Spotlight on: Jo Rao from Wink

This week, we chat to Jo Rao from Wink. A marketing pro, Jo was recently nominated for a B&T Women in Media Award, she is a regular judge of the Australian Marketing Institute Awards, plus she’s a mentor for up-and-coming marketers through the Victorian Government Digital Jobs program. We talk all things marketing, PR campaigns and career success. She also shares her top tips for your business - so grab a coffee and let’s dive in!

Hi Jo, thanks so much for much for taking this time to talk with us. Firstly, congratulations on being nominated for a Women In Media Award, a huge achievement! Can you start by telling us a little bit about yourself?

Sure! My career pathway has taken many weird and wonderful turns and I always say that I kinda fell into marketing. Straight out of high school I got a job at the West Coast Eagles (professional AFL team) and was drawn to all things marketing the moment I walked through the doors. Since then, I’ve been fortunate enough to work across high performing brands across lifestyle, entertainment, hospitality, retail, FMCG and sport.

Over my career, I’ve worked on some very cool initiatives. I’ve run concerts for AC/DC and U2, got Kelly Clarkson to sing for an influencer campaign, put a real life flying Eagle on the ground (or in the air) at Subiaco Oval, packed an estimated 20,000 goodie bags, put mixed reality holograms into healthcare, written a senate enquiry, sold millions and millions of gift cards, and was part of the 2006 AFL Premiership.

Before I left school, I always wanted to be a sports journalist so it’s no wonder that so much of my career has been about communications and PR. I love the power of storytelling and today in my role as General Manager – Marketing I support clients on how they can win and keep customers and lead the marketing strategy for some of Australia’s biggest loyalty programs.

Having worked with some of the biggest brands across lifestyle, entertainment, hospitality, retail, FMCG and sport you would have seen many a PR campaign.  What are the universal principles to keep in mind when planning and executing a PR campaign?

I think executing a great PR campaign starts well before you have something to promote. Building great relationships with the media, journalists and influencers goes a long way to getting great ROI. It’s also important to deeply understand your target audience and have a clear objective. Be really clear, both internally and externally on what success looks like and have a single minded approach to achieve this. The other big one for me, is creative storytelling. The facts are great (and super important) but so many of us are drawn in by emotion and seeing ourselves within the brand. If you can find a way to bring that out, it’s a sure fire way to success.

You’ve recently been selected to judge the 2024 AMI PR Campaign of the Year once again. What are the top criteria are you looking for and what will make a winner stand out?

The winning entry has to take me on a journey. Chances are I know nothing about the campaign, so quickly bring me up to speed on what the challenges and objectives are and how a great PR campaign will make an impact on the business. As the submission plays out, continue to reference the objectives and tell the story authentically. I’m also looking for how the brand or business had to pivot (sorry pandemic buzz word alert) when something didn’t go right. Crisis management is one part of PR that often gets overlooked but is so critical. How do you respond when your campaign goes so well that you sell out of product or people question the brand’s integrity? Being ready to tackle that head on always makes for a great award submission.

Do you have an all-time favourite PR campaign?

Oh my god, just one? That feels like an impossible task. Australian PR teams are great and there are so many great campaigns that come to mind. Tourism always does it well. I remember the “Dundee film trailer” being released. It took a while for people to work out that it was, in fact, a publicity stunt and not a remake of the classic movie. Other ones that stick out for me are the Dumb Ways to Die (can’t get that jingle outta my head) campaign and the Australian Red Cross Blood Service campaign back in 2016 where hundreds of brands dropped the A, B and O from their names to support blood donations. The thing about that campaign was how the Blood Service capitalised on the PR generated from their supporters – genius idea!

What elements of award-winning campaigns do you think smaller brands, or perhaps those on a lower budget, can apply to their own PR campaigns and events? Is it all about budget and scale or knowing your target audience, your message and nailing the storytelling?

I’m a big believer that the less money you have to spend the better your campaign will probably be. Knowing your target audience intimately and curating your messaging to tell a great story will always win. Ultimately you want your PR to sell more products, generate more awareness or inspire brand loyalty so find your space and play there really well. There are so many big budget campaigns that have flopped simply because they didn’t understand their target audience well enough (who remembers when Coke went to market with their “I’d rather die of thirst” campaign – talk about not reading the room). The spray and pray approach very rarely works so no matter your budget, if you have the right PR strategy and you’re building great relationships, you should be on to a winner.

You’re a mentor for young marketers as part of the Victorian Government Digital Jobs program, what advice do you have for those breaking into this industry?

I do a lot of mentoring, including through the Australian Marketing Institute and Marketing Women Inc and the Vic government digital jobs program. It’s something I love doing as I was so fortunate to be mentored by some amazing marketers early in my career and I’m happy to pay it forward. For those looking to start out in marketing I always suggest joining networking groups that spark your interest and finding people within your industry that you like being around. Reach out to great people and ask to buy them a coffee. I’m passionate about the marketing industry because I truly believe that, unlike a lot of other industries, marketers really are “people” people and love to support those coming up through the ranks. You’d be surprised who will say yes to passing on some words of wisdom! My other advice is to keep learning. What you read in a text book today will likely have changed in 5 years (maybe even sooner) so keep up to date with trends and insights.

You can connect with Jo via her LinkedIn profile here.

To find out more about Wink visit thinkwink.com.au