[Behind the Selfie] with... Gill Randall

My office selfie (I don’t do this very often!)

Where do you live, work and play?

Randall: Live in Hyde Park, work in Craighall, play golf in Boksburg, and other all within a 10km radius of home.

2. What's your claim to fame?

Randall: I was JHB's youngest mother and oldest teenager.

3. Describe your career so far...

Randall: I've been at Caxton for 32 years, and involved in national advertising sales for local papers for the last 25 of those 32 years. Before that, it was direct sales at the East Rand branch.

4. Tell us a few of your favourite things.

Randall: Golf, socialising, music, travel, family, red wine!

5. What do you love about your industry?

Randall: Always learning, creative, social, the people! Great balance of hard work and fun!

6. What are a few pain points your industry can improve on?

Randall: Up-skilling media planning personnel, media education, as we're not keeping up with the times, and there's a need for greater promotion of media as a career at the tertiary level.

7. Describe your average workday, if such a thing exists.

Randall: There's no such thing!

The typical day involves presentation to clients, staff problems, admin, lunches, functions, strategy, meetings, meetings and more meetings.

8. What are the tools of your trade?

Randall: Amps, EBI, ROOTS, GIS, Adex, ABCs and more.

9. Who is getting it right in your industry?

Randall: Hmmm... watch this space!

10. What are you working on right now?

Randall: Re-engineering and expanding our current sales organisation.

11. Tell us some of the buzzwords floating around in your industry at the moment, and some of the catchphrases you utter yourself.

Randall: Amplify, 'talks to', location-based marketing, re-purpose, de duplicate, programmatic, native advertising, content marketing, rich media VOD, performance media, social engagement, conversations, "story-telling", granular level.

12. Where and when do you have your best ideas?

Randall: In brainstorming sessions, preferably off-site.

13. What's your secret talent/party trick?

Randall: I sing "Roxanne" at golf day functions.

14. Are you a technophobe or a technophile?

Randall: I am a technophobic technophile.

15. What would we find if we scrolled through your phone?

Randall: Hundreds of photos and videos of my granddaughters WhatsApp groups for Kangroo-jump girls, family, emails, Tinder!

16. What advice would you give to newbies hoping to crack into the industry?

Randall:

• Read, research and expose yourself to new thinking about the entire marketing industry - media is a small component of this much larger discipline.
• Question the media and marketing theory that you have been taught
• Read How brands grow: What marketers don't know
by Professor Byron Sharp - mandatory!

17. Plug your contact details, punt yourself - list all the places people can find you/your work online...

Randall: Office contact number is: 010 492 8337, or find me on Facebook and Linkedin.

You can read more about of Gill Randall's views and about NAB by clicking here.

Interviewed by Leigh Andrews.