ADMA Member Spotlight with UM's Joshua Lowcock, ADMA Regulatory Working Group Member

This month we meet UM's Global Chief Media Officer, Joshua Lowcock. In this profile piece, he explains why regulatory success depends on a unified approach and how creative marketing can set businesses up for the future. 

Hi Joshua. Can you tell us a little about your career course to date?

I started my career in software development before making the move to consulting. After spending time throughout Asia and Europe, I eventually found myself in media and have stayed in the media and marketing industry ever since.

What have been a few of your professional highlights along the journey?

Living and working around the world has been a highlight. Australia may be my native home, but I spent a few years living in China (Guangzhou) and have now been in New York for 10 years. 

I have been fortunate enough to have been part of many fantastic teams, and have worked with incredible brands who have been behind some amazing work.

Can you tell us a bit about your work with ADMA’s Regulatory Working Group?

On ADMA’s regulatory working group, I bring an international and global perspective - many of the issues Australia and the market are debating have been faced in other markets. 

Since I have a global role, I know firsthand the way regulators have faced these issues because I’m in active dialogue with them - both publicly and in private briefings.

Why are organisations like ADMA so important for the wider media and marketing industry?

The industry needs reform and change, both from a regulatory and self-regulatory perspective. The best way to protect the best interests of the public and the industry is to ensure we work across the aisle and speak with one voice. 

Regulators get increasingly frustrated when every company has a different position and there’s a lack of consensus in the industry. ADMA provides a path towards consensus and represents the best-in-class behaviour of responsible data-led marketing.
 

What are some of the key regulatory developments that are in progress right now that you think will shape the future of data-driven marketing?

There’s a nexus of three key themes:
 

1. Competition (or Antitrust)

2. Privacy Regulations

3. Public Sentiment

 
If you consider this as a venn diagram, each interplays on the other and you cannot consider them in isolation. Collectively, they will reshape the entire data marketing landscape from data collection, to data use, to where we use it, to what people will share and how we give them control over their information. As an industry, we need to navigate this triumvirate, lend our expertise, and help deliver a result that protects the interests of all parties.
 

How important is maintaining and growing your digital skill set in today's marketing environment?

Eternally important, digital will continue to become more relevant. We’re almost at the tipping point where we don’t use ‘digital’ as a qualifier when we discuss society, media, marketing, and the way we live our lives - so understanding, developing, and maintaining your digital skill set will be a key part of existing in business and society.

How do you think data-driven marketing will change over the next few years? What should we be preparing for now?

Aside from the aforementioned three macro issues, we do need to become better creative marketers. 

There’s a great book by Kevin Roose called Futureproof, where he talks about the importance of creative and that AI and automation risks - and I’m paraphrasing here - seeing us awash in a sea of sameness - because we’ll all operate by algorithms. 

That’s the risk of data driven marketing, that we let automation triumph over creativity.
 

What do you think are the biggest challenges confronting marketers today?

There are many challenges, from fragmentation of media consumption, to finding the signal amongst the noise of all the data. 

But if I had to pick one, it’s facing the realities of a changing data world (regulation, etc) and not clinging to the practices of the past. This means operating in the spirit and intent of regulatory and public sentiment change, not resisting it, and knowing that there are responsible ways of working that will drive great results in media.

What’s the best piece of advice you would give to a university graduate starting their first role in marketing?

Find mentors. It doesn’t have to be a formal mentor, but find people who you respect or want to learn from and seek their counsel throughout your career. 

I am a big advocate of informal mentorship that becomes more formal over time. Always be respectful of their time and take the time to listen, learn, and talk to them - don’t treat it as transactional (i.e. can you hire me?) It should be an opportunity to get education and counsel. 

The adjacent advice is build a network - people work on every side (client, media partner, agency) - so build and respect your network. I have worked around the world and all I know is it’s a smaller industry and planet than you may realise.

Can you tell us about a great mentor you've had in your career? What was it that made them so pivotal to your own development?

There’s been a few. I worked for a no-nonsense, pragmatic CEO who worked his way up through the ranks from the literal shop floor to CEO. He never forgot the relevance and importance of every person in the company, but also the power of can-do and leadership. 

One of his memorable sayings was, “Fish rot from the head”, as a way of reminding his team that bad leadership and management cascades through organisations, so take responsibility and be accountable for the actions of your people.
 

Is there an example of a really well executed data-driven campaign (or partnership) that you admire? What made it stand out for you?

Full disclosure, this is a client - but Spotify Wrapped is without doubt the best example of data-driven marketing that is both impactful and resonates with the public. 

From the out of home advertising, to the way we all get the personalised “wrapped” message in our Spotify account, it shows how, when done well, personalised data driven marketing can be a cultural moment.

Last of all, what do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I enjoy time with my family and travel, but for downtime - gaming. I am an avid PC-gamer, have a custom-built desktop gaming rig and I’m currently playing Overwatch 2.