CALLUM MCKENZIE

Callum is a Marketing Advisor at Hutt City Council, where he gets to exercise both his creative side (having studied design) and his analytical thinking.

How did you come to be in marketing? Did you always want to be a marketer?

I came into marketing after having studied Design at Massey Wellington. Immediately after getting my results I was off on my OE to the UK, and looked for any job where design experience would enable me to get a foot in the door. That happened to be an entry-level marketing role and the rest is history!

I love that marketing sits at the intersection of creativity and logic, as it means I’m able to exercise both creative and analytical thinking. The way we communicate is always changing, so I don’t think this will ever be a boring career path.

If you had no budget constraints, what technology would you like to utilise in your organisation?

As a huge nerd, I think the opportunities arising from technologies like VR and AR are what I’d like to explore most. We’re in the early days now, but being able to overlay digital information onto the real world through AR has practical implications on how our cities might function. With VR, the ability to ‘teleport’ a customer to a place or experience is an exciting creative opportunity.

Tell us about the best opportunity that has come your way so far?

Last year I was lucky enough to assist our events team in bringing to life the inaugural Highlight: Carnival of Lights. Delivering a brand new event of its scale was a challenge, but we blew past even our own lofty expectations and attracted 4x the attendees we anticipated! I’m now hard at work preparing for this year’s iteration and it’s just as exciting and rewarding.

If you could be a marketing superhero, who would you be and why?

Segmentor – with the uncanny ability to instantly target any group with a message highly relevant and tailored to their wants and needs (oh, and the ability to fly).

In your opinion, why is marketing important?

Marketing articulates the personality of an organisation in a way that is meaningful to customers, and connects people with products and services that improve their lives. I also believe a more subtle but integral value of marketing is in holding an organisation accountable to their values, their customers, and their communities.