Meet Red Door: Mikael Greenlief – Online Media Planner

Name: Mikael Greenlief
Title: Online Media Planner
Started at RDI: February 14, 2011
Education: Bachelors in Marketing, Minor in Communications from Arizona State University (The Harvard of the West!)
Hometown: Phoenix, AZ
Family: Parents, a younger brother (23), a girlfriend and a furry, four-legged child named Tyson

Bio: Mikael joined the Red Door team a few months ago as an Online Media Planner within the Online Acquisitions department. In his role, Mikael strives to effectively position his clients in the online space, helping them to achieve their business objectives. Before joining Red Door, Mikael got his start in his hometown of Phoenix, working on national clients like Cold Stone Creamery & Dial Corporation. 
 

Q&A Interview:

As an Online Media Planner, what do you do for your clients?
My responsibility is to effectively understand how brands should best communicate with their audience via the online space and to choose the channels that will help them achieve their business goals. I also study how consumers engage and interact with various media channels to determine the best way to reach them based on how consumers use them.

What excites you about the interactive marketing space?
What I love best about the interactive space is that there are infinite possibilities. Before with traditional channels, there was scarcity—only so many channels through which you could distribute a message. Since publishers could charge a premium, most of the time whoever had the most money won. Now with the interactive space, the channels are limitless. There are so many ways in which a brand can spread a message. In addition, the interactive space has moved away from the traditional model where brands could outspend one another to a model where brands must outsmart and outwit.

What is one piece of technology that you cannot live without?
I was late to the game with getting a smartphone and finally purchased an iPhone about a month ago. Now I don’t know how I went so long without one.

Who were the biggest inspirations for your career?
I was lucky to have worked with some very bright media directors throughout my career—people who came from some of the biggest and best agencies in the U.S. These people have helped mold and shape my perspective on advertising and have helped me see things in a different way.

As an Online Media Planner, what is the most important part of your job?
You need to understand that you’re more than just a media planner or advertising professional, but that you’re also in the investment management business. Clients are giving you dollars to invest for them (wisely, of course) and you must allocate that investment in the channels that will help deliver the highest returns. There are definitely parallels to the financial industry, but rather than investing in stocks, bonds or funds, you’re investing in media and messaging.

What do you like most about your job?
I enjoy media because it combines both the art and science aspects of advertising. There is the artistic side, which allows you to be creative in the way you disseminate messages and how you engage people. But then there’s also the science aspect that looks at analytics and numbers to help provide proof and justification.

What is your favorite local spot to hangout?
I like to spend time outdoors being active, so I’ll take the dog to the park, hit the pool during the summer or if it’s bad weather, I’ll go to the gym. At night, I’m a fan of local low-key bars that have good beer on tap. Living in Denver has spoiled me in that respect.

What is your favorite quote?
“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” ~ Albert Schweitzer

Tags: interview, meet red door, mikael greenlief, Online Media, online media planner, Red Door, red door interactive