A first for this column – we interview a Chief Transformation Officer, specifically Jason Dormieux of Wavemaker, the media agency network.
Let’s find out what Dormieux does every day, and what skills, tools and targets he uses.
Remember, if you want to be part of ‘a day in the life’, get in touch.
Please describe your job: What do you do?
JD: I’m the agency’s first Chief Transformation Officer and I spearhead the ongoing product-driven transformation of the global Wavemaker network. I work with our local market leaders and the leaders of our GroupM capabilities to create future-ready products and services that help increase the number of client problems that Wavemaker can solve.
Whereabouts do you sit within the organisation? Who do you report to?
JD: I lead Wavemaker’s Global Capabilities Team and report to our Global Chief Executive, as well as working with our colleagues at GroupM. •
What kind of skills do you need to be effective in your role?
JD: I think anyone in my role needs to be client obsessed, inherently curious and have passion for ongoing self-development and learning. A broad range of experience is also critical as it provides much needed perspective; I know its heresy but digital isn’t the answer to every marketing and communications problem (even if most times it is)!
Tell us about a typical working day…
JD: It’s a healthy mix of spending time with clients, technology partners and the members of my team who are responsible for project managing the various workstreams that we are tasked with delivering. When I’m not spending time directly with clients, I spend time with our local market CEOs who are equally adept at identifying new opportunities for our business to add value to their client base.
Right now I’m focussed on supporting our market CEOs to further scale up our Precision Marketing capabilities, expanding the Wavemaker data lake (developing powerful integrations with new data sources) and powering up our planning tools to connect to more partner technologies.
What do you love about your job? What sucks?
JD: Honestly, it’s that I can’t be everywhere, all the time. We are a large global business and have a presence in 90 markets. Spending time with our specialist teams ‘in-market’ is so inspiring and indeed, many of global tools and systems have their genesis at a local market level.
What kind of goals do you have? What are the most useful metrics and KPIs for measuring success?
JD: Ultimately, it’s about contributing to the growth of our bottom line by making improvements to our existing product and services suite, growing new capabilities and practices and improving the efficiency of our internal processes.
What are your favourite tools to help you to get the job done?
JD: Microsoft Teams (as it helps me to stay connected), access to the internet (as it helps me stay up to date on tech developments) and my trusty smartphone.
How did you end up at Wavemaker, and where might you go from here?
JD: I joined MEC (one of the merged agencies that created Wavemaker) in 2006 and have been lucky enough to gain experience in several roles, from MD of the digital business, MEC Interaction, through to Chief Operating Officer and finally CEO of the UK for four years. I’ve only been in my current role for six months and so my future is very much here for the foreseeable future.
What companies do you admire for their approach to media planning?
JD: Is it too indulgent to say that I loved the planning work that MEC did for its clients, especially over its last 10 years? Our teams did nothing short of amazing work and I’m proud that we’re carrying on this heritage within Wavemaker.
Do you have any advice for marketers who don’t know where to start with media optimization?
JD: Spend time with the right specialists; like every industry, optimisation is a logical thing to follow once you understand the intricacies and dependencies involved.