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.
Adrian Lloyd: co-founder at ROAD.
Time in current role:
12 months as Co-founder of ROAD, with Mantis as one of our launch partners.
How would you describe what the company does?
ROAD partners with industry-defining global adtech vendors to launch and grow them in Australia and APAC. Mantis is a leader in AI-powered contextual intelligence, with built-in brand safety and suitability, for the open web. It is a leading voice in the conversation around the importance of accurate analysis.
What do you do day to day?
In my day-to-day I wear many hats. Generally, I find myself raising awareness of more advanced media solutions to tackle some of the industry's biggest challenges, like accurate contextual analysis and brand safety.
Define your job in one word:
Multifaceted.
I got into the industry because:
More by chance than design. Like many, after university I needed to earn some money and so I started my media career selling ad placements. 25 years ago in London, that was classified ads at the back of a magazine. Remember those?! I stayed because of the fun I had with the people I met and the ever-changing nature of the industry.
What's the biggest challenge you face in your role?
It’s easy to answer this: convincing people that change is good. That change is progress.
What's the biggest industry-wide challenge you'd like to see tackled?
It’s difficult to distil this down to one sole challenge. The steady migration away from premium news publisher ad environments is going to slowly remove the quality content and journalism that we have all become accustomed to as freely available on the open web. We are already seeing this happen. Premium news publishers create premium environments, with premium content and premium ad placements. Outdated technologies all too often avoid this content for advertising around, because 'news' gets bundled into an 'unsafe' bucket, diverting much-needed revenue in the process. Brands can be overly cautious when it comes to advertising around news content. Brand safety needs redefining. Not all news is unsafe, and premium news is content that brands should be proud to align with. Mantis' AI-powered contextual and sentiment analysis is an accurate solution for brands to target positive or neutral sentiment within their campaigns, identifying safe content even during controversial moments. This increases scale across premium news, safely and suitably, without penalising the publisher in any way.
Who has been a great mentor to you and why?
I've had a few along the way. In my early days in London, I was fortunate enough to work with two leaders, Daniel Shaw and Marcus Wilkinson. They had very different leadership styles that, combined, certainly helped mould me into who I am today - for good or bad!
Words of advice for someone wanting a job like yours?
Careful what you wish for! It's definitely a mindset choice. Be sure, and you will be comfortable.
If I wasn't doing this for a living, I'd be:
A children's book author… oh wait.
My philosophy is:
Control what you can, accept what you can't. So much happens in life and work that is out of one's control. I don't waste energy focusing on what I can't control; instead I direct my efforts and time into what I can influence.
My favourite advert is:
Guinness - tick follows tock, follows tick. If you know, you know!
Music and TV streaming habits:
My music listening is heavily influenced by 90s/00s dance music, or remixes thereof, and my TV viewing must be 90% crime dramas (when my son is not watching cartoons of course).
What do you subscribe to?
Well, pretty much all streaming services available, Spotify and the gym.
Tell us one thing people at work don't know about you?
My business partner Rowan does know this, but perhaps not our international vendor partners: I am officially a published and award-winning children's author!
In five years time I'll be:
My plan is for ROAD to be recognised as the premier representation partner for adtech vendors wanting to launch in APAC, with a team of experienced media legends leading conversations with curious and innovative media leaders in this market.
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