Robert Gilbert spent most of his career in talk radio, with 25 years clocked up across Melbourne’s 3AW and, before that, at Sydney’s 2UE.
Gilbert comes from a family steeped in the media, with younger brothers Tim and Kieran at Sky News, niece Sophie on sabbatical after time with Nine and News Ltd, and his son Thomas getting started in production at 3AW.
Gilbert was recognised as one of Australia’s leading radio account managers, planning media for clients nationwide, helping to build some of the largest and most successful brands in the country during his time in talk radio.
Reaching his mid-50s, Gilbert realised there was another chapter left unexplored in his career so in July 2019, he launched his independent agency and in what was an obvious choice, chose Gilbert Media as the name.
Gilbert spoke to Mediaweek about leading a small agency with a big impact, the key to maintaining strong ties with clients, and how the agency has benefitted from its IMAA membership.
The rise of Gilbert Media and its partnership with WTFN Entertainment
Gilbert shared that he was grateful that the 3AW management, under Macquarie Media, supported him as he went out on his own with his client base that he had built up over the years.
As the agency’s executive director, Rob explained that he is very hands-on in the role and works across all aspects of the business, from briefing media and managing and negotiating accounts on behalf of clients.
“I pride myself on my attention to detail. In fact, my reputation is built on both that and, of course, personal service,” he said.
Gilbert leads a small team, but he noted that they collaborate with their media partners on a broader scale.
“The way we look at our business is that the collaborations we have with the media we work with form an extended part of our team. We like to refer to it as a virtual team with the multiple media partners that we collaborate with across Australia and New Zealand,” he said.
Gilbert Media’s specialisations are twofold, Rob noted. “Naturally, there’s the media buying planning and account management, but also an expertise in the content partnership space,” he said.
The independent agency’s partnership with WTFN Entertainment has delivered commercial partners for the iconic Bondi Vet and the successful lifestyle program Space Invaders on the Nine Network, featuring Peter Walsh, Cherie Barber, and Angie Kent, now in its third season.
Space Invaders, in particular, hit the zeitgeist as the pandemic emerged and an immediate demand to de-clutter and find different ways to use our homes merged.
“Gilbert Media partnered with WTFN for Season One during the pre-production in late 2019, and together, we brought many of the brands to the programme, which launched just as Covid arrived. Three years on, the show has had huge success, and Gilbert Media manages eight of the key brands in the show and is an important collaborator with WTFN.
“After coming up to 30 years in the business where most of the feedback is from the client side, you don’t often see the results of the consumer side of the work you do. With Space Invaders, it’s a thrill to see families who are often having a real challenge have their lives transformed,” he said.
Keeping up with the clients
Gilbert shared that the agency still retains many of its foundation clients, the core of which he noted goes back 25 years to the early days of his career.
Storage King, a market leader in the self-storage sector across Australia and New Zealand, is one of the agency’s anchor clients. He noted that his relationship with the company goes far back to 1998 with co-founder and still CEO Michael Tate.
“Gilbert Media oversee Storage King’s mass media buying, planning and management with the Group Marketing Manager, Tony Skallias, including a recent creative refresh which saw Skallias and Gilbert manage the tricky transition of what had become a signature jingle to a more contemporary version. Storage King execute a nimble, always-on strategy; currently, a new year tactical campaign across Australia and New Zealand is wrapping up with a wonderful animated series of TVC’s and clever use of the new jingle package across multiple audio platforms.”
Gilbert also noted Storage King is a founding partner with Space Invaders.
“As a boutique agency, one of our specialties is to not only buy and plan media but also to align our brands with native content that seamlessly works with the supporting media schedule to tell a story for the brand,” he explained. “Storage King was a natural fit for the format, and it’s been a real success story for the brand”.
“The world of content for brands is vastly different than a perception of product placement in a television show. Negotiating, buying and managing these partnerships involves a suite of digital elements, digital tips, and social components that come with the content piece, which allow clients of all sizes to leverage the assets across social and owned media”.
Gilbert noted that an upside to the partnership is that given WTFN is an international production and distribution company, Space Invaders has been sold to multiple global markets, which increases its visibility and ROI for brands that operate in both Australia and New Zealand and in some cases, around the world.
“From a Storage King point of view, Space Invaders has also played on TVNZ in New Zealand where the brand is the dominant storage player in the New Zealand market. This was a handy side benefit to a deal that had originally been negotiated for Australia alone.”
Another foundation client is Hoyts Food, which specialises in herbs, spices, and pickled vegetables in the major and independent supermarkets. Gilbert noted that his relationship with the company goes back over 20 years, during which time the family-owned company have become close friends as well as colleagues in business.
“Over the past several years of COVID, where there’s been a real boom in home cooking, the brand has experienced wonderful growth,” he said of the Melbourne-based business run by the Accardo family.
New clients are often referred to the agency and include Hannover Fairs, which organises large-scale exhibitions, trade shows and conferences. Gilbert noted that the agency is working with the company on their 2023 activity, specifically CeMAT – a trade show specialising in intralogistics, robotics, automation, warehousing, supply chain management and materials handling.
Gilbert’s key to maintaining strong ties with clients over the years
Gilbert shared that the key to maintaining his long-standing relationships with their clients has been building trusted business relationships as well as, in many cases, abiding friendships.
“I tend to gravitate towards people whose company I enjoy and whose attitudes I share. A natural extension of that is a relationship built on trust.
“One of my mantras is that what really counts is what we’re doing when the client doesn’t know we’re doing it. This is where reviewing the detail and not letting the small things go through to the keeper. It’s the advocacy, the work I do, the double-checking, and the attention to detail that I personally oversee. That’s what I think is the key,” he explained.
Gilbert noted that another of his favourite mantras is from Toyota, where he worked early on in his career. “The Toyota cultural mantra, the Kaizen philosophy – the constant pursuit of perfection and relentless attention to detail. That’s something that I strive for every day,” he added.
Gilbert Media’s performance in 2022 and the outlook for the year ahead
Looking back at the agency’s performance over the last year, Gilbert noted that they have been fortunate to have been well-equipped to thrive during and after the pandemic.
Gilbert said: “2022 was a year of exponential growth. It was an exciting year and set us up for a strong 2023, which pretty much began on January one – I was already responding to emails and had the Storage King campaign launch in mid-January. So, there wasn’t a lot of down time, but I love what I do, so it wasn’t a problem.”
According to Gilbert, plenty of exciting things are happening with the agency in the year ahead. He noted that they plan to expand opportunities across Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia with some clients in traditional media buying space and content through their relationship with WTFN Entertainment.
Outside of his media agency work, Gilbert highlighted that one of the key areas he is most proud of is his work as a member of the Council of Governors for the Cerebral Palsy Alliance (CPA). The organisation is close to his heart as his 18-year-old son, Alexander, lives with cerebral palsy.
Gilbert explained that he works closely with the CPA to raise awareness and funds for research for the CPA. He said: “Whilst exciting things are happening in the business from a personal point of view, the most exciting thing for me is to help the CPA grow its profile around Australia and to and to help not only my son but other children and people who live with cerebral palsy.”
Benefits of being an IMAA member
Gilbert noted that while his extensive career experience, broad network and business relationships have benefited the business, its IMAA membership has given them extra industry standing.
Gilbert Media joined the IMAA in 2021. He shared that membership to the industry body adds a layer of prestige through association with other respected independent agencies in Australia.
Gilbert said that under the CEO Sam Buchanan, the agency had taken part in training, leverage with IMAA media partners and group deals offered to the collective.
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Top image: Robert Gilbert
