Mick Long.
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.
Mick Long: General manager at Momentum
Time in current role/time at the company:
Two years.
How would you describe what the company does?
Momentum makes cool stuff happen without staying in lanes. Experiences, campaigns and ideas that actually mean something, connecting brands with people who genuinely care about the why behind it all. One day it’s a pop-up around the corner, the next it’s a massive national campaign that’s taken a year to pull together. Sometimes it’s work that genuinely moves people, sometimes it’s projects that help make the world a bit better. Every day brings something new, which is what makes it fun.
What do you do day-to-day?
A rapidly changing mix of operations, budget-wrangling, client whispering, sub-editing, problem solving and poorly timed jokes, usually while my ADHD brain switches between all of them at once. Also occasionally convincing people that their ‘quick little idea’ is, in fact, a major production (or worthy of becoming one).
Define your job in one word:
Herding.
I got into the media industry because:
I was drawn to the mix of creativity, organised chaos and the fact no two days ever look remotely the same.
What’s the biggest challenge you face in your role?
Balancing ambitious creative expectations and projected outcomes with real-world timelines, budgets, and, occasionally, the laws of physics.
What’s the biggest industry-wide challenge you’d like to see tackled?
The race to the bottom on value. Great work takes great thinking, good people, and proper partnerships.
What are you most excited about in the next 12 months?
Seeing the outrageously creative ways people (and we) can find to navigate a world cooked with unpredictability at the moment. Economic uncertainty, AI’s going rogue, wars, shrinking attention spans, whatever fresh global panic drops next week, that’s usually when the best and weirdest ideas start showing up and I’m here for it.
Who has been a great mentor to you and why?
This is lame and she didn’t pay me to say this, but our managing director, Jen Peace. She backs people properly, is unashamedly herself and encourages me and the team to do the same (I think a lot of the reason behind our biggest wins lately), plus tells the truth even when it’s uncomfortable. She also has an annoyingly good instinct for where the industry is heading. I am younger and funnier than her though.
Words of advice for someone wanting a job like yours?
Be useful. Not precious. The people who survive in this industry are the ones who can think big picture and still happily sit there applying 400 lanyard stickers at midnight if that’s what needs to happen. Also remember we’re not saving lives. The work can be stressful, but the people who keep a sense of humour and genuinely enjoy the chaos usually have a better time and tend to get the best results too.
If I wasn't doing this for a living, I'd be:
Running a pub, playing in a metal band (Or trying to become Australia’s entrant for Eurovision), and having terrible engagement metrics on a one-chilli-spice-rating Only Fans account.
My mantra is:
‘Figure it out’ and / or ‘if it’s not fun, make it funny’
My favourite advert is (and why):
An Aussie classic ‘Lube Mobile’ ad from 1997. “That’s firteen firty firty-two”… if you know, you know. Low-budget, objectively rough around the edges, ft. an iconic mullet… yet I still remember the call to action and phone number decades later. Proof that a simple idea executed memorably will always beat overthinking it.
Music and TV streaming habits: what do you subscribe to?
Spotify, Apple Music, HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, Binge, Prime… which feels financially irresponsible now that I’ve said this out loud. Oh, also Tubi is an absolute gold-mine for horrendous trash TV from the vaults which is a guilty pleasure of mine.
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
I hosted a community radio show for a few years during COVID times. Financially unsuccessful, creatively questionable, and unpaid, which felt like a fair reflection of the overall quality and professionalism of the output.
In five years' time I'll be:
Hopefully still surrounded by smart, funny people making ambitious things happen. Ideally with less cortisol and a stronger personal finance strategy than 'she’ll be right'.
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