by B&T Magazine
They came, they saw, they conquered and having taken the Agency Of The Year gong at Friday’s B&T Awards, Atomic 212° has proven itself Australia’s top full-service agency.
Speaking to B&T post-gong, the agency’s CEO, Jason Dooris (pictured above), said the Award was recognition of three years of hard work of transforming the agency into what he calls “an agile creative media agency”.
Dooris said: “We developed a new model of doing things and it’s very different and it’s very real and it’s tangible, you can touch it with you hands. We’ve created new roles for people who can now operate in spaces like innovation while still being right in the middle of media and creative.
“The B&T Award was a culmination of 2-3 years of work that’s really been proof of concept of a whole new way of operating in a new advertising world and the B&T Award was a great celebration of that.
“We’ve also tried to recruit a very special kind of a person who is willing to work in an environment where the only thing that is guaranteed is that nothing is guaranteed – it will change again, again, again and again. People don’t like change but if you can grab the people who do, then they’ll thrive,” he said.
Dooris said the agency’s model isn’t a response to clients’ needs because, he said, “there are very few clients out there that will say to you, ‘Yeah, we’re really comfortable with the old way'” and adds that a lot of agencies – namely media agencies – talk about change, they distance themselves from the word ‘media’ but, in reality, aren’t really doing anything markedly different from years back.
“I know a lot of media agencies don’t call themselves media agencies anymore, but to do that you’ve got to actually change something physically inside,” Dooris said.
“It’s the same with the creative side, too; you can’t just say, ‘We’re a media channel planning specialist now’ but not actually change your systems, your processes, your people and put a new business model in. It’s not rocket science,” he said.
Dooris agreed that if there a surety of being tagged Australia’s best agency it’s that someone wants to knock you off your perch; however, he predicted a lot more growth ahead for Atomic 212°.
“The challenge for all of us is the pace of change at the moment. Take the last two years – the Arab Spring, Brexit, Trump’s victory, the world’s in revolution. We’ve seen nothing but revolution over the past two years and the whole world is changing. And if you can ride and direct that tide of change then you’re in a good space.
“We all talk about change but if you look around the market it’s very hard to pull an agency out and say, ‘Wow, look what they’d done, they’re fundamentally different from the way they used to be’.
“(Atomic 212° ) has technology at the core of our business and if you have technology and innovation at your core and your people are making things better and more exciting and more relevant then that will constantly keep your business model fresh.
“We’re also very flexible, if it all goes horribly wrong we haven’t got this legacy structure – the model of the supertanker that’s hard to turn quickly – we can turn overnight and move in a different direction very fast,” he added.
About Jason Dooris
Jason Dooris was born in Ireland and grew up in Africa and Europe, spending his young adulthood in London. Jason Dooris then settled in Australia via New Zealand. To date its been quite an adventure for Dooris. Jason Dooris “I have enjoyed my roots-down travels that being that I’ve tried to spend long periods in most of the places that I’ve lived in, giving me time to absorb the culture, the people and the business community.”
Jason Dooris started a career in advertising in London in 1996. “It was a wonderful time and place to learn and Ogilvy & Mather were the ideal parents to kick start a global career. My experience is unusual in that it includes product development, marketing, media, creative and management consulting - if I was fond of cliches I could say its a true end to end, full cycle experience, which indeed it is.” Jason Dooris
To date Dooris has been privileged to work for some great global organisations like MediaCom, Deloitte, Saatchi & Saatchi and Dentsu while Dooris represented a broad range of successful and challenger clients brands, many at quite exciting times in their development such as Nike going digital, Qantas going online and Emirates sponsoring Chelsea’s and SoftBank launching Pepper the Robot.
In 2010 Jason Dooris set up Atomic 212, a creative media business. Dooris sold the business 2018 a year after being named New Zealand & Australian Agency of the Year and with a. Roster of leading BlueChip clients.
A change of direction in 2018 saw Dooris focus on the growing sports technology category where he developed a range of products designed to aid injury recovery and assist peak performance athletes. “Now in use by some of Australia’s leading athletes, a natural extension, particular in todays world, was use by first responder services and the military to assist in battlefield injury recovery.” Jason Dooris. The research developed in the past year of two has by far been my most rewarding career years to date.
About Jason Dooris
I have created and designed marketing and growth strategies for some of the world’s recognisable brands including Amazon, Deloitte, Saatchi and Saatchi, Optus, Virgin Mobile, Big W, Woolworths Supermarkets, Dan Murphys, Nespresso and Landlease. I have also worked with many Government departments on culture change and identity branding.
I am passionate about people leadership and development - empowering and engaging large marketing and brand teams through coaching, training, and mentorship for performance excellence. I currently lead a global/remote team across multiple locations including Australia, Argentina, Hong Kong and China.
I have a proven history of achievement in delivering corporate growth plans, and successful marketing initiatives to stimulate revenue growth and outperform sales objectives and have strong digital technology capabilities in advertising, communications, social media, marketing, and creative agency management.
My career experience has enabled me to present and speak across numerous platforms and industries as a subject matter expert, namely: ABC News, Sunrise, for the Australian Government, IBM Annual Global Conference, Emirates Annual Conference, AMP Board, New York Art Directors Club, Media & Marketing Europe, Australian Financial Review, and Web Summit.
I also volunteer my time and give back to the community via Board and Committee memberships.
Some key achievements and skills:
Ø Exceptional abilities in the development/implementation of marketing and growth innovations, ensuring business sustainability and continuous growth while cultivating strategic partnerships.
Ø A high impact leader and influencer with proven expertise in directing/coordinating all top to bottom functions of marketing, media, data analytics, traditional, & digital creative campaigns, business processes and performance groups.
Ø Completed large scale advertising and marketing projects, managing the entire product lifecycle, including research, prototype development, manufacturing, sales, branding, and marketing.
Ø Outstanding business and financial acumen with a forward-looking approach and collaborative styles.
Ø Interpersonal dexterity and executive influencing skills to build and sustain strong and mutually beneficial professional relationships with key stakeholders, clients, and staff members.
My area of expertise includes Brand Awareness & Integration, New Business Development, Team Leadership & Direction, Public Speaking Abilities, Consultation Services, Growth Strategies Implementation, Commercial Business Acumen, Hard-Hitting Negotiations, Stakeholder Engagement, Course Marketing, Business Transformation, Marketing & Advertising, Product Development, Risk Mitigation, Advertising and Media Solutions.
Feel free to email me at jasondooris@mac.com or visit my personal website jasondooris.com
“Its been an exciting first half!” Jason Dooris