MEET THE MOGUL nr. 5

Erica Gunning— Director Planit Media

“Meet the Mogul is a 3min. weekly snapshot into the mind of a media and advertising industry mogul”

3 Things Affecting my Industry 2016

1.Content has been the buzzword in the industry for years, but context is what makes content meaningful and gives it purpose. As communication channel specialists we need to define context before creating content to ensure relevance and engagement. 
2. Brands need to define their purpose to be able differentiate themselves. That’s the only way create meaningful relationships with consumers and drive innovation within communication.

3. Collection of data and visualising it to better understand the customer and benchmark what is working. This informs how we plan and allows brands the flexibility to adapt to ever changing consumer behavior and forms the basis of how brands engage with consumers.

Word to the Industry

Don’t let your job description define your output, absorb as much knowledge and experience as you can as our industry is always changing. To stay ahead you need to be able to adapt, learn fast and keep building your skills to stay relevant. Then only can you keep adding value in this industry.

Positive & Inspiring

I have two favorite quotes that drive me and have remained true to my career:
“Love what you do, do what you love” — always brings out the best in my work and keeps me interested in growing my career in media as it evolves. Lovemarks by Kevin Roberts, has great references on how what we do has a future impact on brands, loyalty beyond reason.
“My life is based on a true story” — need to keep it real and it comes down to have experience when you truly start adding real value to what you do.

Short Bio.

Erica has 19 years experience in Media and Communications running media agencies and media departments. She is a media pioneer evidenced by the many industry awards she has received.

Erica has been involved in setting up award winning agencies and managing the strategic media requirements of some of the biggest accounts in South Africa. Ericas core strength is integrated communication strategic thinking.

She says of her fast paced career, “I love the fact that I keep learning new ways of engaging with the consumer and witnessing how media has and continues to evolve. We are now able to engage in real time with consumers and the integration of various mediums allows us to deliver results.”