“We Are Changing The World,” says Twitter Australia’s MD, Karen Stocks
Twitter Australia’s managing director Karen Stocks has revealed the speed at which technology is changing puts her outside of her comfort zone and claims the company is “changing the world”.
In an interview with B&T the queen of hashtags said that although she is outside her comfort zone, the rate at which the industry innovates exhilarates her.
![18-twitter-nielson[1]](https://www.bandt.com.au/information/uploads/2015/02/18-twitter-nielson1.jpg)
“I think the nature of the industry that I am in my day to day is outside of my comfort zone,” she said. “When I’m in an industry that moves so rapidly, I can’t begin to comprehend everything that happens.
“Actually it’s really difficult for people that are used to being in control to step into a space going, ‘actually I don’t know the answer’. But it’s okay. Technology is fundamentally changing the way humans connect and I want to be part of that.
“That’s what gets my heart beating faster. Imaging working for a company with that belief. I fundamentally believe we are changing the world.
“The best thing is that next week I don’t know what is going to happen. We are innovating at such a pace, that when I think about my career and the fact that when I started university none of the companies I work for even existed; it’s the rate of pace, the way we’re changing. The fact we’re solving so many structural problems for communities in general in this industry is just really exciting.”
Stocks also talks about her leadership style and what she looks for when hiring new recruits, adding, “you don’t hire people with the main expertise as much as you would in a traditional law or accounting business. In fact, a lot of the times you’ve got people working for you that may be smarter and know things in the industry better than you don’t.
“Again, that can be quite confronting from a leadership perspective, so you have to ask yourself, ‘how comfortable am I sitting in a space where I’m not the smarted person in the room or I’m not the one that knows everything?
“For me, I think it’s more around thinking, ‘how do I create an environment where everybody is comfortable bringing their whole self to work and they’re inspired, motivated and have the ability to be the best that they can be?
“I think it’s around sharing what that vision is, getting people to believe in it, align to it and showing them how to get there. You also have to plug into people’s personal passions and agendas and it’s really important to do that because some journeys aren’t for everybody, and that’s perfectly okay. But it’s important to make sure the journey connects with those that want to be part of it.”
And forget Kim Kardashian’s grease-smeared bum breaking the internet, Stocks said the ‘Ellen selfie’, which was taken at the 2014 Oscars, reached half the world’s population and temporarily crashed the site.
“Ultimately, we want to connect everyone on the planet,” she said. “Remove the barriers of communication and democratise the web.
“If we look at global tweets I think we look at the Ellen selfie and they way that they just took off. It reached half the world population saw that tweet on and off the platform, I think that’s a great example that most people bring to mind.”
Stocks also explained how the philanthropic side of Twitter works, using Commonwealth Bank’s recent campaign with JCDecaux as an example.
Launched as part of the CBA’s Clowning For Kids appeal, the campaign generated instant crowdfunding via engagement with a custom built JCDecaux Innovate panel featuring an inbuilt camera and LCD touch screen that was installed in Sydney’s Martin Place in March for six days.
The campaign encouraged people to post selfies of their funny faces and for each one they donated $5 to the charity, Clown Doctors, which helps more than 180,000 sick children and their families annually by conducting ‘Clown Rounds’ in all of Australia’s major children’s hospitals.
“I think that was a really good campaign,” she said. “One that made me smile. I was motivated to put selfies up there with funny faces, my team did and a lot of other people did and I think that kind of community engagement, having a bit of fun, is really great to see.
“Something that I look at is the way brands like that are using the platform. It’s a really great way of tapping into behavior that already happens, having a bit of fun with it and also turning that into a phenomenal donation to an important organization that’s doing so much good in this country.”
Surprisingly Stocks’ favourite ‘Twitterer or Tweeter’ is Lisa Alexander, the head coach for our national netball team, the Australian Diamonds.
“If I sum up my passions in probably three words it would be netball, netball, netball,” she said. “I love getting Lisa’s perspective right from the coach directly on what she is thinking especially with the world cup coming up this year, and how she’s thinking around team selections and strategy and performance and what she thinks. I just love her insight.
“I don’t play anymore. I used to play goal shooter or goal keeper, but my daughter plays. I watch it every week and follow the ANZ Championships. I’m really excited about the world netball cup being in Australia this year.”
Karen Stocks is speaking at the two-day Daze of Disruption event, held at Sydney’s Belvoir Theatre, on Monday and Tuesday, May 18-19. Stocks’ presentation is on Tuesday.
Latest News
Spinal Life Encourages Australians Living With Disability to “Take Life Back” In First Campaign Via 10 Feet Tall
Queensland-based non-profit Spinal Life has released its first brand campaign in partnership with Melbourne creative agency 10 Feet Tall.
Edward Macaulay Joins Emotive as Senior Art Director
Independent Creative Agency, Emotive, today announces the appointment of Edward Macaulay as Senior Art Director, further strengthening its Creative Collective.
Tinkerbell Is Putting Vegemite On Pizza
Over the years, VEGEMITE has been largely misunderstood across the globe, with Aussies often having to defend the spread and detail exactly “how to” best enjoy the stuff. But as it turns out, Australians have been getting it wrong this whole time! VEGEMITE and Thinkerbell ventured to food mecca New York to recruit Brooklyn Master […]
Levelling Up And Up: Tales From An ANZ Marketing Graduate
In this guest post, Dalal Nasser, graduate at ANZ, explains the challenges of starting a career in marketing in the COVID environm
Subway Makes Return To High Seas With ‘Sink A Sub’ Battleship Game
Subway has this week, officially launched its digital game Sink A Sub, with the first $10,000 prize already being awarded to a lucky recipient in Queensland. Subway’s Sink A Sub game is a user-friendly experience based on the infamous naval war board game Battleship. It was successfully launched for the first time in 2020 as […]
NITV Appoints Peter Noble To General Manager
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has announced the appointment of Peter Noble as general manager, to support the continued growth and evolution of the channel dedicated to First Nations voices and perspectives. Noble (pictured) a proud Girramay and Bandjin man, joins NITV with more than 20 years’ experience in the media industry, working across content disciplines […]
Donald Trump Set To Launch His Own Social Media Platform TRUTH Social
Donald Trump announces plans for his own social media platform. Melina to offer tips on how to look perennially sour.
Facebook Trademarks Names In Australia As Rumours Of A Rebrand Mount!
If you were to rank tech billionaires on hair, it'd go Musk, Zuckerberg, Gates, Bezos. Honourable mention Cannon-Brooks.
Nine Radio Network Records 11.07 Million Streams For September
These radio numbers certainly prove a renaissance in 'old media'. Then you only need look at the recent Hey Hey reunion.
Queen Of Aussie Pop Culture Abbie Chatfield Signs Podcast Deal With LiSTNR
Reality TV star, influencer and unabashed over-sharer Abbie Chatfield has signed with SCA to bring her hugely popular and fiercely candid podcast, It’s A Lot to Australia’s biggest audio content creator – LiSTNR. Chatfield’s never been afraid to call out bad behaviour or tell it like it is. And that’s just what people love about […]
Cheetah Digital Announces Major CM Group Merger
CM Group, a portfolio of martech companies focused on multichannel digital marketing, today announced its merger with Cheetah Digital under the CM Group name. The merger expands and enhances both CM Group’s and Cheetah Digital’s ability to deliver innovative email, omnichannel, personalization, and loyalty solutions. The combined company will own a broad array of technologies […]
Thursday TV Wrap: Gogglebox Wins Entertainment War, Growing Audience From Last Week
Gogglebox is always wholesome Thursday night fun. And certainly more wholesome than the pub's 'porn & prawn' night.
The OG Wiggles Are Guest Programming Iconic Music Show rage
The Wiggles set to program iconic music show rage & enabling fans to re-visit their 25-year hatred of The Cockroaches.
German Finance Reporter Hilariously Trolled By Cheeky Son During Live Cross
Here's one of those fun Friday stories B&T likes to run. Not like on our maudlin Mondays or our tumultuous Tuesdays.
Smart Accelerates CTV Growth Ambitions Via Publica Partnership
Independent ad tech platform Smart has announced a new partnership with connected TV (CTV) ad platform Publica to accelerate its growth ambitions. The integration is a major step in Smart’s commitment to building a scaled, vertically-integrated TV advertising platform for media buyers and sellers following its recent acquisition of global premium CTV demand-side platform (DSP) […]
TV News Network Calls In The Police After Mistakenly Playing Porn Instead Of The Weather Report
Thanks to the overuse of pixillation, this article seamlessly moves from extreme NSFW to mere gentle reprimand from HR.
The Hallway Extends Work With Streamotion, Creating Name And Brand Identity For News Streaming Service Flash
B&T is loving the new 24-hour news site Flash. And we will be loving it right up to the end of our four-week free trial.
ID Collective Snares Sportsgirl Account
B&T's editor is a huge Sportsgirl fan. Which is rather strange, because he's not particularly sporty.
Good Weekend Celebrates The World Reopening With Special ‘52 Weekends Away’ Edition
Good Weekend's '52 Weekends Away' allows you to spend the same on two-nights that'd get you flights and a week in Bali.
Edge Creates First Local Campaign For Nevro, “I Am Not My Pain”
Independent creative agency Edge has launched Nevro’s first local campaign, “I am not my pain”. Nevro is a medical technology company offering innovative solutions to chronic pain. Their HFX therapy has been available in Australia since 2011 and is a form of spinal cord stimulation (SCS), where an electrical device is implanted surgically near the […]
Dishing The Dirt On 10’s Upfronts With Beverley McGarvey & Rod Prosser
B&T has gone right to the coalface to get the lowdown on 10's Upfronts here. So expect a bit of the 'black lung' too.
“We’ve Got Massive Goals”: Meet The Foundation Working To Support NSW’s Most Vulnerable Women
As much as we love a porn weather story, B&T loves nothing more than reporting on bold initiatives like this one.
Seven Appoints Tara Carlon As Executive Producer Of Digital/Sport
Tara Carlon now left with few excuses in the office footy tipping comp after being named Seven's EP of digital/sport.
Apparent Tunes Up With Sydney Symphony Orchestra After Being Appointed Media Agency Of Record
B&T loves a bit of the Sydney Symphony. Although we have to admit we don't know our overtures from our virtuosos.
Bundaberg & Leos Enlist Comic Becky Lucas To Celebrate The Pubs Reopening
B&T is definitely celebrating the pubs reopening, and that's despite spending most of lockdown pissed.
Burberry Dazzles In Spectacular Spot As Models Literally Take To The Air
Burberry once again chasing the Millennials in spunky new work. Begrudgingly holding on to that whole beige/check thing.
IPG Unveils “Remarkable” 15% Q3 Growth
With COVID behind it and no gigantic meteors on the horizon, Interpublic predicting healthy growth into 2022.
Why Facebook’s Metaverse Will Transform Marketing As We Know It
Metaverse all set to usurp cookieless as the most overused word in the media and marketing industries.
NGINX Launches Parodic “Investigative Reporter” Campaign Via The Misfits
As a disclaimer, The Misfits is also the publisher of B&T. Proof we're both omni-dimensional & gluten strategic.
Pinterest Announces New Tools, Features and Experiences For Users
Pinterest has introduced a new suite of creator and Pinner products and experiences globally, as the platform continues to evolve to become home for the next generation of creators. At its second annual Pinterest Creators Festival, featuring Megan Thee Stallion and Storm Reid. Pinterest creators Kerin Rose Gold, Wendy’s World, Henri Purnell, Carolina Gelen and […]
