With her second anniversary as Mindshare’s CEO just around the corner, B&T‘s Greg ‘Sparrow’ Graham caught up with Maria Grivas to learn why giving her staff an extra long weekend leads to better results for clients — as well as her enduringly upbeat demeanour.
1. Mindshare is having a banger of a year with some outstanding wins. What is the winning formula for your current success?
I’m so proud of the success that our whole team has delivered so far this year. We have had a lot of feedback on our pitch efforts and what we are getting right is how we lean into both business and brand transformation in our work. It’s encouraging to see that our data and technology narrative, and the connectedness of that capability across our tool set, is well understood and valued by prospective clients, as well as our existing clients.
I love hearing feedback on the intangible aspects of our pitch as well. The energy (which is a Mindshare value) we bring to the experience, and the authenticity we represent, is providing confidence in the type of partner we are – not just in the pitch room but beyond it into the day-to-day. We want a partnership with Mindshare to bring joy as well as results! And so far, I think we are delivering on that!
2. It’s coming up to your second anniversary as CEO — how has Mindshare evolved in that time?
It’s on August 30, so just around the corner! Mindshare has long been an outstanding agency focused on delivering client outcomes. As media evolves, how we achieve that ambition for our clients is reflected in the talent and product innovation we are gearing up around. More expertise in Commerce, Marketing Cloud, Influencer Marketing and Inclusive media, are just a few examples of how we continue to diversify our talent pool, leaning into GroupM capability, and cross-skilling our workforce to support how we achieve Good Growth for our clients.
3. Good Growth is a powerful positioning, with the current economic headwinds are clients more interested in the growth vs the good bit?
Our definition of Good Growth is centred around growth that benefits businesses, people and the planet. Despite the current economic headwinds, sustainable growth is essential for long-term success. Our clients recognise this and have seen the bottom-line value in it. Our approach to growth is tailored to meet the unique needs of each brand, but the underlying goal remains the same – to deliver growth that drives business success while positively impacting society and the environment.
4. What sets Mindshare apart and how does it differentiate within the GroupM family?
Good Growth really speaks to transformation, how we set our clients on a course towards growth that is good for business, people and planet. To deliver this, we undertake Growth and Transformation audits for all of our clients, and these keep us accountable for outcomes that drive growth over time, across multiple marketing dimensions. Each of GroupM’s agencies has a different approach to helping clients grow and I’m incredibly proud of the work we are producing in Mindshare, and the outcomes we are contributing to our clients’ business.
5. The purple people have always had a brilliant culture, how do you keep that family spirit, empathy and energy?
We hire on values, and that’s really important. Energy, Empathy and Impact are our values and we really believe in them, and so do the people on our team. They drive how we operate the agency, how we approach client relationships and the work as well as our culture. But above that, we also empower our people to contribute to our strategic plan and own the solutions so everyone on the team is applying a part in our success and shaping our business.
6. I know it’s like naming your favourite child but what work are you most proud of?
It’s impossible to choose a favourite! We are producing such a breadth of work across the marketing/media pendulum.
NAB is doing some amazing work that responds to the current cost of living pressures on Australians. We know that right now, money feels pretty wild, and people need a little help to wrangle it. The current ‘Wrangle Your Money’ campaign is rooted in the idea that NAB supports customers to manage their money when decisions feel wild. I love how it has human-ness at the centre and brings the NAB Brand and Business together
Our digital solutions team took me through an incredible outcome for Secure Parking this week, where we have optimised their paid and owned media mix to deliver significant savings to be reinvested into their growth; That made me smile.
We continue to pioneer excellence in Omni Channel marketing with the team at IKEA, having delivered our decision experience (DX) research to inform their broader business strategy, and continuing to achieve improvements in media driven ROI, which is incredible.
I’m loving our experience marketing work for Tourism New Zealand, focused on maximising visitor contribution. And we have some incredible work for Dove with Unilever launching soon that I am so proud of, including one campaign which was part of our pitch so it’s exciting to see that come to life. I could rattle off an example for every client we represent, we could be here for days!
7. Outside of Mindshare how do you chill, recharge your batteries and keep up that high-performance leadership?
I truly believe that happy people are fulfilled people. Fulfilment is a by-product of a full life – one where you are optimising all vectors of your wellbeing, not just professional, but familial, advocational, societal, financial and spiritual if that’s your vibe. So I try to bring my energy and full presence to the things that make me feel I’m living a full life.
We recently had a ‘Thrive’ day where we gave our teams across Mindshare and GroupM additional leave to enjoy a four-day weekend. I spent it in the Blue Mountains with my mate, hiking 19km of the new Grand Cliff Top walk. It felt so good doing something so physically challenging and doing it alongside a friend. It was so great to hear the different ways people on our team used the extra time to Thrive and recharge their batteries in different ways.
8). You always appear so calm, upbeat, and happy – what really pisses you off?
I reckon I have a resting smile face! Like everyone, I have my triggers for sure, and talent leaving our industry has always been one of those… I feel we have so much opportunity for rich and varied life-long careers in media. I’d love to see more young talent experience those opportunities and stay the course.
9. Can you share with us something that’s not on your LinkedIn profile?
Sure! Every year, I like to try something that really pushes against my fears… A few years ago it was learning to ski (there were tears), last year it was a super high treetops rope course (there were also tears); this year I’d like to give stand-up comedy a go. Hoping for tears of laughter with this one.
10. Do your parents or family know what you actually do?
Yes, they actually do! Sometimes our industry can feel a little bit intangible, but really when you think about it media touches every single Australian in some way every day. My parents and family are proud that I have found myself in an industry that has a real relevance to so many aspects of civic society, and the economy – and so am I.
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