Telstra’s Dan Lacaze joins Moments with Marketers… in Uber Rides to share how his team balances major retail and sporting events with more community-driven moments – and why the smartest marketers are leaning into multi-cultural and retail moments with purpose.
Timing, relevance, and community – for Dan Lacaze, these are the building blocks of modern marketing.
In the latest episode of Moments with Marketers… in Uber Rides – a new insights series from Uber Advertising – the General Manager of Retail Marketing & Merchandising of Telstra jumps in the back seat with Uber’s Michael Levine to chat about the magic of marketing in the moment.
Lacaze has worked on some of the most commercially successful and creatively awarded campaigns in Australian marketing.
His career spans agency and client-side roles, from the iconic ‘Share a Coke’ campaign (which has just made its latest return) to leading Telstra’s retail and merchandising efforts across one of the country’s most complex product portfolios.
Reflecting on his time working on the campaign, Lacaze recalls: “That campaign was all about reconnecting with lapsed drinkers and bringing them back to the brand. I was very lucky to be involved in the first iteration of that.”
But Lacaze believes that it’s not just big global campaigns that matter – it’s the everyday, strategic choices brands make about when and how to show up.
At Telstra, he says it’s about understanding the difference between broad cultural moments and smaller, community-driven ones – and finding the worth in both.
As an example, Lacaze shares: “We’re trying to look at more micro moments that are really relevant to certain communities that might be around the avid, passionate fan base in Greater Western Sydney.
“A partnership like we have with the NRL provides us with big cultural moments that all Australians tune into, and then we can go much deeper for certain communities that we want to build our brand with.”
Lacaze also teases that aside from the major retail moments of the year that all marketers pay attention to, there are cultural moments that are just as relevant when it comes to the changing face of modern Australia.
He explains: “We’re trying to celebrate the moments that these new communities and new generations of Australians celebrate, such as Lunar New Year. Our brand can turn up in an authentic way and make those moments better for customers.”
From global icons to hyper-local connections, Lacaze is clear: the best marketing happens when you show up at the right time – and in the right way.
You can watch the full series of ‘Moments with Marketers… in Uber Rides’ on B&T’s YouTube channel, with more episodes rolling out soon.
Our first episode, featuring Tourism Australia CMO Susan Coghill, is live now. The series was created by Uber Advertising.
Catch Dan’s episode now and stay tuned for upcoming interviews including Caroline Hugall (Chief Strategy Officer, Spark Foundry) and Alex McLean (General Manager, Marketing at BMW Australia).
