Ashley Bateman, Sales Director at Unruly, has over a decade’s experience in the industry, including previous roles at AOL and Sizmek and was a speaker at NDA’s Adtech: The European Perspective event on Clubhouse. in partnership with Publica’s Paul Gubbins. We find out who her digital hero is.
Who is your digital hero?
What has she done to win hero status in your eyes?
I’ve known Amy for many years now. We first met her when she was Havas’s Innovation Lead and I instantly admired her playful and challenging approach to our industry.
Since then she’s gone from strength to strength and added many feathers to her cap. Her impressive resume includes lecturer, feminist writer, agency founder of Six Things Impossible and most importantly her trailblazing work with DICE. (Diversity and Inclusion at Conferences and Events).
All of which makes her a highly regarded spokesperson and role model for our industry.
Amy cultivates collaboration and drives change. I’ve been inspired watching her grow in confidence putting her energy into getting sh*t done.
How has her heroism helped drive digital?
Amy hasn’t been afraid to be brave and challenge the landscape of our industry, questioning how we should represent ourselves. She’s never shied away from calling out gender imbalance across events where unfortunately all male panels are still commonplace. Progress is being made and Amy is a key catalyst.
As we know from her Twitter feed, she is not afraid to speak up against outdated views and media practices. But in a space full of meaningful words, strong actions are often few and far between. Amy is relentless in her dedication to act and has turned her digital voice into real effort to bring change.
Wherever Amy goes she has an impact and is unapologetically herself, we all need to be more Amy!
What are the biggest challenges in digital we need another hero to solve?
Advertisers need to embrace a more holistic view of their media, tech and creative strategy. In many business, individual parts of the process are siloed which inhibits effective synergy between parties.
Collaboration breeds innovation. Collaboration should not be a box to tick, but something embedded across our entire process in order to reach people more effectively.
What is your most heroic personal achievement so far in digital?
I think any manager of people who has endured 2020 with continued optimism for our industry is a hero, it was no easy feat. It showed me what our industry is really made of: true grit; resilience and agility. Leading the charge through uncertain times is hard and we don’t always have the answers, but prioritising people and always aspiring to do the right thing are critical to enduring. Looking after your people is paramount.
People are every company’s greatest asset. Value everyone, listen and create the future of your business as a collective.
