The Fishbowl: Jordan Owens, DCM
The Fishbowl
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, it’s Jordan Owens, regional sales director at Digital Cinema Media.
Jordan Owens started his media career in New York at Universal McCann, where he spent more than five years.
He later moved to London and was account director at Four Communications and client services manager at Vixen Labs, before becoming a director at Initiative.
Owens joined Digital Cinema Media (DCM), the UK’s largest cinema advertising sales house, in 2023 as regional sales director.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
A professional baseball player! Growing up in the American south, sports were everything and everywhere — including in my hopes and dreams.
Why are you passionate about media?
It is one of the few things in the world that can reach the masses and have an impact on lives. Having worked on all sorts of media — from OOH to AI, print to cinema — I’ve seen the impact media can have from many viewpoints.
What’s the quality that people admire most about you?
I would say my calm demeanour. I think it helps people feel at ease around me.
Have you had a situation where you’ve had to push back on a client or agency?
So, so many. One that stands out occurred while I was working at UM back in the US. I was planning for a large grocery chain that historically only spent on print and radio.
I had to research and present a proposal to convince the client to start spending in digital. It took many meetings and many nos, but they eventually came around and saw incredible return on investment.
It showed me that a no doesn’t have to be the end. If you believe in what you’re proposing, have confidence and stick with it.
Which advertiser would you love to work with (but don’t already) and how would you sell DCM to them?
Doctors Without Borders. I would lean in to the fact that cinema is the best medium for reaching 16-34s with virtually no distractions.
As the younger generation is proving to be more and more conscious of the world around them and the impact we all have on each other, there would be great synergy in displaying the Doctors Without Borders message for both volunteers and charitable donations to ensure the continued success of the life-saving organisation.
What keeps coming up in conversations with clients at the moment?
They’re asking if Inside Out 2 is an anomaly or the catalyst for the “houseperson with children” genre to succeed this year.
It’s undeniable that Inside Out 2 has been a massive success and I see this as a start of something brilliant for “houseperson with children” films for the rest of the year.
We still have Despicable Me 4, Paddington in Peru and Moana 2 (just to name a few) to come out and each of these should do amazing numbers. Get in touch to get your brand involved with these!
Peer question: If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be?
Improved paternity leave. It’s vitally important that a family unit has an appropriate amount of time together when they don’t need to focus on anything else.
It would also allow for more help/assistance/support for the mother in the early weeks.
Question from Ed Couchman, head of sales for the UK and Northern Europe, Spotify
Peer question: When you started your career, what was your biggest weakness and how did you overcome it to progress?
Confidence, for sure. It took quite a while for me to believe I was capable of good work and that my views and ideas were valuable to the company and our clients.
Setting goals for myself like asking at least one question in every meeting or setting up catch-ups with line managers helped quite a bit.
Also, believing people when they would say good things about me and my work.
Question from Rachel Sutton, head of brand partnerships, Ocean Outdoor
Peer question: What was the last podcast you listened to?
Disappearances with Sarah Turney. I love true crime and this covers missing-persons cases.
Honourable mention to Noble Blood with Dana Schwartz as well. Deep dive into some pretty crazy historical figures and stories featuring them, but I’m all caught up so needed a new one to listen to.
Question from Sally Keane, head of enterprise sales, Northern Europe, Spotify
Peer question: You’re in charge of the line-up for Glastonbury. Choosing any artist, dead or alive, who are your headliners for Friday, Saturday and Sunday?
Friday: Lil Wayne
Saturday: Avicii
Sunday: The Jackson 5
Question from James Cornish, SVP, international sales and partnerships, Vevo
Read more Fishbowl interviews here and see what media’s top salespeople say about working in the industry and what concerns their clients. To suggest an interviewee, contact [email protected].