IAPI are delighted to launch their Career Spotlight Series for Media agency professionals to share advice and also some highlights of their career.
With over 25 year’s experience, Ed Ling has worked with some of the world’s biggest brands, including: P&G, Activision, CHANEL, Visa, Colgate Palmolive, BA, Dyson, Marriott and Motorola, helping them devise and execute innovative strategies.
Before joining MediaCom, Ed was Managing Director at isobar Ireland, UK and International Chief Media Officer at DigitasLBi and Managing Director at MEC Global Solutions. He was also a Founding Partner of AnalogFolk and the first employee of i-level.
Campaign Magazine voted Ed the ‘Number One Digital Planner’ and one of the UK’s ‘Top 10 Digital Talents’. He has also been Vice-Chair of the IPA Digital Group, a member of the IPA Value for Advertising Group and a member of Google Global Agency Leadership Council.
Sophia McAndrew, SEO Account Manager, iProspect tells us what drew her to work in this multi-faceted industry and what she loves about it from the clients to the collaborations with the people within her agency.
Sophia works in creating and optimising SEO content and campaigns for national and international brands including: Aer Lingus, AIG, Dalata, Stena Line, SEAT, Workday and Design Ireland.
Emma has been in the advertising business for 25 years, trying advertising sales before finding her place in the media agency world. She has spent her media agency career working on the client service, planning and strategy side of the business, leading businesses as diverse as Alcohol (Heineken), Telecoms (3, eir), Entertainment (Sky, NOW TV), Healthcare (Vhi), Tourism (Fáilte Ireland) and FMCG (Nestlé, Danone).
Emma’s current role is Chief Client Officer in Mindshare, where her remit is to ensure that a high quality media planning service is delivered to all Mindshare clients. She has won ADFX Gold and served on the IAPI board for five years.
Michael has held senior roles in Core for the last 11 years and in Group M prior to that throughout his 22 year career. He has been fortunate to work with many of Ireland’s largest advertisers and help them build their brands and deliver results. He began his career in Investment as a television and radio buyer before making the transition into Media Planning and then Media Strategy. He then moved into agency leadership with the roles of Deputy MD in Mindshare and Deputy MD and MD in Mediavest, before taking on the role of Chief Revenue Officer and now Chief Operating Officer in Core.
Michael has a passion for education and this year will be lecturing in the Post Graduate Diploma in Creative Commercial Communications with IAPI and TUD and in the Post Graduate Diploma in Data Analytics with Hibernia College.
He has just taken on his most challenging role with a recently arrived new-born baby with the jury still out on his performance as Chief Nappy Officer!
Orla is a Client Director in the Creative Practice at Core. She has been working in agency for just over 7 years, having spent much of that time on the media side of the business, she now brings that experience and insight to the creative development process working with key Full Solution clients.
She has been fortunate enough to work with some of Ireland’s most well-known brands such as National Lottery, An Post, SuperValu, Centra, Currys PC World and Samsung, and is continuously motivated to deliver effective work on behalf of her clients. As a member of the Diversity & Inclusion committee at Core, she is an advocate for driving positive change in our industry.
Nicola has worked in the industry for just over 17 years. Having completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Advertising she joined Core as an intern. Since then, she has worked her way up through the organisation enjoying many different roles along the way.
She worked in client service in Spark Foundry (formerly Mediavest) where she led the media planning, strategy and buying for several key clients as well as serving on the board.
In 2017, Nicola set up the Channel Planning team within Core which included the roll out of a dedicated training programme that teaches everything to new starters from the basics of media planning to advanced marketing theories.
She currently holds the position of Managing Director of Governance for Core where she has responsibility for setting up and implementing governance structures that ensure optimum flow of work through the organisation.
Outside of work, Nicola is mum to three small and very active children who keep her on her toes. She enjoys the mix of a challenging and fascinating life in media and the busyness and fun of home life.
