Mr Mark Willson

Director of Marketing and Communications, IBM Australia
BEc (Sydney)

Mark Wilson addressed graduates from the UTS Business School in the Great Hall, University of Technology, Sydney on Friday 10 May 2013, 2.00pm.

Our speaker today is Mr Mark Willson.

Mark has been involved with IBM for 27 years and is currently the Director of Marketing and Communications for IBM Australia and New Zealand. In this role, he is responsible for all marketing and communications activities across the organisation.

He has helped to market IBM’s recent “Smarter Planet” campaign in Australia which focuses on using smarter systems to achieve economic growth, near-term efficiency, sustainable development and societal progress, helping to establish his company as a leader in sustainability and forward-thinking vision.

Prior to his current position, Mark was the Director of Marketing, Systems and Technology Group, IBM Asia Pacific which is based in Shanghai, China. In this role, he was responsible for marketing within the hardware division of IBM for all operations across the Asia Pacific. He has had a long and distinguished career at IBM holding many senior positions.

Mark holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Sydney and has earned a Diploma in Direct Marketing from the Australian Direct Marketing Association.

In addition to his work at IBM, Mark is Vice Chair of the Australian Direct Marketing Association (ADMA) Board of Directors and is President of Junior Sailing at the Middle Harbour 16s Skiff Club.

It gives me great pleasure to invite Mr Mark Willson to deliver the occasional address.

Speech

Welcome everyone. Graduates, a very hearty congratulation.

You probably don’t realise that bit of paper on your laps is one of the most significant pieces of papers you will ever receive. This afternoon I would like to cover three topics, and highlight up that front that my address is primarily targeted at the graduates.

The three topics I will cover are Australia’s digital future, your future, and I will finish with what I’ll call tips for young players, hopefully some sage advice from who I am now, a relatively old timer whose hired, managed, and coached the business community for over 20 years.

So, Australia’s Digital Future. In 2012, my team commissioned IBIS World to look at how high speed broadband and the continued evolution of information technology would impact industries and the Australian economy. The report, entitled “A Snapshot of Australia’s Digital Future to 2050”, looks at the development of the Australian economy and GDP growth since European settlement and then forecasts forward.

In looking back, the report defines four discrete economic ages – Hunting and Trapping, Agrarian, Industrial and Infotronics. Enabling each has seen the development of a new utility. Today, that new utility is information technology enhanced by ubiquitous high-speed broadband. The report then looks at how this new utility will impact the 509 industry segments that make up the Australian economy.

10% of the 509 accounting for 23% of the nation’s revenue, will be wholly transformed and reliant on the new utility. For example, health care will transform from provider centric to patient centric, diagnostics will be assisted via new learning systems, and distance healthcare will greatly enhance regional and in-home care capabilities. These changes will transform the healthcare industry.

A further 17% of the industry segments, accounting for 23% of the nation’s revenue, will gain significant benefit and drive industry step changes. A good example of this would be retail trade. We are seeing local department stores aggressively invest in the development of omni-channel strategies that create and integrate online retail services with traditional bricks and mortar stores, enabling them to more successfully compete with overseas online players and a market that is more and more comfortable with online shopping.

The next 70% of industries, such as manufacturing and construction, will receive generalised benefits and productivity gains.

Finally, 15 industry sectors are likely to significantly diminish. We have already seen this process with photographic film processing and production of recorded media. Another significant industry currently undergoing decline is print news production industry.

Obviously, these are important insights for business and government leaders, but how is it relevant to you?

Well, let me tell you – it’s a lot more fun, and there’s a lot more opportunity in an industry or company that is growing and transforming. I was fortunate in stepping into the IT industry when it was still very new. As the industry evolved, I had enjoyed wonderful experiences, the opportunity to work and live in China and Japan, as well as enjoying significant investment made in my skills through local and overseas education courses.

Another interesting thing for you to consider is skills. Based on the report, what are the skills and experience that will be in demand over the coming years? If I take my profession of marketing and communications as an example, five years ago 80% of our program budget was spent on tactics such as face to face events and direct mail.

In other words, non-digital tactics. Today, that 80% is closer to 40% and continuing to shrink. The majority of our spend, spend that needs skilled people to manage and to deliver ROI, is now digital: web, search, social, mobile, online events. These require new skills, and being digital natives you're coming from a good starting point.

The core message of the report is that commercial and public enterprises need to transform and take advantage of the digital utility, or risk going the way of once great companies like Kodak. For our national prosperity, and for your careers, the digital future is a great opportunity.

So let me wrap up with a few quick tips for those heading into what will hopefully be long, fulfilling and prosperous careers.

First, enjoy the journey. Your career will span a long time, and it will be a big part of your life. The key ingredient for achieving success and enjoying your career is to work in an area you are passionate about.

Now I know this is something career advisers and others will often tell you, but there is a second ingredient I do not hear discussed very often and it is just as important. That is to build strong relationships with the people you work with. I have found that when things are tough, or even just plain boring, it is the people around you that make work fun and easier to deal with.

My second tip is to continually develop and refresh your skills, which is something I’m sure that you’ve been told, but I’ll put a specific angle on it. Professional skills are not only useful for your current role, but they are crucial for shifting to other roles and professions. These are transportable skills such as leadership, project management, written and verbal communications. You need to be balance your skills development across these two dimensions.

My third tip, in whatever you are doing, is to define success in the broadest terms. True success is about achieving your current role objectives, for example, delivering a project on time and to budget, as well as including items such as building skills, creating new and important relationships. Remember the adage, “ it is not what you know but who you know”, and finally enhancing your personal brand. All of these are key in opening doors in the future.

My last tip is to be confident and energetic. As graduates of this business school and this university, you bring great qualifications to any employer.

Hopefully you will find these tips useful. I am sure, if you put your minds to it you will achieve your career goals just has you have already achieved success academically.

Congratulations and all the best. Thank You.