Crest of the wave
Annabel Palmer talks strategy with UM’s Russell Place
RUSSELL Place was a landscape gardener in Melbourne before he returned to London and delved into its fast-paced media world. Today, he is managing director at UM – a media and communications company whose clients include Microsoft and H&M. Place tells City PM about the transformation of his agency, the curious mantra that sets it apart from its competitors, and the next big thing in digital media.
“Curiosity Works” is UM’s tagline. What does this mean?
Our job is to make a complex and often confusing media landscape as simple and actionable as possible for our clients. Curiosity is about the art of what we do – it is about leaning into new trends and asking the smart questions to gain fresher insights, which we can then turn into ideas. Works is our science. With more data at our disposal than ever before, we need to make sure we are measuring the effectiveness of our communications, and that we adjust and evolve what we do on a campaign to campaign and real time basis.
You previously held roles at WCRS and Saatchi. Why did you join UM in 2002?
Having done the media/communications role in creative shops, most media agencies felt very corporate and bland by comparison. But UM had an entrepreneurial spirit. And its journey to grow its proposition has provided both challenge and reward. We’ve moved beyond our core media planning and buying services. And by investing heavily in insight, strategy, analytics, and creative solutions, we’ve developed a more strategic relationship with our clients. We’ve had strong momentum over the last few years – in 2013 we won 10 new business pitches. And at the start of 2014, we launched a content origination and production division, UM Studios.
So what will be the next big thing in digital media?
I am not sure there is one big thing at the moment. However, what remains true is the speed of change in digital media. It’s driving a more fluid relationship between consumers and brands. The twin forces of data and content are at the heart of this, and we know from our “Wave” research that there are specific needs and motivations that consumers have in digital. So we are definitely moving to a point where media is no longer just a distribution mechanism to push advertising out, but central to a value exchange between consumers and brands.
What impact do you think wearable technology will have on the media world?
Communications will be ever more personalised to meet, or create, consumer need. Of course, that means there is lots of personal data that can be harvested through these platforms – which begs the question: who is really in control?
What’s the biggest challenge facing your industry this year?
How to judge the real value of media.
What’s the one campaign you wish you had worked on?
Our work for the Australian Meat Council has been brilliant in the last few years. The most recent Australia Day Lambnesia spoof rooted lamb firmly in the national culture of Australians through a great story and content.