A lot of new media leaders have taken the reins of their agencies since the start of the pandemic. So, Lauren Richards thought it would be a good idea to sit down with them to learn how they have been leading their companies through the uncertainty of the last three years, their plans for challenges to come and, quite simply, to help readers get to know the new faces of the industry in Canada. Check back for a new profile every Thursday, and read previous entries in the series here.
I enjoyed having a dynamic industry discussion with Alicia Petralia, who was appointed to lead Zulumatic, Zulu Alpha Kilo’s new media arm, in April of 2022.
Unlike my first two interviewees, Noah and Lesley, I haven’t known Alicia long. We only met after she joined the Canadian-founded, independent agency. Mike Sutton, Zulu’s president, was eager about the prospect of securing her in this important leadership role – coincidentally, I was meeting with him as he awaited news of acceptance of their offer and was excited about the possibility they had worked out a deal. I can understand why.
Alicia has deep digital chops from her time as digital media director at Bensimon Byrne, as well as from her planning leadership role on Royal Bank at Initiative and stints at Mindshare and Northern Lights. When I asked her how she came to become a professional in the media business – did she fall into it, like many of the rest of us? – she tells me she started her illustrious media career after applying for a media billing clerk position on Craigslist, of all places.
She’s open, honest, curious and self-effacing, which is rather refreshing in this business.
She understands she has a huge opportunity with being at the helm of this new division of a growing Canadian creative agency that has already been a leading player in media innovation. In fact, Zulu delivered the best performance of any agency, media or otherwise, at the 2021 Media Innovation Awards, before it even had a “media arm,” and added several more Gold wins the following year.
It’s just how the company thinks: it strives for great creative ideas that get leveraged even further by innovative media connectivity, often resulting in pick-up in non-paid environments, further amplifying campaigns.
Our promised old school “martini lunch” was an amateur’s glass of sparkling rosé at Tabulé on Queen East in Toronto, but, after all, it was a Monday. We chose Tabulé given its vegan options and, even though Alicia is a proud Roncesvalles dweller, I’m an east-ender and Zulu’s new offices are out this way (that was an open-call for beverages with other east-end types. Just let me know when and where).
The previous platinum blonde I had first met was no more. Today’s Alicia was donning lavender locks. Apparently, frequently changing hair colour is part of her brand. As I stumble to get over my shock, we get into it.
Alicia first talked about her priorities when starting a team from ground zero and the advantage of hiring for a less traditional media environment.
“It’s interesting, hiring a media team from scratch, you have to prioritize and there’s certain key roles that you absolutely need,” she says. Her first priority was an analytics manager to help with paid and organic, and ensuring support for the analytics reporting.
The next priority? A planning supervisor, who she found in Andrea Poisson.
“She was a really interesting hire as she had previously expressed interest in Zulu prior to the company having a media team,” she says. “I think that’s an advantage of building media in an established creative agency – we are attracting media people who are creative minded. She has first-hand experience of managing social media accounts, which is such an important role today, because she’s a bit of a TikTok star in her own right” (with Poisson having over 250 thousand followers, that isn’t an understatement).
Alicia also expressed gratitude that hiring media people wasn’t as challenging for her as it was some of her competition, since working closely with renowned creative teams is very interesting to many potential hires.
I ask her what the Zulumatic brand promise is, what it stands for and how she plans to build it out.
“Zulumatic is all about creativity. We’re a media agency, we’re creative forward, we’re solving client’s business problems from a creative point of view and integrating ourselves early in the process and closely with creatives to get to the most effective product.”
Its media selling partners are also expected to be a big part of that process. “You need to foster the buying/selling relationships. Ensuring you give them enough time to see what thoughts and ideas they can bring to the table, as they know their products and potential opportunities better than anyone. And ideally have some fun while doing it.”
That all sounds great, but isn’t it challenging to compete with the “big boys” on the perception (or the reality) of efficiency?
“Clients will find we lead to greater efficiency through our transparency, integrated process and bespoke campaign approach,” she says. “We embed our thinking early with creative, with any creative partner, and customize media partners and content for the audience. Senior players drive the process, which all leads to more engagement and less wastage. It’s about results, not lowest common denominator that doesn’t resonate.”
I enjoyed her answer when I ask why she thinks she was hired to lead media for this rather cool opportunity.
“I think it’s a combination of my experience and shared values with Zulu. My history is fairly well-rounded from DRTV to managing top-tier clients, and most recently I led digital media at a full service independent. And when it comes to values, I’m entrepreneurial, a bit of a shit-disturber, and believe that the world – including the media-world – needs more creativity. Definitely the hallmarks of a Zuligan.’ Touché.
I’m sure Alicia and her assembled team of innovative thinkers are already starting to make their mark, and I look forward to their development. Diversity of media options is as important as diversity of the audiences we engage.
