Daisy Smith.
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.
Daisy Smith: Programmatic adtech solutions lead APAC at Acast.
Time in current role
Coming up to five years with Acast. It’s clichéd but it’s gone so fast! Those five years have been full of change though. Broader change within the media industry, how much podcasting has evolved as a channel and also many iterations of the Acast business, so sometimes it feels like much more than five years.
How would you describe what the company does?
Acast enables podcast creators to make money doing what they love, which is creating great independent content.
We do this through curation of the world’s leading podcast marketplace, giving brands access to these highly engaged audiences at scale. We sit at the intersection connecting creators, audiences and advertisers. You will recognise many of our creators and their shows: Casefile, It’s a Lot with Abbie Chatfield, Toni & Ryan, The Mitch Churi Chat Show, We Mean Well... just to name a few.
What do you do day to day?
I work with our programmatic partners, including buyers and platforms, as well as all our adtech vendors, to make podcast buying more scalable, efficient and measurable.
Define your job in one word:
Dynamic.
I got into the industry because:
I’m obsessed with human behaviour. I studied Psychology and when I needed a break from study, media felt like the natural next step. I took quickly to the pace and the culture of the industry and here I still am.
What’s the biggest challenge you face in your role?
The biggest challenge - as a challenger brand in a relatively “new” channel - is gaining traction and momentum with brands, especially in an increasingly fragmented media landscape.
Podcast consumption has grown significantly over the last decade and Acast’s marketplace has evolved significantly, both in terms of supply and in terms of innovations and capabilities. Whilst investment has also grown significantly, and the clients who get it, get it, there is still work to do to educate brands that podcasting deserves a significant place in their media mix.
But what even is a podcast these days? It's no longer audio only: it’s video and social, it’s influence. And that’s hard to fit in the mould of one single channel in the comms planning model.
What’s the biggest industry wide challenge you’d like to see tackled?
There seems to be an issue with tenure and longevity in our industry. Reports show that the Aussie media industry leans heavily towards a younger demographic, with more experienced people leaving the industry. This leaves us with a lack of age diversity and also under-representation of experienced role models.
Don’t ask me how to tackle this though. What are the causes? Is it ageism? Is it burnout? As I get older, I’m always looking for more people to add to my network and to share their inspiring career stories.
Who has been a great mentor to you and why?
I have been lucky enough to be part of The Women in Programmatic Network, whose inception in Australia aligned very nicely with my return back home after a stint in the UK. TWIPN is a really amazing community of both mentors and peers to make connections, across sales, agencies and adtech, and really helped me settle back into the industry in Australia.
Words of advice for someone wanting a job like yours?
Be curious. When I first started in media, I was grateful to have started on the digital side of things. Then I followed my interests and ended up finding out my passion was tech and product. I asked probably too many questions and it led me here.
If I wasn’t doing this for a living, I'd be:
I always wanted to be an archaeologist.
My philosophy is:
In an industry where relationships are everything - make a connection, not an impression. Be interested, not interesting.
My favourite advert is:
“Mum says chocolate isn’t good for dogs, but you can have the rest of my milk.” Iconic! I've been known to quote this to my dog, Honey Sardine, daily.
Music and TV streaming habits:
Anything BBC crime drama - long live Happy Valley. Grand Designs.
Podcase-wise - I love anything health or psychology related. Podcasts are also my chosen way to get news now - shoutout to Lamestream and We Used To Be Journos.
What do you subscribe to?
Cheek Media - I'm a big Hannah Ferguson fan. Now we need to sign her podcast!
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
I’m an open book.
In five years' time I'll be:
Hosting my own podcast maybe!
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