Jacqueline Zolowicz’s Journey to Media Planning

Jacqueline Zolowicz is a VP, group media director. She has built award-winning media programmes for brands within a variety of industries including CPG, education, e-commerce, retail, and tech.

Her strategic planning and buying expertise spans all media – international, national and local, offline and online, branding and results-oriented programmes.

She spent 10 years at OMD Worldwide (part of Omnicom) where she served as group media director for name brands such as Ancestry, Autodesk, Brita, Burt’s Bees, Callaway Golf, Clorox, and Wells Fargo. Now she's at a full-er service independent agency (H/L) leading the media planning team across AAA, Duckhorn, McDonald’s and Toyota.

LBB> What was it about the world of advertising media that pulled you in?

Jacqueline> A Craigslist ad. No joke. 

I had been traveling for a year-and-a-half (sort of a post college gap year), and needed to replenish my savings. I saw a post on Craigslist and the skills seemed to match up with my strengths (math, consumer research, and all the spreadsheets). So I applied. 

The hiring manager went to the same college I did, so I got the interview. And after the four-hour interview (which included a math test!), I got the job and my career officially started.

LBB> What was that first job in the media industry and how has your career progressed since then?

Jacqueline> My first job in media was at a large media agency, OMD. I started as an assistant media planner and just loved everything about it: growing nonstop, participating in the evolution of media, and learning about an incredibly wide variety of clients and industries.

I stayed there for 10 years, getting promoted up the media planning trajectory. So, my path was pretty linear, but 10 years with the same organisation is unusual in our industry. 

I was ready for a break and decided to travel again – island hopping, scuba diving, and joining marine conservation efforts as I made my way literally around the world. It was a great experience – one that brought me back very refreshed.

The day I landed back in San Francisco, a woman I knew asked me to work at an agency she was at, so I freelanced there for a bit as a group media director. 

As I was considering and actively interviewing to make the switch to the client side, my first-ever boss and long time mentor called me with the opportunity here at H/L to run the media planning team. Getting to work with him and a team he built would be a dream, so I had to jump at it. 

Overall, I think the theme in my career path has been forging wonderful connections. They’ve helped me explore new opportunities and connect other people to new opportunities as well. 

LBB> Over the course of your career, what have been the most significant changes you’ve seen in the media side of the industry?

Jacqueline> Well, I started my career when the first iPhone was launched, so it has been a nonstop evolution ever since. 

Streaming audio, the boom of CTV, social media domination, etc. – media has changed more in the past 15 years than in the 100 that preceded it. And that’s the thing I love most about media: It is constantly changing, and you’d be hard pressed to get bored. 

A few of the things I’m excited about now are the future of measurement, and of course, how we can utilise generative AI to make our work smarter and more efficient.

Measurement has evolved as quickly as media. At H/L, we’ve built an incredible tech stack with best-in-class tools to help us with everything from media planning to optimising to reporting to matching back client sales data. With the help of this proprietary tech stack, our clients’ business are growing, and we recently won our first Effie in data-driven marketing! 

From an AI perspective, we established an AI taskforce in 2022 –investigating, testing, and trailing various technologies – all to keep ourselves and our clients informed. Last summer, we hosted a conference with agency CEOs from across the globe on AI and how it can change our work. 

There are some incredible opportunities to change the way we work, but we always balance our approach with a healthy amount of scepticism.

LBB> In more recent years, which projects or clients have proven to be the most stimulating and satisfying to work on and why?

Jacqueline> I’ve been lucky enough to work on some really great accounts, but one that stands out in particular is Ancestry. I partnered with Ancestry when it was launching its DNA product, in addition to its family tree/genealogy product. I got to learn all about the human genome, as well as migration patterns of immigration! 

The clients, creative agency, and our media agency were all incredibly collaborative. We ran a brilliant campaign for the genealogy product, finding the direct descendants of the signers of the declaration of independence and recreating the famous John Trumbull painting of the signing, but using the direct descendants in place of the founding fathers. We also built a massive 360 campaign and PR push around the country, culminating on the fourth of July with a fireworks show and news coverage. 

Another notable client was California Tobacco Control when Juul was taking off and getting a new generation of teenagers addicted to nicotine through vaping. Our job was to highlight the ugly truths that Juul was basically taking pages from Big Tobacco’s playbook. We did it very well, even affecting legislation to ban flavoured tobacco, the typical gateway for teens into tobacco and nicotine. Getting to work on something I personally believe in was incredibly meaningful for me. 

Many years ago, I got to go to Cannes as an inaugural member of the Young Lions Media Academy. Being around so many creative minds from around the world was definitely a highlight of my career 

Most recently, I worked with the chairman of my agency to build a foundation (a true 501c3). We provide scholarships to high school students in lower socioeconomic areas that want to pursue a career in advertising, media, design. We also do grassroots volunteering and monetary donations to local charities that our employees are personally interested in helping – a true ground-up approach where everyone gets a vote.

LBB> In media, an understanding of human behaviour is so important - what are some of the most interesting changes you’re seeing in terms of how we behave with and interact with media?

Jacqueline> Well, the biggest change is consumer choice. Decades ago, advertisers could more easily push messages through broad-based channels like TV, radio and magazines, but now, consumers have literally millions of options when deciding how to consume media. 

That change means advertisers have to understand a much larger and much more fragmented ecosystem when deciding where to place ads. It has become even more crucial to understand the landscape, stay on top (and ahead of) the changes, and help future-proof our clients’ advertising plans.

LBB> Decoupling, recoupling, creative agencies trying to build media functions, media agencies creating content studios… what’s your take on the relationship between creative and media and where do you think it’s going?

Jacqueline> I believe media and creative need to work together for the best consumer experience. We each have great experience and expertise, and bringing those together can only make all of our work stronger. 

I’m a fan of a converge, diverge, converge model: We should be briefed on business and campaign goals together, develop our media and creative thinking, and then come back together to build upon each other’s work. Now, if that is all done within the same agency, wonderful, but it can also be done with different agencies and teams. 

LBB> As an industry, we’re obsessed with the new - and for good reason, it’s often where the money lies! But are there any more traditional forms of media that you think we’re sleeping on a bit or that you think still make a big impact when it comes to connecting with consumers?

Jacqueline> I have always been a fan of out-of-home (OOH) advertising. 

The potential for creativity is limitless – from billboards to station dominations to Times Square takeovers to live-painted murals to skywriting, I love it!. 

And while it is one of the oldest forms of advertising – it goes back to the 1800s in the US and much further back across the globe – it has evolved with the times. We now see digital OOH all over, it can be bought programmatically, and brands are able to extend the conversation and engagement from OOH billboards to people’s phones (via QR codes, geo fencing, etc.). 

LBB> Who are your media heroes and why? And what sort of media do you enjoy?

Jacqueline> Oooh, that is a great question. 

I think there are many brilliant people in our industry; my experience at Cannes Lions showed me the best of the best. But I would say my heroes are the ones I have personally worked with. 

A brilliant and bold leader at my first agency showed me how to be strong, direct, clear, and strategic. She inspired me in many ways, and I would not be where I am in my career without her guidance. 

Additionally, I’ve known my current boss as a mentor, friend, chosen family, and ridiculously good athlete for over 15 years. He’s taught me a lot about maintaining balance and not taking things too seriously, while, of course, delivering great work.