The Fishbowl: Craig Tuck, Ozone
The Media Leader’s interview series asks the media industry’s top salespeople 10 revealing questions, drawn from our fishbowl. The questions will be drawn at random and contain some tricky posers set by the commercial chiefs themselves.
This week is Craig Tuck, chief revenue officer at Ozone.
Craig Tuck has been at Ozone, previously The Ozone Project, since 2018, moving from managing director of audience to chief revenue officer in 2020.
He started his career at Perspective Publishing, and has also held sales and management roles at Carlton Screen Advertising, Lycos, Fox Interactive Media, RadiumOne, and Rhythm One.
What’s the best book you’ve read so far this year?
The Games People Play, by Eric Berne M.D. after a recommendation by someone else in the industry. A fascinating look at human relationships through Eric Berne’s theory of transactional analysis. Given the period we find ourselves in as we come back to the office, in part, I found it useful to understand the ego states and the reset that is needed in working with colleagues (parent, adult and child). A must read!
What was the last movie you saw in the cinema?
Sing 2 with the kids — outstanding! Given I used to work in cinema advertising, though, I hate to say it but I now mostly wait until movies are released via Sky Store, Netflix etc, to enjoy in the comfort of my own home. Top Gun Maverick at the weekend has to go down as one of my all-time faves.
What are clients talking about this year that they weren’t last year?
Sustainability.
What is one non-work related goal that you would like to achieve in the next five years?
To learn a musical instrument, and to be a better dad than I am today.
What is one important skill that you think everyone should have?
Experience, in anything and this doesn’t necessarily mean time served.
What’s your best advice for someone who wants to do your job one day?
Take the rough with the smooth, and remember you work for your team, not the other way around.
If you could have any job in the world (other than what you do now), what would you do?
I’d work in finance. I love numbers and the idea of a venture capitalist firm investing in companies that show leadership in culture, sustainability and doing good, would be a worthy opportunity to focus on.
**Peer question** Who was your first media lunch with and where did you go?
It was definitely when I joined Carlton Screen Advertising and it was most likely with Claire Ferguson at MediaCom. Claire was the then Cinema co-ordinator at MediaCom, and we would have almost certainly met at BKB (now Cecconi’s Pizza), below Soho House on Old Compton Street A lunch that led to MediaCom becoming the single biggest spending agency on cinema. I think Carlton Screen Advertising singlehandedly kept that restaurant open for as long as it was.
Question by Emma Callaghan, Reach’s sales and invention director.
If you could change one thing about your job, what would it be?
I’d have the industry understand just how committed, talented and pioneering the team here at Ozone are. With that clarity we would achieve our goal to create a sustainable future for premium publishers — through richly insightful and effective digital advertising solutions — ahead of time.
What’s your favourite ad of all time?
I think each channel brings a different experience and so there are many, but I have to say the series of gold spots that ran for Orange across UK cinemas in the mid 2000s still stand out to me as the most entertaining and cleverly positioned work. Tied to a two-for-one ticket mechanic, the campaign delivered huge value for the consumer too, not just Orange.