As the president and CEO of Hoyts Group, Damian Keogh is a prolific leader. But his career didn’t start there. As a former Olympic basketball player, Keogh knows a thing or two about hard work, determination, and resilience in the face of adversity.
B&T’s own Sparrow sat down with Keogh for 10 very quick questions on everything from his sporting career to what will be the next big film of 2024!
1. You’ve had an incredibly diverse career, from Olympic basketball legend and TV sports sales to cinema leadership. What attributes from your sporting life have helped you in the Corp world?
The parallels between sport and business are stronger than ever. Sport teaches a range of skills that apply in business such as teamwork, the discipline of skill development, dealing with and preparing for high pressure situations, developing resilience and overcoming adversity. The biggest learning though is the importance of goal setting and working to achieve goals individually and as a team.
2. Cinema has bounced back again with some excellent animation – Inside Out 2, Despicable Me 4 & now Deadpool & Wolverine. What’s your outlook for the rest of the year?
Inside Out 2, Despicable Me 4 and Deadpool & Wolverine have collectively delivered more than $150m at the box office and made the past few months great for cinema. We are now potentially going to breakeven with 2023 box office despite the strike impact.
And for the remainder of 2024, cinema shows no signs of slowing. There are six titles that have the potential to be breakout blockbusters: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Joker: Folie a Deux, Gladiator 2, Wicked, Moana 2 and Mufasa: The Lion King.
3. Does the advertising market capitalise on the power of cinema & its magical appeal on the BIG screen?
Our Val Morgan Cinema team led by Guy Burbidge do a great job representing the category in Australia. Val Morgan is the global leader in cinema advertising, but many clients underweight the power of cinema advertising in their mix. As viewing increasingly fragments, the ability for cinema advertising to provide meaningful reach as well as significantly greater engagement should make it an essential element of every video buy.
4. What’s an underrated leadership skill that’s imperative in today’s business environment?
Leaders have to get everyone moving in the same direction. Alignment across an organisation can be challenging without clear vision, mission, values, strategies, communication, recognition and metrics. Across HOYTS and Val Morgan we spend a lot of time working on these areas so hopefully all our employees know how they contribute to the success of the business.
5. As an industry, what’s one thing you would change to make us all better?
If companies could truly value marketing as an investment in business growth rather than it being seen too often as an expense, it would unlock more creativity, innovation and bravery in the industry. It would also unlock increased investment to further fuel the industry.
CMOs have a battle, largely against CFOs and CEOs in the C-suite to justify expenditure in marketing. This has led to an over focus on transactional ROI away from brand building and risk taking.
6. During your career, have you had mentors/business coaches who have been influential in your career development?
I have been fortunate to work with some exceptional leaders and mentors that have helped shape my career. A number of my basketball coaches have had a strong influence in teaching me how to building successful teams and maximise potential out of individuals.
In the business world people such as Anthony Fitzgerald and David Kirk MBE and Rickard Gardell have been strong influences. Fitzy really taught me everything to know about media sales at Seven and MCN. David Kirk recruited me to Val Morgan in 2011 when he was Executive Chairman of HOYTS. He was incredibly incisive which is an undervalued but immensely important skill. Rickard is the founder of Australia’s largest Private Equity company PEP who owned HOYTS for a while. Rickard’s ability to appraise the strengths and weaknesses of businesses is unparalleled.
7. With the current economic headwinds, are your clients still investing for growth?
Our Val Morgan Group will have a record year of revenue in 2024. Cinema has bounced back with strong releases and is poised for further growth in 2025 as the slate strengthens.
Our outdoor business has gone from strength to strength on the back of strategic capital investment and a dynamic sales team led by Paul Butler. Val Morgan Digital has added LadBible and Buzzfeed in the past 12 months and will also have a record revenue year.
That being said, the media landscape is incredibly competitive and the product, packaging, proof points and sales of your audiences need to deliver the right solutions for agencies and clients.
8. Three of your kids are forging very successful careers in advertising; what’s been your advice to them?
I’m not sure why three of my children are in media. The youngest has avoided it. I think media on the sales or agency side is a terrific and often underrated industry to be in. You learn a variety of skills that can easily adapt to other industries in the future and with the rise of AI, the personal skills of sales and client management are more important than ever.
In terms of advice, the hardest thing for young professionals to understand is the value of compound interest in career building. The skills you develop now, the relationships you forge, the more you are prepared to get out of your comfort zone – the more it will pay back in the future as your career progresses.
9. What’s one thing that’s not on your LinkedIn profile?
I play guitar with my mates in a band called Shake N Bake. Arguably one of the top 30 cover bands in the Sutherland Shire!
10. Important last question: do your parents know what you do?
Yes, they love HOYTS cinemas reclining seats.
