Get to Know Amanda Davoren

Amanda Davoren's career has taken her around the world. But it's Australia's unique retail environment that fires her up in her role as Cartology's Head of Product (ROOH), enabling brands to capture customers' attention with impactful full-motion and 3D creative in a high dwell, walk-by environment.

Tell us a bit about yourself and your role?

I’m Head of Product, Retail Out of Home, where I oversee our product and data strategy and proposition. This year marks 20 since I started in media - I’ve specialised in digital out of home working with best in class media owners such as Ocean Outdoor and Clear Channel, around the world in London, Toronto and here in Australia. I remain deeply passionate about OOH as a dynamic channel where the possibilities for brands to create compelling and impactful campaigns are endless. 

I’ve been at Cartology for four and a half years, initially in Client Strategy where I built an appreciation and understanding of our ecosystem and data sets and the role they can play in brand growth. Joining the Product team last year has given me a unique opportunity to combine my passion for insight and strategy with my background in Out of Home.

ROOH specifically is such an exciting product to work with because the retail environment is so unique: enabling brands to capture customers' attention with full-motion and 3D creative in a high dwell, walk-by environment. Add to that the customer insights and retail context that we have here at Cartology - the potential for brands is immense.

What’s happening in ROOH at the moment?

It has been action packed! We have recently launched The Cartology Advantage for our endemic partners which helps them access the full suite of Cartology’s capability (Real Customers, Real Context, Real Results) with ease. 

We’ve also recently launched our new screens in the revamped Chatswood Chase - which adds a suite of new high impact locations to our Premium portfolio alongside the likes of Chadstone, Emporium Melbourne, Queens Plaza and the QVB. These locations are such a fantastic platform for brands to engage shoppers and audiences with great impact and building on this component of Cartology’s portfolio has been really exciting.

What was a pivotal moment or key experience in your career that's profoundly shaped how you're going to approach your current role?

Moving to a new market—whether it was London, Toronto, or Sydney—was always a pivotal experience. One of the biggest learnings I had was clearly understanding the question, objective or challenge you’re given. Whether it’s a client need, product enhancement or process improvement, having that clarity on what you are solving for will ensure you’re on the right path to success.

What specifically about your work here, or the challenges we're tackling, gets you genuinely excited to come in every day?

In my time at Cartology, we have continually pushed the boundaries in Retail Media. What genuinely excites me is that we are pioneering something new and setting a new benchmark for retail media in Australia. I love working with our brilliant team and partners, testing, learning, and continually creating new opportunities for brands. 

Having been a Campaign of the Year (COTY) judge for the past few years, I’ve had the opportunity to see the true potential of the amazing work that our team and partners do every day.. The powerful insight, the strategic and creative campaigns and the exceptional brand results are truly best in class. The evolution of these partnerships and campaigns year on year has been remarkable to see. 

Looking at our business, what's one area where you see immense untapped potential for growth or improvement?

I see huge potential for greater collaboration and alignment across the business and with our partners to drive greater impact for brands. Seeing the COTY winners this year, it’s evident that more brands are unlocking the power of collaboration with the likes of WW, Wiq, agency partners and WW Commercial and those entries really shine. 

What’s one trend you’re keeping a close eye on?

At the risk of being too obvious, AI and Agentic AI is a space I’m actively testing, and we are building it into our product and team roadmaps. The potential for AI to  automate complexity, and unlock new possibilities in the OOH and product space is immense.

What's the best career advice you've received?

The best advice I’ve received is to "Think of your career as a jungle gym, not a ladder."

This has served me incredibly well over the years as I’ve explored different roles and specialties— working in sales, strategy and now product, I’ve built a broader business context and that experience is helpful in understanding the bigger picture and ultimately keeping things fresh. 

What does downtime look like for you?

Outside of work, you’ll find me hanging out with my husband Josh and our two kids (nine and six), most likely at a local soccer field or at our favourite local Inner West hot spots.