I'll be:
Humbled everyday at how incredible the team is. Just like I am today.
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