The chosen ones?

I recently read an article by Doug Weaver from Upstream Group in the U.S. about the buzz in the online industry when Carol Bartz (former Autodesk CEO) was appointed CEO of Yahoo!. Seems the industry saw Ms Bartz as “…a software company veteran, not used to the fast pace of the Web 2.0 world.” “She doesn’t know our space.” To that I’d say that many digital media salespeople would be less frustrated if they had a more of the sales skills needed by those selling enterprise software into large organisations. The biggest challenge faced by online salespeople is often navigating through the complicated maze of agency and client structures to find the people who understand what they’re selling, and/or hold the budgets (unfortunately, they’re not always the same people!).

Doug’s point was that the interactive industry tends to be insular and “self-referential,” believing they have some sort of divine gift of unique knowledge and skills unavailable to anyone outside the industry. How dare Yahoo! give the role of CEO to someone from the stodgy old software industry – or heaven forbid from packaged goods or the manufacturing industry! The naysayers tend to overlook the required leadership skills that quite frankly many “interactive media–only” folks just don’t have.

This concept makes its way down into the sales ranks of online sites. Everyone’s looking for “2-4 years of online experience,” which then grows into 6-8 years of experience - ten jobs later!  Let’s start looking at people with sales skills in other industries, within other media, or a fresh new face right out of University.

I think we’re in a better position in Australia than the U.S. is on this point. Have you noticed that most of the major sites in Australia now have ex-outdoor execs in top sales/commercial roles? Unlike in the U.S., where the online industry began with “pure plays” like Yahoo! and MSN, Australia’s major sites were offshoots of established media companies reaching across platforms. It’s a fairly easy step forward for a media professional (whether seller or buyer) to add digital to their skillset – and to conversely add a fresh perspective to the online world, based on their non-digital media experience.

Go Back

Comments

Post has no comments.

Post a Comment

Name (optional)

Website (optional)

Email Address (optional)

Please fill in the text in the image in the box below

Your comment