Meeting of the Minds brings together two different points of view from an industry rookie and an experienced expert.
The Mediaweek series aims to showcase their diverse perspectives, thoughts and opinions.
This week’s Meeting of the Minds sees Taz Papoulias and Deborah Rajadurai from Murmur Group reveal their leadership heroes, current streaming binge and career goals for 2023.
Taz Papoulias – head of media
Best career advice – The morning sets the tone for the day, Monday sets the tone for the week. Plan realistically to avoid disappointment.
My favourite podcast/read – Thin Slicing by Malcolm Gladwell. It’s about our ability to use limited information from a very narrow period of experience to come to a conclusion.
Current streaming binge – Billions on Stan. I dare you to find someone who is not into it.
Leadership hero – I feel the majority learn from the past. So to go straight to the source I would say ‘Socrates’. My favourite quote is “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing
I wish someone had told me – Well I’m glad I was told that “there are no permanent friends in business, just permanent interests”. It’s a good lesson to learn in any industry.
Guilty content pleasure – To tell you the truth I love living my life through my kids and watching Avengers, Toy Story etc to zonk out after a long week.
Best training course/session – Dimensions of professional selling. I completed this about 15 years ago and still use it.
Your mentor – 100% my father who started and ran a successful company and introduced me to advertising at a young age.
Hot medium or show – Threads seems to be growing faster than Tiktok and any other channel. I’ll get involved when Media opportunities open up.
Favourite media event – I’m a fan of IMAA nights because you get to liaise with the best of the best when it comes to small agencies.
Wish I’d done that – I started the world’s first group buying website, then shut it down after a year. A month later Groupon was a $1bill unicorn. I should have kept it. Lesson learnt.
Career goal for the remainder of the year – I am writing a book “Marketing without money” due to be finished by Dec 31st 2023.
Deborah Rajadurai – senior account manager
Best career advice – Use every opportunity you are given to try something new and outside your comfort zone, especially when starting out in the industry. Ultimately, these are the experiences that grow you and teach you.
Also, cultivate a good relationship with your Finance team.
My favourite podcast/read – “Thinking, fast & slow” written by Daniel Kahneman. In a people focussed industry such as ours, it is imperative to understand what drives the way we think and make choices.
Current streaming binge – I am loving the series Bear currently. I think it really pulls off “beautiful chaos”.
Leadership hero – A cliche I know, but my dad. He has exemplified what it means to be committed to excellence in everything you do.
I wish someone had told me – Say yes more than you say no and believe that you have something unique to offer to every conversation you are a part of and every board room you are invited into. You never know, you might just have an idea that won the whole pitch…
Guilty content pleasure – Watching a full episode of Love Island in 20 parts on Tiktok. (Makes me feel slightly better about myself because I refuse to commit to watching it on TV)
Best training course/session – Personally, the best training sessions are the impromptu ones. Where the team huddles into a room, butchers paper on hand and brainstorm on a whiteboard. This is a practical way of learning from industry experts who you have the privilege of sitting right across from.
Your mentor – My first industry mentor was my boss when I worked at an entry level for a non-profit. She always taught me that cultural competency is non-negotiable. It is not simply ticking diversity numbers off a checklist but understanding that the collective fusing of ideas and lived experiences ultimately does create the best possible outcome for everyone.
Hot medium or show – Any well thought out, static OOH ad plastered at a train station. If I have to stare at that thing for minutes on end, I bet others are too.
Favourite media event – Last week I was invited for a behind the scenes peek at the Western Sydney Wanderers pre-season Media Day held at Commbank Stadium. I found this particularly interesting being on the other side of the curtain and seeing how the sauce is made.
More often than not, being a part of a Media Agency you are less privy to this aspect of client activity involving external partners but being an active part of events such as these helps overall to piece the full marketing funnel together. Also, a full day of capturing BTS content of a Soccer team beats a WFH Wednesday anyday!
Wish I’d done that – No regrets in life but maybe taken a year off between High School and University to simply just “be”. But I did move across the world for Uni so I think I played that well.
Career goal for the remainder of the year – Be a gun in Media Buying & Negotiating. To be assertive yet kind and learn to never take the first offer on the table.
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Top image: Meeting of the Minds – Taz Papoulias and Deborah Rajadurai