Andrew Slot
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.
Andrew Slot: Managing Director - Melbourne at 5D.
Time in current role/time at the company:
Coming up on three months at 5D (formerly Fifth Dimension) and I’ve been in leadership roles in the research industry for over 15 years now. I’m excited to see this role evolve as we beef up the brand and communications consulting arm of 5D.
How would you describe what the company does?
5D is a strategic research consultancy specialising in decision science, behavioural modelling, and AI insights. Our work blends advanced analytics with human psychology to help brands better understand why people choose, buy, or walk away. We have an impressive list of blue-chip clients across financial services, property, retail and many other large service organisations.
We run some of the largest strategic customer experience and brand programs in Australia. If I was to oversimply the areas in which we operate, then I would funnel our work into: experience design, offer optimisation and brand strategy.
What do you do day-to-day?
I’m looking after 5D’s expansion in the Melbourne market and servicing key accounts already established at 5D. The goal is to diversify into other industries and expand in APAC – so watch this space! I’m also supporting the innovation agenda with a particular focus on brand and comms.
Define your job in one word:
Problem-solving.
I got into communications because…
Well, I’m technically a brand strategist by trade, but my first foray into marketing communications was when I was client side in the retail and education sectors. More recently, I’ve really enjoyed working on large advertising programs of work in different categories ranging from Kmart to Optus. Finding a balance between art and science has led to healthy debate about how best to develop creative – and it’s one that is ongoing.
What’s the biggest challenge you face in your role?
It’s cutting through the volume of marketing noise, both in the market and internally within organisations. Everyone has data, but not everyone has clear direction. Helping clients make confident decisions in an environment where comms effectiveness is under the spotlight, budgets are under pressure, and everyone’s looking for faster answers can be tough. We need to ensure the thinking is robust, the insight is meaningful, and the creative is grounded in something real, not just what’s trendy.
What’s the biggest industry-wide challenge you’d like to see tackled?
The proliferation of low-value research and misuse of AI tools in strategy development. Are people really making big brand or creative direction decisions from “insight” derived from synthetic data? AI is a powerful enabler, but it's only as good as the inputs — and there’s a growing risk that decision-making is being outsourced to tech or simplified dashboards that don’t reflect real people or complex behaviour.
Too many marketers are chasing quick answers or surface-level sentiment without really understanding what drives decision-making. We need to raise the bar (I know Lyndall Spooner, our CEO, is also on that crusade) to combine the best of technology with deep human insight and commercial understanding. My mission is to help bring back a more strategic, evidence-based approach to brand, advertising and communications that fuses creativity with science.
Notable campaigns you have worked on:
I’ve been lucky to partner with some of Australia’s biggest brands on brand and comms programs that use insight to sharpen creative, and use creative to deepen impact.
These include:
- Optus “It Starts With Yes” – supporting the brand strategy and comms effectiveness framework.
- Westpac – leading brand platform work that redefined how they engage emotionally across home loans and transactional banking.
- Kmart – understanding how to connect with value-conscious Australians through meaningful creative and consistent brand memory cues. It was my first real exposure on how to build emotions into a brand campaign.
Who has been a great mentor to you and why?
I’ve had some incredible professional mentors who’ve shaped my strategic thinking and approach to brand communications. These include my professors – Roberts, Ritson, etc – but truly one figure who’s had a lasting impact on how I lead and work is actually Nelson Mandela. Now, I understand he’s technically not a direct mentor (and not surprising seeing I grew up in South Africa!). However, his resilience, humility and ability to listen, even in the face of adversity, is something I try to carry into my day-to-day. To think about the South African brand in the 1980s and then to understand how his use of distinctive assets to rebrand the country was profound, from flags to the Rugby World Cup. His belief that “it always seems impossible until it’s done” reminds me that progress often comes from persistence, empathy and staying focused on the bigger picture. In consulting and leadership, that means holding space for diverse perspectives, managing complexity with calm and never losing sight of the human element – whether you’re solving a brand challenge or building a team.
Words of advice for someone wanting a job like yours?
Stay curious and be willing to roll up your sleeves and get involved. Seeing your work truly have impact on your stakeholders and brands is empowering. Embrace change and be willing to adapt. And, of course, you need a love of people.
If I wasn't doing this for a living, I'd be:
A professional surfer travelling the world…
My philosophy is:
The best ideas live at the intersection of art and science.
My favourite advert is:
Cadbury’s “Gorilla” ad. Not just because it was unexpected and funny, but because it proved you don’t always need heavy-handed direct messaging to be memorable. It tapped into the sub-conscious using emotion, sonics and brand association in a way that was distinctive.
Music and TV streaming habits. What do you subscribe to?
Spotify for the daily soundtrack (a mix of 1990s alt-rock and property podcasts when I need to focus), and Netflix and Kayo for TV, although I rarely finish a series before starting a new one. Current rewatch: Mad Men (always something to learn from Don Draper… “You are the product. You feel something. That's what sells”).
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
I once applied to be on Survivor…
In five years' time I'll be:
Who knows!
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