Industry People of Interest

Name// Robert Bellamy
Position// Junior Strategist at UM
What’s your current position? How long have you been in this position?
I am currently a Junior Strategist, I have been in this position for about 6 months. I started my career at UM just over 2 years ago.
What would you say most motivates you to do what you do?
I get to work on a huge variety of different accounts and across various disciplines. Recently I have been involved in strategic and comms planning on a major product launch, brand planning, pitch work and have even been on set for content production. The best thing is that my skills are growing at a rapid pace and the people around me are legendary.
How did you get your first job in media?
I found getting into the industry very frustrating and difficult. My advice to others would be to be persistent and don’t compromise yourself for a job, eventually the right role and the right person will interview you and then you’ll be laughing. It took me near on 10 interviews but it was worth it.
What do you do when you aren't working?
I love to sail and windsurf, I spent the best part of a year in Greece and Antigua teaching sailing and continued to do so at Balmoral for many years. If the weather is nasty or not nasty enough my mate and I restore vintage motorcycles. I tear up the Old Pacific Highway most weekends on my 75’ Yamaha RD250; look out for the trail of blue smoke.
How do you describe your job to your friends outside media?
I struggle with this because there are almost no confines to my role. It seems like strategists are becoming skilled in more and more areas, explaining what a strategic platform is doesn’t do justice to all the other stuff we do. In the last couple of weeks I have developed a new product, mocked up a story board, wrote a quant survey and acted as the 18-24 male expert at a video shoot where a man dressed in full Roman armour destroyed a manikin made from real meat….. I just say advertising.
What is your favourite magazine?
Vice. So much weird in the world worth exploring…
What was the last campaign you did with magazines?
A Panasonic Lumix campaign.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
When I was really young I had an extensive Thomas the Tank Engine collection so I wanted to be a train driver. I still would love to be up front shovelling coal in a steam train one day.
What makes you laugh?
Despite having known by mates since kindergarten they still prove time and time again to be more ridiculous and hilarious than I could ever imagine. One of my mates recently decided to end a conversation by squeezing lime juice in his eye, screaming and running away. Things like that aren’t even a surprise anymore.
Who would you most like to interview for a magazine?
My great grandma Alice, she lived through both World Wars and arguably the most dynamic century in human history and nearly made it to 100. She was really smart and switched on and despite her age never seemed old.
Name// Jackson Graham
Position// Strategist at MEC
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