Nick Behr is a powerhouse of Australia’s Adland. After a successful career spanning over 25 years, building agencies that produce memorable work and lasting results for clients, he founded Kaimera, an indie media agency.
In 2020, he co-founded the IMAA, now an authoritative industry body on all things indies, a sector that’s healthy and thriving.
1. You’ve had a brilliant career, from Zenith in the UK, Mediacom, Vizeum, and fast forward to founder & CEO of Kaimera. If you had to pick only one, what would be your career highlight so far?
Nick Behr: Nice of you to say. There have been so many career defining moments but if I remove the obvious, so anything to do with Kaimera, then it would have to be when I launched Vizeum Australia and we won the Red Bull pitch only a couple of months later. That was the moment I knew we could win against the bigger agencies.
2. I love that you champion Simplicity, Integrity & Innovation in media, how do you ensure that’s part of your agency’s DNA?
NB: By constantly reminding ourselves what they mean, and putting them into practice with our people, clients, and media partners every single day.
3. Kaimera has been an incredibly successful indie. Can you share what’s driving this growth?
NB: Always the people. We’re meticulous about hiring the right talent who are culture first. By doing this, I believe we’ve built a culture that has evolved faster than the industry, giving us an edge.
4. As a young boy, what did you want to be when you grew up?
NB: First, a footballer (not even close), then a merchant banker (no idea what they did), then anything to give me my freedom. And like many of us in the industry, I fell into media agency life and loved it from day one.
5. Over your career, what’s the best bit of career advice you’ve been given?
NB: When I launched Kaimera, I was told to focus my time on where I can make a real difference. Don’t waste your time on IT, finance or office admin. Use your time to chase where the opportunities are to grow your business.
6. As an industry, what’s one thing we can do better to make us all better?
NB: Educate the educators. Grads come out of marketing degrees knowing PR, Social and Brand fundamentals, but nothing about Media Buying or Planning. If we don’t fix it, our industry will die a slow death as we will only have older people in the industry, and when they leave, we will have no one to replace them.
7. I know you support MMAD Musicians Making A Difference and give back to the industry. Is that an important part of your culture, and does it make a difference?
NB: Yes, it makes a difference because it matters. Supporting causes like MMAD is rewarding and part of who we are. However, I would love to see people in our industry not just rely on their employers to support charities, but for individuals to do it off their own back in their own time.
8. You have built incredible trust with your clients. How do you foster & nurture that day in, day out?
NB: By putting client service at the heart of the agency and surrounding clients with smart, experienced people they can lean on every day.
9. What’s one thing that’s not on your LinkedIn profile?
NB: Anything personal. LinkedIn is for business. I quit social media eight years ago, and I believe I am a better human for it.
10. Important last question: Do your parents really know what you do?
NB: Not a clue.
