UP-AND-COMERS

Celeste McCormick

Account manager – retail, Google

How did you get into your position? What sparked your interest in the industry?

I studied marketing at the University of Auckland but it was a mentor of mine, Brendon Potter, who suggested that I apply for a marketing internship at Microsoft during my studies. I had never considered working in the tech industry and looking back now I feel so lucky that he convinced me to give it a try. I worked at Microsoft for four years before joining Google and I had the opportunity to try both channel marketing and category marketing before moving into the advertising side.

What is your favourite project you’ve worked on to date?

A tricky but interesting project that I worked on recently was supporting local retailers and our global Google product team to bring Local Inventory Ads to New Zealand. Local Inventory Ads use store level stock data from retail stores around the country and displays that information on Google. If you Google search ‘nappies’ for example, you are able to see what stores have them in stock, where they are, and how to get there. The challenge was working with the retailers to ensure they provide us with continuous stock data.

How have you seen the industry develop, even in your time?

The biggest change is how pivotal our mobile phones have become to our daily lives and how powerful that is for us as marketers. Most companies I work with are prioritising capturing the attention of mobile users with innovative, memorable content. Also, the emergence of programmatic marketing has transformed the entire digital marketing space.

What is the most challenging thing you’ve had to deal with in your role?

Working with nascent technology is my favourite part of the job, but is also the most