Home » “Diversity Really Is An Amazing Thing”: 10 Of The Best With Finecast’s Dylan Dharmadasa

31 May, 2021

“Diversity Really Is An Amazing Thing”: 10 Of The Best With Finecast’s Dylan Dharmadasa

B&T is continuing to string together some intriguing interviews as part of our ‘10 of the Best’ series.

[Looking for the live stream of B&T’s Best of the Best awards? You’ve found it – click here!]

Of course, the series was created in celebration of our inaugural Best of the Best awards. What are they, you might ask?

Presented by Finecast, Best of the Best will bring something unique to this year’s awards season. While most awards focus on the work of an agency or company as a whole, Best of the Best will celebrate the immense individual talent on show in every area of advertising, marketing and media.

Our Best of the Best awards will also be celebrating the people who continue to do the most, with categories for mentors and social change-makers.

You can find a breakdown of all the different categories here, along with a downloadable file outlining the full submission criteria.

Come on, you know you want to enter! Head on over HERE to complete your submission/s by Friday 25 June 2021.

To inspire you even more to enter Best of the Best, we’re continuing to publish some fab interviews with a number of senior folk from Finecast and the broader WPP AUNZ network.

We’ve asked them everything from their best piece of career advice, to the best mistake they’ve ever made, to their best guilty pleasure.

Here, we have Finecast’s head of product and operations for Australia, Dylan Dharmadasa. Enjoy…

Best piece of career advice…

Take your best ideas and have a smart, diverse group of people shred them to pieces. Re-develop them, present back and rinse and repeat. Before you know it, you’ll have a diamond sitting in front of you.

Best agency in Australia at the moment (that’s not yours) and why…

I don’t have a specific agency in mind, but I do want to give a shout out to creative agencies. Creating distinctive and memorable campaigns can sometimes be undervalued, particularly because agencies aren’t going to get it right every time. Clients really need to be on that journey and appreciate the art and science of brand building.

Best industry leader and why…

I’m always blown away by the work of Les Binet and Peter Fields, and their analysis across the IPA Databank that demonstrates how advertising can be successfully used as a growth driver for brands. It really revolutionises one’s approach to marketing regardless of channel or category – it’s powerful stuff.

Best mentor in your life/career and why…

This is really hard to pick one, because I’ve been so fortunate in having great leaders to look up to throughout my career. I’ll just say this, the leaders who helped me a lot all had very different personalities and characteristics, which gave me a complete picture of how to tackle challenges in my professional and personal life. If you need advice in anything, diversity really is an amazing thing.

Best brand you’ve never worked on and why…

It’s not so much a brand-specific thing, but I’ve always wanted to work on a challenger brand trying to take market share from the ‘big four’ of their industry.

Best song for inspiration and why…

“Times Like These” by Foo Fighters. It’s a great song about rebuilding yourself once you’ve fallen off the horse, and we can all relate to being in that position where you need to dust yourself off and get moving again.

Best mistake you’ve ever made…

I once managed to miss a flight from Portugal to Spain and rebooked three flights accidentally in the next three hours. That made me realise I wasn’t as invincible under pressure as I thought I was – it was a surprisingly introspective experience.

Best rumour you’ve heard about yourself…

For quite some time, a large portion of people thought I was from the UK. I guess I don’t have the classic Aussie twang that I used to have in my cricketing days.

Best ad of the past decade and why…

I’ve always loved the ‘100% Pure New Zealand’ ads from the late 2010s. The campaign’s authentically New Zealand, covers diverse parts of the New Zealand culture and landscape from different points of view and, perhaps most importantly, it’s distinctive and feels authentic, unadulterated and humble.

Best guilty pleasure…

Anyone who knows me knows I am very passionate about great food and flavours. So, every couple of months, I’ll take out my kamado grill and smoke some ribs, brisket or chicken. It’s mostly science with a bit of art (like my job), but the results are mouth-watering when you find the balance!

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10 of the Best awards Best of the best Dylan Dharmadasa Finecast WPP AUNZ