#BehindtheSelfie with... Michael King
1. Where do you live, work and play?
I live in Centurion, Pretoria; work in Bryanston, and play online.
2. What’s your claim to fame?
I’m a performance marketing guru who likes getting stuck into the numbers!
3. Describe your career so far.
Fast-paced, action-packed, deadline-driven awesomeness.
Moving from client-side to agency has opened my eyes to the possibilities that digital media holds.
4. Tell us a few of your favourite things.
Online gaming, golf, a really good beer and delivering awesome results to clients.
5. What do you love about your industry?
The ability to accurately measure efforts and the end-result thereof.
6. Describe your average workday, if such a thing exists.
Get in, grab the biggest cup I can find and make a strong cup of Java.
Then I catch up with the heads of the different divisions and discuss deliverables. From there, it's basically meeting after meeting (an average of six to eight per day).
When everyone's gone home, that’s when I do emails and all the cool stuff!
7. What are the tools of your trade?
Being able to work with a wide variety of client personalities, while having a keen sense of digital performance. Being good at both will set you apart.
8. Who is getting it right in your industry?
In my opinion, anyone who is setting themselves up and investing in digital media. Clients don't have to be the biggest or fastest-growing brands. They just need to have a plan and stick to it. Based on experience, financial clients get it right.
9. List a few pain points the industry can improve on.
Being transparent, delivering real value and growing skills in the African markets.
Lee & Mike (middle at the back!) hung out with the @ipgmediabrands EMEA SEO crew last week. Some great discussions & great ideas shared! pic.twitter.com/YLLMTvEVJ6
— Stickyeyes (@stickyeyes) July 3, 2017
10. What are you working on right now?
A pitch, which you'll hopefully read about when we win!
11. Tell us some of the buzzwords floating around in your industry at the moment, and some of the catchphrases you utter yourself.
Data is the new gold – I’m honestly not a big fan of these, and often joke about phrases people use, like ‘deep dive’.
Rather just be direct and say what's on your mind.
12. Where and when do you have your best ideas?
While trying to solve client problems. Being advisors/consultants means you go beyond just being an agency and, very often when you try solve a specific client's problems, you'll come up with solutions for another client, too.
13. What’s your secret talent/party trick?
For some reason, it would seem I'm quite a good dancer.
14. Are you a technophobe or a technophile?
A bit of both. I love tech, but I’m also nervous about the rate it's growing…
Beyond a digital media buy
Audrey Naidoo 3 Nov 2016
15. What would we find if we scrolled through your phone?
Funny jokes from a gaming WhatsApp group and probably a couple of messages from my wife asking me to make dinner.
16. What advice would you give to newbies hoping to crack into the industry?
Stay the course. The industry is very young and very often newbies jump between jobs too quickly, which makes you seem undependable. Stick it out – your career is a long one.
Simple as that. Follow King on LinkedIn; and Reprise Digital on their LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram for the latest updates.
*Interviewed by Leigh Andrews.
About Leigh Andrews
Leigh Andrews AKA the #MilkshakeQueen, is former Editor-in-Chief: Marketing & Media at Bizcommunity.com, with a passion for issues of diversity, inclusion and equality, and of course, gourmet food and drinks! She can be reached on Twitter at @Leigh_Andrews.
