Andrea Celebrates 5 Years at Vovia

Vovia is lucky enough to be celebrating a huge milestone on the blog this week: Account Director Andrea Gibson’s 5 year anniversary at Vovia. Leading our Edmonton team, Andrea came to us from the world of creative 5 years ago and hasn’t looked back since. We sat down with Andrea to look back on how she got started at Vovia, discuss some highlights over the years, and provide some updates on her personal life. 

You talked about how you came from a creative agency in your original Get to Know blog post. How was it adjusting to a media agency?

Oh, I loved working with graphic designers and copywriters but was so intrigued by this other side of the business – understanding more about what the creative was really doing for a company and their bottom line. I was definitely overwhelmed by acronyms in the first week (okay, month) but was so curious by what it all meant that I dove into articles and presentations, listened closely when the team spoke and asked a LOT of questions. I did my best to learn quickly and the team was (and still is) so supportive.

What has been your top highlight in the past 5 years, if you had to choose one? 

Am I allowed to say our Vovia Christmas parties? Haha. I just love this team so much that I can quite honestly say every moment I get to spend with them. The people that work here are amazing human beings. I’ve laughed, cried, and celebrated with them. We have smart, collaborative conversations and can also joke around with each other whether we are in a room or virtual.

Although this pandemic has been so hard, it was also kind of nice to have everyone working remotely like I have for years prior. There are challenges that come with remote working when a majority of the team are in an office where they can have impromptu hallway meetings. I know we all want to go back to a more normal life but I have tried to find all the positives from this that I can, and all of us being in the same remote structure was one of them for me.

What’s the most interesting development you’ve seen in the industry over the past 5 years?

Probably the most recent events around third-party cookies. Does everyone say that? I wouldn’t be surprised! There was a point not that long ago where it was like “wow, the level of targeting we can get on people is slightly scary” and then all of a sudden that level of insight into user behaviour is gone or is depleting. It wasn’t really “all of a sudden” but has felt like it at times.

That’s one of the things that I love about this business though – it never stops evolving. Just when you think you have it figured out, a channel adds a new ad type or a partner comes out with a new technology. It’s an exciting industry to be in.

What do you think will be the next big thing in the 5 years to come?

A continuation of what is already happening with third-party cookies going the way of the Dodo and companies having to update policies to use first-party data. Most are able to use it today, but it takes a lot of education around how the information is used and is secured. I think organizations are going to become more knowledgeable and comfortable on the security side of data usage. They will also have to create internal strategies to collect more first-party data in a more deliberate way.

Any new fun facts about you since your original get-to-know post?

What kind of dog mom would I be if I didn’t give a shout-out to my pooch! Morty came into our life as a pup and is already 3 years old. He is the best office mate but has been known to interrupt a meeting with his snoring. I take it as a subtle hint that I need to be more exciting in presentations. Pre-pandemic, he was even able to come to the Calgary office with me to meet all of the other office doggos. He was in love!

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Thanks for 5 great years, Andrea! We can’t wait to see what the future holds.