Adil Fazal.
In this series, AdNews spotlights young talent in the Australian media, marketing and advertising sector. This time it's Elephant Room's paid social specialist Adil Fazal.
Time in current role/time at the company
Four months in my current role at Elephant Room
How long have you been in the industry?
Almost three years. I started on the media agency side before moving into performance and eCom.
How did you get here?
I actually started in engineering. I'd always been intrigued by business and marketing, but I also loved solving problems and working with numbers, so when I came across performance marketing it felt like the perfect blend. I completed my marketing studies at the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute at the University of South Australia, started my career on the media side at Wavemaker, and when an opportunity to move to Sydney came up, I took it. These days I work specifically with eCom brands, and I've been lucky enough to work on some great Aussie names along the way.
Was this always the plan?
Not quite. If you'd told engineering-degree me that I'd end up obsessing over incrementality and attribution models, I'm not sure I'd have believed you. But the idea never changed: I like systems I can measure and improve. Performance marketing just ended up being the one that brought a bunch of the things I like together in one place.
Who is your right-hand person/who guides you day to day?
Claude. Jokes aside, I'm lucky to work alongside some genuinely brilliant and knowledgeable people, so picking just one feels unfair. Lewis, Tammy, Abroo, Sarah and the rest of my managers have taught me more than I could fit into this answer, and I learn something new from them pretty much every day.
What’s the best thing about the industry you work in?
Personally, it brings my interests in advertising and startups together in one place. Seeing the decisions you make have a direct impact on business growth almost makes you feel like a startup founder, which can be pretty satisfying. And probably because I come from an engineering background, I like working in black and white and with numbers, so watching that feedback loop play out from an idea to how the market responds is what I find most interesting.
And the biggest challenge?
Keeping up with the pace of change. The platforms, the privacy landscape, attribution, and now AI reshaping how we work, it all moves so fast that something which worked six months ago can already feel outdated today. You never get to sit still, which is equal parts challenging and exciting.
Whose job have you set your sights on in the future?
Less a specific job, more a direction. I want to grow beyond paid social into a broader performance and DTC growth role, owning the full picture rather than a single channel. Understanding how everything connects, from acquisition to retention to the P&L, is where I want to get to.
Where do you turn for inspiration?
Everyday life more than anything. I'll spot a product or brand somewhere and can't help picking apart what they did differently, and how they managed to stand out in a crowded market. It turns pretty much any shopping trip or scroll into a bit of research.
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
I enjoy acting, and it actually led to me doing some UGC ad work for The Oodie. So there's a chance you've scrolled past me in your feed without realising it.
In five years' time I'll be:
Leading performance and growth end to end for brands I believe in, hopefully having made the jump from running one channel to owning the whole growth engine.
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