Joining Ozone during lock-down is not the onboarding most would imagine. Now, a few months later, James Taylor, Senior Agency Sales Partner, discusses that experience and what really attracted him to Ozone…
James, what was it that made you decide to join Ozone?
While it might sound like an intro to my sales pitch, what I saw in The Ozone Project was a very clear ambition to build a better future for premium and quality publishing, benefiting audiences, brands and publishers alike. Within the digital space there is clearly a desire from all parties for this to happen and Ozone is working hard to play its part in achieving this. That is something I wanted to be a part of and contribute towards, which was made all the easier as I found myself well aligned with Ozones core values.
You started your new role during lockdown, how different has that been to your onboarding experiences in other roles?
It has been an extremely challenging time for everyone, not just in our industry. However, Ozone has made my onboarding as easy as possible and very supportive throughout. Although slightly odd to meet the new team over video call, it has been a pretty seamless transition and very quickly became business as usual - it helped having a few virtual company socials for a bit of fun too. Now, and having been in my role for a few months, I have seen that both this speedy adaptability and people-focused approach are absolutely core to the Ozone business.
How would you describe your Ozone colleagues, especially now you've met some of them in real life?
Everyone across the business has been extremely welcoming and genuine. It has been great to finally meet people in real life and I already feel integrated and a part of the Ozone team. One thing that stands out to me is just how knowledgeable and dedicated everyone within the business is - something that is certainly reflected in the work being delivered day in, day out.
What excites you the most about the journey Ozone is on?
In a nutshell, there is an absolute unrelenting desire within our business to create the most effective broadcast-scale, trusted and high attention environment for advertisers, while at the same time supporting the quality content and journalism from premium publishers.
Everyone here is completely dedicated to changing the digital advertising landscape for the better informed by improved brand safety, compliance and accountability. Having worked in the digital world for much of my career, this is something incredibly exciting to be a part of and the potential for future growth is huge.
We are in the fantastic and enviable position where we can use our first party publisher data from many of the UK’s best known media brands. As our portfolio continues to grow, so does the quality and depth of our audiences and content. I’m also very excited about the potential to understand sentiment contextually across our portfolio, while at the same time allowing full transparency of access, buying and results. With so much going on, it's a great place to work in sales - there’s always something new to talk about - and deliver really compelling solutions for our clients.
What advice would you have for anyone considering a career at Ozone?
I would definitely read up on Ozone's core values as they are really representative of what it's like to work here, as well as understanding the factors that underpin our challenge to build a better digital future for our industry. Collaboration is really important to our success, something we get with a great mix of open, authentic (and genuinely lovely) people - so if this feels like a good fit for you, I'd definitely encourage you to get in touch!
