With more than 25 years of experience across some of the most dynamic sectors in advertising, from FMCG and finance to government and QSR, Melissa Hey has become one of the most respected investment leaders in the industry.
Now at the helm of WPP Media’s investment strategy across Australia and New Zealand, she brings a deep understanding of media, a passion for meaningful partnerships, and a laser focus on value creation.
Hey’s career has spanned influential roles at Publicis Groupe and Dentsu before spending over a decade at OMD, where she played a pivotal role in securing and managing major client portfolios. At WPP Media, she continues to drive impact across Mindshare, EssenceMediacom and Wavemaker, shaping the future of media trading with integrity and strategic vision.
Chatting with B&T’s Sparrow, Hey shares her proudest career moments, views on building trust in media, what keeps CMOs up at night, and why failing biology may have saved her from a very different career path.
1. You’ve had a brilliant career starting out at Carat as a business manager before moving into investment/trading at Publicis, OMG and now WPP Media. If you had to pick only one, what would be your career highlight so far?
Hey: Being involved in a pitch team is always a highlight, and over the past two years at WPP Media, there have been plenty of memorable wins for Mindshare, EssenceMediacom and Wavemaker! However, one that stands out is from further back in my career when we were told we had won Coles and retained village Roadshow all on the same day at OMD – a double win! If I can sneak in second highlight that I am super proud of, in the latest Media-I survey WPP Media topped the national ranking for trading metrics, that speaks to the strength of the entire group and all the hard work we’ve put in.
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2. With your incredible negotiation skills/roles, what is the perfect balance between the short-term cheap deal versus a long-term relationship?
Hey: It’s about both what you do, and how you do it. From the beginning of a negotiation, you have to set up both the short-term, and the scope for the future. First you have to set up what is required for the immediate outcomes. Then, make it clear that delivering those outcomes will provide building blocks for future collaboration with additional parameters.
Secondly, you always have to ensure that you have transparency and trust upfront, and that it’s there through the process. Hard conversations and negotiations only work if there’s trust and everyone feels valued throughout the process. Long term relationships are undermined if any party feels like they weren’t treated fairly and honestly. These 2 things mean that you end up with everyone committed to building on the partnership.
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3. How can we ensure local media thrives in such competitive times and their future is positive?
Hey: We’ve done a lot of work on this and part of WPP Media’s Responsible Investment Framework is focussed on exactly that. Our job is to make sure the voice of local media is seen and heard clearly in the market and that our clients understand the value they bring both to the media ecosystem, and to their own objectives of reaching Australians.
The flip side is also ensuring local publishers understand what the market and clients need, so they can continue to offer relevant content and services that add value, and help advertisers reach their objectives through innovative and relevant ways to engage with audiences.
4. As a young girl, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Hey: A zookeeper. I love animals, but it ended when I failed biology, I couldn’t dissect a frog.
5. Does our industry value the importance of trust and respect?
Hey: Absolutely. At its heart, our industry is based upon people and people inherently value trust and respect and look for relationships with others. Without trust and respect we wouldn’t get very far. Whilst we have all the tech and data to deliver on our goals, it’s all still underpinned with people, so values still matter.
6. As an industry, what’s one thing you would change to make us all better?
Hey: Collaboration. I’m a pretty competitive person, and we need to be a competitive industry, there is an opportunity for stronger collaboration to find solutions to industry wide issues, like fostering talent and AI development to solve for manual tasks.
7. What’s keeping your CMO clients awake at night?
Hey: I think the thing that comes up time and again is the ability to change and adapt quickly enough to new tech like AI or meet new customer behaviours to deliver business outcomes through marketing investment
8. Who have been your mentors, and what’s the best career advice you have been given?
Hey: Randomly, the best piece of advice I ever got came from outside of work, and that was to always have good small talk. This seemingly simple bit of advice is critical in a business where relationships matter. Over the years it’s meant I do a lot more reading so I always have lots to discuss at any time. Now I am much more knowledgeable on many topics beyond recommending a great new show – even though that’s still usually the best way to start conversation!
9. What’s one thing that’s not on your LinkedIn profile?
Hey: That I worked for a bookie at the races!
10. Important last question, do your parents know what you do?
Hey: When I first started in the industry, they knew I put my clients’ ads on the TV screen – and they heard all the drama when a placement went wrong! Whilst they don’t understand the complexity of how an ad placement is decided or how the ad gets there and why different people see different ads in different places, they know I had part in putting there. My role has evolved from my early days, but fundamentally, it’s still the same thing!