Current role: General Manager of Consumer Marketing
Current organisation: Destination NSW
Last role at PwC: Director of Brand and Marketing
Time at PwC: 2017 - 2021
What’s the one career achievement you’re most proud of?
I’d have to say the most recent brand strategy and campaign launch at Destination NSW. We developed a new brand strategy and brand positioning, and then off the back of that established and launched the brand campaign into the market only two weeks ago. Since then there has been a fundamental change and shift in the organisation’s positioning in the market and it’s been really well received. We essentially launched a whole new brand and it’s something that is an absolutely remarkable achievement. I’m so proud of the work that the team and the entire organisation has been able to deliver, but equally, of how it’s really landed and made people feel. There’s been an overwhelmingly positive response and it’s been sensational.
What’s been your biggest career challenge and how have you overcome it?
I’ve found that there have been many times that I’ve become quite complacent and comfortable, and the biggest challenge has been identifying that there is a problem or that you’re not happy with the status quo. You need to take that first step forward to make the change and set the wheels in motion to overcome it. Firstly, you need to be able to recognise that there is a problem and secondly, be brave enough to lean into it and overcome the challenge. That can involve moving jobs, having a difficult conversation or asking for a promotion - it could be any of those things. But identifying the problem at the outset, I think, is the biggest career challenge.
What’s the most valuable lesson you learnt during your career at PwC and how has that helped you get to where you are today?
It’s about trusting in yourself - trusting in the skills and expertise that have gotten you to where you are. I certainly think that that came in spades at PwC, where there was a real belief in my expertise and in my competency to do the job. For me, that belief and recognition put me in good stead to get to where I am today. I was the most senior strategic marketer at PwC, and the belief in my skills and capabilities really enabled me to take the next leap.
What was your dream job ‘growing up’ and why?
At first I wanted to be a teacher because I really liked standing in front of my teddy bears when I was a kid and pretending that I was telling them all what to do. Then I realised that you don’t make a lot of money as a teacher and so I decided that I wanted to be rich and famous, but I couldn’t figure out what I’d do to become rich and famous. I think at one point I also wanted to be a singer, and then I realised that I couldn’t really sing.
If you could have an hour lunch with anyone - dead or alive - who would it be and why?
I would choose my two grandfathers. My grandfather from my dad’s side, who had died before I met him and my grandfather from my mum’s side, who I did get to meet. I’d love to hear their stories. They were on opposite sides of the fence fighting each other through the war, so I’d love to get them in a room over lunch and see how that panned out. They probably wouldn’t be too pleased about that, but I’d just love to have an hour lunch with them. I think if anything, it’s about understanding your family history and your story and how you got to where you are today.
How is Destination NSW’s employment value proposition being developed as we move into new ways of working?
That’s a very good question and we are continuing to work though that, certainly as restrictions are easing and people are back in the office. We just went through a people survey to understand how we ranked from an employee engagement and flexibility perspective, and also to understand what people are looking for. We’ve seen an increase across the board year on year for flexible working and flexible hours. It’s a real live issue - we haven’t solved it, because like every organisation we’re in a different environment. Now we need to prepare for that and seek employee feedback and input into what is the actual value proposition. What do they value? Do they want to continue working from home? Do they want to come into the office one or two days a week? Or do they not want to come at all? Do they want coffee, tea, fruit and snacks? I certainly know that at PwC that was something I always looked forward to. It’s really about understanding what are the employee drivers at the moment and what are their needs. How have they shifted off the back of this last lockdown? And what does that mean for how we work together moving forward.
How are you and your business making a difference for your customers, employees and society?
Our customers are visitors and travellers - it’s you and I and everyone in between. Going on a holiday is not a grudge purchase, everyone wants to go away and everybody wants to renew and rejuvenate themselves. Whether you’re hiking up a mountain or laying on a beach, everybody is looking for a new experience. As soon as you step foot out of your home and into somewhere new, there absolutely is a huge shift in emotional benefit that comes as a result. Everyday we’re delivering new experiences and making a difference in individual lives.
As for society, we work in the visitor economy which comprises over 300,000 jobs. The role that Destination NSW plays within that is how do we grow that visitor economy? How do we get people to spend more and get more heads on beds? How do we get them to stay longer or come back so that we can increase the value of the visitor economy? We’re aiming to have a visitor economy worth $65 billion by 2030, so it’s certainly a significant part of society and the New South Wales economy.
During the pandemic, we supported a number of small businesses by raising their profile and demonstrating how their business models have pivoted. We profiled Anna Polyviou, who is one of Sydney’s pastry queens and saw a huge increase in hits to her site. We also profiled small businesses through social media and saw increases in bookings almost immediately. Small businesses make up about 90% of the visitor economy, so the impact we’re having is phenomenal.
How will Destination NSW be evolving its strategy to boost tourism as travel restrictions ease?
We’re doing a number of things. First, we launched our new brand strategy to be able to position New South Wales as the number one premier destination brand in the Asia Pacific. That aims to boost tourism by driving visitors from international markets, once borders ease obviously. As I said, it’s about getting more heads on bed, getting people to stay longer and repeat visitors.
Secondly, we’ve also got a number of recovery campaigns where we’re looking at driving visitors into the regional areas that have been most impacted by COVID travel restrictions, such as the Murray River or the Sapphire Coast, which have had to deal with Victorian, New South Wales and Australia Capital Territory restrictions. We’re doing targeted campaigns to be able to drive demand and traffic to those specific regions.
Our third focus is on the individual tourism operator. You would have seen that the government recently announced a range of grant programs to support individual operators that apply. For instance, a cooperative marketing program provides dollar for dollar funding to market and promote their businesses, areas, destinations, events and attractions. We’ve got event funding, support packages and an aviation attraction fund that was announced. So there’s a huge amount of government funding that is invested to boost the tourism industry and visitor economy.
