Zuzana Urbanova.
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.
Time in current role:
7 years.
How would you describe what the company does?
Lotame helps marketers and media owners make more meaningful connections with existing or prospective customers. We do this by making data addressable across digital platforms and touchpoints, including web, mobile and connected televisions. Our clients benefit from better performing customer acquisition and retention strategies as a result of our identity-driven data and technology.
As you can probably tell, it’s very complex stuff. In short, Lotame helps companies understand their customers through the use of data so they can advertise more effectively.
What do you do day to day?
What I do changes by the day, sometimes by the hour. My overarching KPI is to increase adoption of Lotame’s data and technology among brands, agencies, and tech partners. In practice, this means educating our clients on what propositions they might be missing and how our solutions can feed into their marketing and media strategies. I also work with leadership teams to best understand their needs and align that feedback with product development to best serve the APAC region.
Outside the office, if I am not meeting clients, attending events, or speaking at panels, I am spending time with my team.
Define your job in one word:
Dynamic.
I got into the industry because:
I’ve loved media and advertising from an early age. As soon as I began thinking about a career, I knew I wanted to work in this industry. I had a fascination with advertising and the work that goes into elevating brands to the next level, and wanted to understand how it’s done. I learned the ropes on the agency side, then worked for publishers and platforms, picking up knowledge on how everything from planning through to activation works on both ends of the market.
The technology that underpins it all was the last bit I was missing, which is why I joined Lotame. Now, through more than 20 years of experience, I’ve seen the full circle of how advertising works.
What’s the biggest challenge you face in your role?
You might think with my experience that I feel on top of everything, but this industry changes so fast that my challenge now is simply keeping up with it. It’s hard, hard work to always stay one step ahead of competitors and adapt to trends in the ecosystem to make sure we can deliver a better service than anyone else.
What’s the biggest industry-wide challenge you’d like to see tackled?
Cross-channel, cross-platform measurement of advertising performance, from exposure through to sales. Right now, this is only possible through closed loop measurement.
To expand such capabilities across the wider media world, we need a common, consistent standard that allows apples-to-apples comparisons between channels and platforms. Hopefully, it’s something Lotame can deliver one day.
Who has been a great mentor to you and why?
Kerry McCabe from UnLtd. He taught me to be human first. I think women in leadership positions can feel pressure to be the tough ‘girl boss’ type, to live up to the very masculine perception of what leaders should be like. However, you can still be nice, kind, and genuinely engage with people to make a difference.
Words of advice for someone wanting a job like yours?
Be prepared. You’ll need to think on the spot, pivot on a dime, and be open to a challenge. If you have the nature to just go and make things happen without someone having to tell you what to do, this is the right kind of job for you.
If I weren’t doing this for a living, I'd be:
Nothing! Even though I love coffee, I don’t want to open up a coffee shop. This is what I like to do, and I want to keep doing it until I can buy a holiday home in Ibiza where I can take a break before getting straight back in again.
My philosophy is:
There’s no such thing as ‘Not possible’. There’s always a way around a challenge if you look hard enough. It might take a different approach or an outside point of view, but you definitely won’t ever find a solution if your first response is ‘No’.
My favourite advert is:
The Rhonda and Ketut campaign for AAMI insurance, which was presented as a long-running, sitcom-style romance between an Australian woman and a Balinese man. It was entirely original, and I still find myself quoting it today. Rhonda and Ketut are genuine Aussie icons, and it speaks to the power of advertising that they had such a massive cultural impact.
Music and TV streaming habits. What do you subscribe to?
SoundCloud. Hayu to get my Real Housewives reality TV fix. And SBS on my Apple TV for Nordic dramas.
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
I am pretty good at clay pigeon shooting.
In five years’ time I'll be:
Most likely still working in the world of ad tech and media, and hopefully enjoying that chilled Cava Sangria at my Ibiza holiday home.
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