Western Media Group Celebrates Its 10th Anniversary
Happy birthday to us, happy birthday to us… From our humble beginnings in 2008, we have grown into one of Canada’s leading independent media marketing and representation firms. What a decade it’s been!
In 2008, there was no such thing as programmatic — much less programmatic audio and programmatic out-of-home — and now we are leaders in both of these exciting areas. But enough about us. Let’s take a look at some of the people who helped to shape our company into what it is today.
We thought it would be fun to hear from some of the wonderful people who have helped us along the way. These are people who started their careers with us and then went on to accomplish great things.
Robyn Christison
I was fortunate that WMG took a chance on me and gave me my start in media straight out of BCIT. From there I grew from putting together television make-goods, to managing my own agency patch and growing our DOOH business, while also getting a taste for programmatic. Luckily this experience was the reason I was hired on at my current company, Telaria (formerly Tremor Video) in our London, UK office.
We are a pure-play video SSP with offices globally, listed on the NYSE. I now have the opportunity to travel across Europe speaking to local agencies, global agency groups, attending ad tech conferences, working with premium publishers (such as the BBC globally). Additionally, Connected TV (CTV) is a core growth area of our business and we work exclusively with leading CTV publishers, such as Hulu. So it is great to be a part of the future of TV.
Happy 10 year anniversary to David, Marc, Omar, Brenda & now Jenny! Thanks for everything and I’ll be back to visit soon!
Ciara Cox
I worked with WMG from August 2015 to October 2016 and I enjoyed every moment of it. As an Irish girl living in Vancouver I felt it took some time with other employers to get my sense of humor and accent but I felt like I fit right in from day one, although Omar still struggled with the accent 🙂 I learned so much from my time in WMG.
Programmatic was not something I had even heard of before interviewing for the role but Marc and Omar got me right up to speed and every day I learned something new, which is a rare thing to be able to say in a job.
I left WMG in 2016 to move back to my beloved Ireland and since then I have moved around jobs but for the past 16 months I have been working as a Digital Marketing Manager for Celtic Media Group (CMG) who are a local newspaper publishing company. They own 7 weekly papers and have a number of clients too on the digital side which keeps me pretty busy throughout the day.
We have just started to dip our toes into the programmatic world so all the invaluable knowledge from Mr. Brasset has not gone to waste 🙂 I have also become a homeowner in the past year too. My boyfriend Eoin and I purchased our first home last November in our hometown Mullingar. So it’s been an expensive but exciting few months doing the house up and having a place to call our own.
I’ll finish by congratulating the whole WMG team on reaching the 10 year milestone. It’s an achievement worth celebrating and I hope Omar has that blender out for some JD cocktails 🙂
Tricia Fallows
I was lucky enough to be David’s first hire as he founded WMG. We brainstormed how we would grow the business and drive revenue from TV, radio, and digital properties over a nice white wine and hit it off instantly. I was impressed with David’s experience and passion, as well as his ambition to start WMG in a small market, one that was quite dominated by a few big players. I am so glad I had the opportunity I did at WMG.
We started off small, just the two of us, with no clear job descriptions. From building desks, to make goods and creating IO’s, to pitching our services to senior stakeholders at publishers, David and I tackled everything together in those early days. My husband even built the first version of the website off of our hand sketched designs!
During my time at WMG I learned some invaluable lessons from David while I helped him grow the digital side of the business. He taught me how to challenge the status quo, how to fight for media investment as an underdog, and how to persevere and thrive in a fast-paced, always changing environment. I attribute those skills learned, and my time at WMG, as some of the reasons I am where I am today.
From WMG I moved into a digital pure-play role at Yahoo before jumping across the pond to pursue new adventures in London, England. After 3 years working in London at AOL as a senior salesperson and manager of a small team I decided to move onto ‘warmer’ pastures and landed in Sydney, Australia. I am now running a team of 10 mobile strategic planners and buyers who work in conjunction with top advertising agencies across Australia to plan and buy their mobile media.
My team is responsible for over $20 million dollars in annual revenue and spread out across 3 markets. My time is spent staying up to date on digital trends, coaching the team, and managing senior relationships across the agency and publisher partnerships. Currently I am on maternity leave as I gave birth to my first baby girl earlier this year but I am excited to continue to grow my career in advertising.
Congrats to David and the team at WMG for hitting 10 years and growing into the company you are today!
Jen Nguyen
I was a somewhat naïve and nerdy BCIT graduate when a startup called Western Media Group opened their doors to me in 2009. Back then, I was moonlighting as a Web Developer at the same time as I was navigating my career in media. It was my interest in web development that steered me towards digital media, and it was Western Media Group that gave me my first exposure to digital ad sales.
I never could have imagined that the next 10 years of my career would see me go from being a Media Coordinator in a three-person office, to a Senior Account Executive presenting in agency boardrooms, to a Digital Consultant working remotely from Paris (for Vancouver-based startup Federation Media).
I will never forget Western Media Group for having given me my start in media and for showing me how to take an entrepreneurial approach to my work. By nudging me outside of my comfort zone, you have helped me pave the path for the rest of my career.
While I am still nerdy, I am definitely more shrewd thanks to what I have learned.
Thank you to all of our employees — past and present — for their unwavering dedication and hard work. We are very fortunate to know and work with such great people!
— David