Young Gun: Colenso BBDO communications director Joe Carter

28 November 2019
 

Our Young Gun profile takes a look at some of the young talent across the advertising, adtech, marketing and media sector in Australia. It aims to shed light on the varying roles, people and companies across the buzzing industry.

Today we speak to Colenso BBDO communications director Joe Carter.

Time in current role/time at the company:
Two years.

How long have you been in the industry?
Seven years.

How did you get here? Was this always the plan?
An innate curiosity for why humans make decisions led me into advertising. That same curiosity + a plane + a spoonful of courage led me to Colenso BBDO. NASA was my childhood plan.

Who is your right hand person/who guides you day to day?
Levi Slavin. He guides me from one ambiguous reference point in time to another. Then there’s my mum. She’s a big fan. But when you go through a daily routine of redefining your job description, you get to work with fascinating people every day. This place has its charms.

What’s the best thing about the industry you work in?
The autonomy, accountability and demand to create positive social change in the world. To make meaningful work.

And the biggest challenge?
Navigating time(sheets). And, in an industry that’s constantly evolving, the self-doubt that entertains being relevant is a biggie.

Whose job have you set your sights on in the future?
Philip Krim. I tend to favour being on my back. Owning sleep is, literally, a dream.

Where do you turn for inspiration?
I’m a LinkedInaholic. Contagious (but hey, that’s probably my bias). Otherwise, walks in the stunning NZ bush give me clarity.

My favourite advert is:
Most recently? Nike – Dream Crazy. It punched me in the gut, in a good way.
Less recently? Volvo Trucks – Live Series. Creating meaningful B2B work is tough. Realising this is a B2B campaign targeted at Eddie Stobart’s wife is even more tough.

Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
My first name isn’t Joe. It’s Thomas.

In five years' time I'll be:
Still taking things one day at a time and not projecting. But most likely pretending to be bilingual in Santiago.

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