August 13, 2020 SCOTT MARSDEN, EVP, Media & Analytics AND Girl Dad
Q: How does each role affect the other? What is similar and what’s different?
A: Part of the everyday in my role is to provide guidance and mentorship to my teammates. It’s a role I have always valued and never taken for granted. I’ve had a great many people guide me along my career and I believe in paying that forward.
With that said, I find myself often giving career advice and life advice. Advertising is a passion-driven industry and sometimes work and life intertwine. It’s during those moments that I find myself asking if I’ll ever share these thoughts with my girls. Will they turn to me for the guidance that my teammates often do?
This is more where I hope what I’ve learned as a manager helps me as a father.
Q: What’s inspiring you today in your work or personal projects?
A: I find the world of technology fascinating—the pervasive role it plays in our day-to-day lives and, more importantly, how my daughters will take it for granted. My five-year-old, Sienna, knows how to navigate Netflix and find shows she might be interested in, because Netflix’s algorithm knows her behaviors. Perhaps to her, in the future, the role of search will be very different, as information she didn’t know she wanted will be right in front of her.
I think about that as it relates to media planning. We are so focused on getting the job done and using the tools we’ve learned through the years that we often forget there might be a better way. The reality is that media planning is shifting to an algorithmically led solution where the right opportunity is served up to the consumer…and to the media planner.
Separately, I spend a bit of time following photographers across social media as I work to develop a better eye for myself. Through my travels, I’ve taken thousands of photos, but I keep coming back to my favorite subject – my two girls. I leave my camera lying around the house so I can capture a few candids, memories for me, but mostly for them as they get older.
Q: Where can we check out your personal work?
A: IG: scottlmarsden