The Mediaweek Academy took its third session to News Corp’s Sydney headquarters in Surry Hills.
Facilitator Greg ‘Sparrow’ Graham welcomed back attendees to the session, centred on developing sales and negotiation skills.
Legend Genelle Sharples, principal – Media, Sponsorship, Awards & Experiential at Telstra, was happy to share her industry knowledge. She told Mediaweek: “We’re all in sales and negotiations – it’s both a life skill and a practice to master.”
Superstar Philippa Noilea-Tani, Wavemaker’s chief investment officer, said: “What an absolute privilege it was to share the stage with industry legends Genelle and Sparrow!
“I am very humbled by the opportunity to pass on some of my experience and career learnings. It was apparent that Genelle and I have shaped our careers in very different ways. Yet, our stance on effective sales and negotiations was very similar,” she added.
Sharples said that she hoped attendees took away the importance of thorough preparation, being clear about what they want and using questions throughout the process to discover where their needs intersect with their negotiating partner.
“Ground your objectives in the facts and ‘sell’ your position with a persuasive argument,” she said.
“Go for the win-win-win – an outcome where you both end up with a position that is even better than you could have imagined at the start,” Sharples added.
For Noilea-Tani, she highlighted two points: “Not to underestimate the importance of truly understanding a problem before trying to solve it.”
And secondly, she noted: “The importance of strong relationships built on a foundation of trust, integrity, and mutual respect. No one can afford to burn bridges for a short-term win in our industry.”
After answering the burning industry questions from the attendees, Sharples had a positive outlook and said it has never been a better time to be a media professional.
“It’s an exciting, ever-changing space – navigating the complexity of channel strategies is difficult, and media professionals are in the best position to become trusted advisors to their clients,” she added.
Noilea-Tani shared a similar sentiment and said it was “wonderful to see a packed room of emerging leaders leaning in, engaged and asking interesting questions – particularly on the day after a mid-week public holiday.”
“I could have sat there and chatted all day – the time flew by. I hope everyone in that room knows they are more than welcome to reach out to me to pick up the conversation where we left off.
“I’ve always been so blown away by the generosity of others when it comes to helping me keep my learning curve steep. I would love to continue passing that forward whenever I can,” Noilea-Tani added.
Trent Thomas, Damian Cleary, Genelle Sharples, Greg ‘Sparrow’ Graham, Philippa Noilea-Tani and Andrew Mulready
Among the attendees of the third session of the Mediaweek Academy was Mediaweek Academy ambassador Sophie Cole, senior account manager at OMD Australia and Kirsten Matthews, group sales manager at Seven West Media.
As a Mediaweek Academy ambassador, Cole has attended the previous two sessions and noted that the latest workshop provided “very different content” from the past sessions, which she enjoyed.
“I think some key themes have been brought out of all three sessions, with a lot around integrity, trust, relationships, authenticity, but shaping that in a different lens to what you’re trying to achieve during your career,” she said.
A point that Cole resonated with during this session was staying true to yourself during negotiations.
“I think a big one was around authenticity and being able to get an outcome in a way that still stays true to your values and who you are and what you place importance in – not necessarily just going about it the same way your manager, perhaps would.”
One of Cole’s most significant takeaways from the session was emphasising the importance of transparency.
“Be accepting that people might approach something differently and that it’s really important that you ask them for transparency and honesty and that there aren’t any smoke and mirrors with understanding what one another want,” she said.
Mediaweek Academy session three attendees
Matthews said a highlight from the session was listening to the experience and insights of both Noilea-Tani and Sharples, especially the experience of Noilea-Tani’s commitment to one company.
“One thing I connected with was Philippa saying how she spent so long at one company, and that’s very much me.
“I started my career at Seven, so coming to events like this and hearing from everyone and networking with everyone is where I’m going to find that knowledge gap and bet on myself, so I got a lot out of today.”
Matthews noted that while there were many points to take away, she resonated with the discussion regarding reputation.
“One thing I resonated with is to find out what you don’t know and find who can teach it to you, and then very much the whole reputation piece.
“Within my role, I do a lot of sales and negotiations, and reputation is that key factor. They’re going to deal with me day in and day out, and I don’t want to be a bad cop. So learning these tactics is going to help me in the future.”
For Matthews, the day provided her with a refresher of techniques and new tactics to implement into her daily work.
“Doing what I do, you fall into habits a little bit. Today was a great refresher in some areas. It’s pushed me to try different tactics next time and see how it helps me grow or see if it gets me anywhere different,” she added.
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Top image: Genelle Sharples, Greg ‘Sparrow’ Graham and Philippa Noliea-Tani