Michael Mellington, UM Australia’s head of media planning, took the win for the Media Planner/Buyer category at Mediaweek’s Next of The Best, held on Friday.
Fresh from being taking home the trophy, Mellington spoke to Mediaweek about the importance of “breaking the norms”, his hot take on the current state of media planning and buying, and what the next 12 months look like.
Mediaweek: The awards have been judged by an all-star line-up, what does it mean to you to be recognised by this group?
Michael Mellington: Entering awards and being ‘judged’ is always a daunting experience, I believed the work to be of a high quality but sometimes you just don’t know until it’s critiqued. So having your efforts validated by the experts makes it more than worth the effort, especially considering the calibre of the other entrants. Everyone on the list is excellent and should be proud.
I’m ecstatic the work I have been able to produce was recognised in this way. UM provided the support and freedom for me to explore new territories and push the envelope, and it always helps when you have brave clients to travel the journey with you. And of course, I am lucky enough to have a brilliant team of experts in the building to collaborate with.
MW: What is your philosophy to media planning and buying?
MM: To quote Felipe Thomaz, there is “no silver bullet” and I think that’s the exciting part in what we do. There is a wealth of information at our fingertips, we just need to learn how to use it, then importantly how to break it. It’s in breaking the norms that we are able to find growth and differentiation. At UM we call it Full Colour Media, it’s our promise to deliver media that’s both performance-driven and creatively bold.
Michael Mellington receives his award from News Corp’s Ryan Hedditch
MW: What is your hot take on the current state of media planning and buying?
MM: I believe there is an overreliance on trusting the outputs of tools, algorithmic and dogmatic approaches without interrogation. Few planners and buyers understand how tools are built, the data’s origins, the limitations and the biases which sit behind the outputs. This means there are key decisions being made (or not made at all) on compromised outputs and without proper interrogation. Without human thinking this leads to either bland campaigns, incorrect decisioning or optimisation and a lack of creativity. Planners need to get back to the foundations, increase curiosity and lean into creativity. The tools should be seen as a co-pilot, which get us to ‘good’ quickly, our people get the work to ‘great’.
MW: If you weren’t UM Australia’s head of media planning, what do you think you would be doing instead?
In a perfect world where daycare fees and a mortgage didn’t exist, I would be at yacht clubs everyday sailing around the world with my family. I’ve also liked the idea of owning a pub but think the idea of it might be a lot more romantic than the reality. So given these scenarios are out, I’m very happy being at UM.
MM: What does the next 12 months look like for you in terms of how you’re thinking about your career?
MW: It’s a great question, our industry evolves rapidly. Without sounding too cliché, with the rise of automation and AI all of our roles could look very different in 12 months, jobs we need tomorrow might not exist today. What I do hope is, that in 12 months time, I’m continuing to take on new challenges within this evolution and go from strength to strength with the exceptional talent we have at UM.
Top image: Michael Mellington