Industry Profile: Alex Rog, Strategy Director
AdNews Industry Profiles take a look at some of the professionals working across the advertising, adtech, marketing and media sector in Australia. It aims to shed light on the varying roles and companies across the buzzing industry.
Alex Rog: Strategy Director at POLY
Time in current role/time at the company: More than six years across the previous oOh! studio and POLY.
How would you describe what the company does?
POLY has an incredibly exciting role in a growth medium, actively encouraging and inspiring brands, advertisers and agencies to push the creative boundaries of Out of Home (OOH) to capture more attention, at scale, on the move.
What do you do day-to-day?
As a creative strategist within the POLY team, my role involves two main areas. Firstly, I respond to briefs from media agencies to show how OOH creativity can help them achieve their objectives. Secondly, I come up with initiatives to inspire and educate the market.
Define your job in one word:
‘Simplicity’. It’s a passion and a driving force behind everything I do personally, and everything that brings success in the OOH medium.
I got into the media industry because:
More than six years ago now, entering the world of advertising was like joining an arranged marriage I seemed destined for — a marriage between simplicity and creativity. Naturally drawn to OOH because of the nature of the medium; I was enlightened by the cleverness of a classic, well-executed billboard.
What’s the biggest challenge you face in your role?
Whilst POLY recognises that ‘attention’ is the greatest resource, time isn’t far behind it. I have a perfectionist mentality that is continuously challenged in the fast-paced media landscape, where great ideas really do take time that sometimes we really don’t have the luxury of.
What’s the biggest industry-wide challenge you’d like to see tackled?
Our creative strategy team has had some incredible conversations with advertisers and agencies, understanding their appetite for pushing the boundaries of OOH creative. A vast majority are hungry to embrace the added personalisation, flexibility and contextual relevance that digital OOH provides, neglecting some of the traditional principles that bring brand fame in favour of the mod-cons.
Notable campaigns you have worked on:
AFL Finals (2022) — original concept, AFL ‘Scan To Takeover’ (2023) — original concept, oOh! Vaccine Rollout Campaign (2021) — original concept/copywriting/creative direction, OMA Healthy Eating (2023) — campaign concept/copywriting.
Words of advice for someone wanting a job like yours?
Even without being in traditional ‘sales’, you must be a great salesperson. The ability to sell a creative idea, to craft a compelling story, will set you up for success in this industry.
If I wasn’t doing this for a living, I’d be:
A landscape gardener. Sometimes I feel incredibly self-conscious that we live in environments of endless fluorescent lights and artificial desks, so a creative job in a green space would be a nice alternative.
My mantra is:
“Easy just happens, but simple is planned, carefully curated, well executed” — One of my favourite quotes from Joshua Fields Milburn, one half of The Minimalists.
My favourite advert is (and why):
I really can’t go past McDonald’s ‘Follow the Arches (2018)’ billboards that sliced the iconic golden arches to provide contextual directions to restaurants. It’s an incredible piece of creative bravery and simplicity in OOH that will be hard to top. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7qfXOqfrdg&t=3s
Music and TV streaming habits: what do you subscribe to?
I’m really embracing the ‘one streaming platform at a time’ mentality of late; it’s making the experience a lot more meaningful choosing the next month’s platform based on a range of content.
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
That I have other clothes at home in my wardrobe that aren’t grey t-shirts.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
Continuing to fight the good fight for simplicity over complexity. Maybe set up in an indoor garden somewhere.