If you want to know how ADMA CEO Andrea Martens finds clarity in a chaotic industry, you have to start at 4:30 AM. That’s when she leaves the noise behind for the saddle.
Mediaweek joined Martens to discuss navigating the uncertainty of 2025, the surprising reality of today’s job market, and why the ‘AI version’ of a customer is no substitute for the real thing.
Finding sanity in the saddle
Mediaweek: I understand you’re a bit of an equine enthusiast. Is that a weekend thing, or are you pretty serious about it?
Andrea Martens: I ride horses five mornings a week, at 4:30 AM. I live in Lane Cove, but I drive 45 minutes out to where the horses are. I’ve got two fabulous warmbloods out there who I compete with.
I’ve ridden since I was four, so this is kind of my sanity. It’s the place in the morning when there’s no one on the phone at 5:00 AM! And it’s brilliant.
I am a big believer in needing to be outdoors and needing to not be surrounded by noise and chaos. So I find that riding gives me a clear mind to be able to work my way through those challenges as well.
ADMA’s CEO Andrea Martens knows the benefits of getting out for some equine therapy
Managing Uncertainty
MW: At the end of year ADMA function, David Morgan spoke about uncertainty. Is that how you feel about this last year too?
AM: Very much so. We see that across all of our members. I think one of the lucky things is really that for marketers, uncertainty is an opportunity, because that’s when marketers thrive.
However, I had some meetings earlier today, and there isn’t one business that I’ve spoken to that is definitive on what is the year ahead. What I am seeing is a focus back on the real principles and foundations.
Software engineering vs. equine science
MW: It’s difficult to get a sense of what the world looks like moving forward, isn’t it? Our industry used to be a bright, sparkly one. Maybe not so much anymore.
AM: It’s really weird. My son has finished software engineering and is about to do a PhD in AI and robotics because he’s been unable to find a graduate position.
My daughter is a horse lover and is doing equine science, and I actually, funnily enough, feel more confident about her future than I do about his.
Andrea Martens muses that equine science may be more bankable than software engineering
Three or five years ago, we were talking about shortages in engineers and data, but that world has fundamentally changed. But I can see her path is highly likely to take a lot longer to automate than his!
I fundamentally believe that our responsibility as marketing leaders is to make sure that we establish the foundational skills. I grew up in Unilever running the ice cream business, looking after the factory as much as the marketing team.
Those skills, understanding customers and creating meaningful briefs, remain critical. It is a craft of logic and magic. If we lose the ability to balance that, it will be detrimental to the profession.
Tech stacks, privacy, and trust
MW: Are there issues you think might matter much more next year than they mattered this year?
AM: Long-term strategic thinking is not going to go away. The watch-out will be that we have more tools than we’ve ever had before, but tools without skills are worse than having no tools at all. Marketers have woken up to the fact that it’s not about how big the tech stack is, it’s about how well the team can leverage it.
This links directly to trust. We didn’t see Tranche two of the Privacy Act released this year, but we did see regulators doubling down on Tranche one.
Tranche two of the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 is yet to come
Marketers are starting to understand they aren’t complying just for compliance’s sake; they’re complying to build trust. The regulators have doubled down on spam, pixels, and excessive data collection.
Tranche two will come in the year ahead, and the industry needs to stay alert.
Reclaiming the customer voice
MW: What are you looking forward to next year?
AM: I hope that we see marketers really step up. Marketers are used to adapting to a changing environment, so this is an opportunity for the C-suite to say, “Well, we know how to do this”.
I think as part of that, it is about reclaiming the voice of the customer. The real customer, not the AI version. I recently had my team go on a customer journey mapping course to really get under the skin of the product.
In my days at Unilever, I would go shopping with a mum who had $100 for her four kids for the week. We would watch them cook dinner. You need to understand the customer at that really granular level.
The human element
MW: Just before I let you go, any favourite podcasts, screen time or books?
AM: Diary of a CEO, Modern Wisdom, and Mel Robbins. They are the three that I listen to every single week. Depending on how I feel, it will be one of those. I am also a big fan of Huberman and science-based health data. And I have to do a lot of reading- ‘board reading’.
MW: It’s amazing that you have time to fit those pods in then!
AM: I get an hour of podcasts a day. That for me is my peace time.