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.
Ross Candido: VP, Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia at Meltwater.
Time in current role:
3 years (18 years with Meltwater).
How would you describe what the company does?
Meltwater helps brands make sense of the world’s conversations. We turn billions of online, social and traditional media signals into something leaders can actually use to make smarter, faster decisions. Beyond this we’ve developed the capability to track search behaviour across search engines, social ecommerce and LLMs, offering further enhanced insights into audience, customer behaviour and generative AI recommendations.
What do you do day to day?
I lead growth across Australia and Southeast Asia, working with communications and marketing leaders to harness data and AI to build reputation, trust, and brand momentum. Most of my time is spent coaching teams, shaping strategy and helping customers bridge the gap between data and outcomes.
Define your job in one word:
Acceleration.
I got into the industry because:
I’ve always been energised by understanding how influence is built and how technology reshapes the ways brands earn trust, innovate and grow.
What’s the biggest challenge you face in your role?
The real challenge is not the pace of innovation, but making it meaningful. I need to stay ahead of new technology while also understanding how it translates for thousands of customers with different levels of maturity, trust and cultural expectations.
What’s the biggest industry wide challenge you’d like to see tackled?
Moving from “more data” to meaningful insight. Dashboards or single pieces of content don’t drive business impact. The magic happens when brands pressure-test insights and use them to inform strategies that deliver measurable business impact - that’s where meaningful change begins.
Who has been a great mentor to you and why?
I’ve been lucky to have a number of leaders who backed potential before ‘title’. This has always been Meltwater’s ethos. The best mentors have been the ones who gave autonomy early and trusted me to stretch, while helping guide my mindset and develop higher levels of self-awareness.
Words of advice for someone wanting a job like yours?
Learn to speak both the language of revenue and the language of customers. Commercial outcomes without empathy don’t stick, and empathy without strategy doesn’t scale.
If I wasn’t doing this for a living, I'd be:
I’d be developing education programs for responsible use of social media and AI. Critical thinking is key to our future - understanding intimately how these technologies work means we remain in the driver's seat.
My philosophy is:
Compete, earn trust, keep momentum. Leave things better than you found them.
My favourite advert is:
It’s a Nissan advert from the 90’s. It introduced the slogan “Life’s a Journey, Enjoy the ride” - a simple line (and life lesson) that has always stuck with me.
Music and TV streaming habits?
Spotify podcasts are a part of my morning routine. My current favourites are Diary of a CEO, or Drive by Peter Attia. I have a young daughter who loves country pop so that is also all over my playlists. Then when it comes to TV streaming, it is generally sport - I’m still a big Rugby Union guy, so Stan Sport is a feature.
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
I’ve been there for 18 years, so I imagine not much. I do love my cooking and being immersed in nature.
In five years time I'll be:
Well, I’m writing this on a Sunday so in five years’ time I’ll likely be fishing with my kids.
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.