Journal

Myer: Truth in advertising

You’re a good writer and a halfway decent designer.

And you’re looking for a job. So you sign up with Seek for daily updates as a copywriter.

A position advertised by Myer for a Content Design Lead lands in your inbox. This is the job ad verbatim.

Content Design Lead - Myer

Work is a whole lot better when you love what you do, we know that. That’s why we make sure that the loves and interests of our people match their responsibilities. We take what they love, and we let them live it.

So, do you want to be part of a team who loves coming to work each day? A team that makes Myer a great place to shop, and an even greater place to work?

As the Content Design Lead, you will play a pivotal role in briefing and creating content for Myer social media channels. In addition, you will also be a subject matter expert in social, digital and mobile content, and are responsible for reporting on the performance of content and sharing best practice and insights back into the business.

  • Opportunity to be a part of and execute special projects
  • Make an impact within a dynamic and collaborative team
  • Ongoing training and development for your progression

About the Role:

  • Creative lead for content published on Myer social media channels (paid and organic), managing calendars and ensuring all content drives key success metrics
  • Produce relevant and engaging content for use across Myer social media and digital channels, including but not limited to resizing of existing assets, designing new assets, organic copywriting, and the creation and editing of GIFs and MP4s
  • Working with the Content Production Lead on concepting, receiving feedback, and leading the art direction and execution of in-house social media content shoots
  • Advising on the creation of supplier content, including influencer created content
  • Assisting in the creation of creative collateral for business and marketing purposes, subject to capacity
  • Briefing creative agency on social media requirements for marketing campaigns and providing guidance and feedback on shoots where necessary to ensure social-friendly assets are being considered
  • Briefing and collaborating with freelance designers in the production of content for use across Myer social media and digital channels, ensuring content adheres to brand guidelines and is received in a timely manner
  • Maintaining awareness of best practices and trends in social and mobile content and educating the broader team and key stakeholders on best practice
  • Identifying opportunities for channel enhancements and initiatives, working with the Social Media and Marketing teams to bring ideas to life
  • Analysing and reporting on content performance metrics, making suggestions for improvement week on week and sharing insights with key stakeholders on a regular basis

About You:

  • 4+ years social/digital design experience, including graphic design, copywriting, branding, storyboarding and art direction
  • Previous experience as a Content Design Lead, Digital Designer, Content Producer, Production Lead (or equivalent)
  • Advanced knowledge of Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, After Effects or Premier Pro (sic)
  • Knowledge and understanding of key social channels for business purposes including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest
  • Ability to guide creative decision making in conjunction with other team members
  • Retail industry experience highly valued

Benefits to You:

  • Generous team member discounts on all Myer products
  • The experience to work alongside industry pioneers
  • Ongoing training and development for your career progression
  • The opportunity to be a part of and contribute to the Myer growth strategy

If you are ready to make your mark within Australia’s Largest Department store, don’t miss this opportunity.

APPLY NOW!

You look at the $110,000 salary. It’s less than your last salary but, hey, maybe all that love will make up the difference.

So you ask some people what it’s like working at Myer. It’s not good.

Common complaints include underpayment, aggressive management techniques, imbalanced workloads within teams, unclear expectations, micromanagement, stress.

About the only good thing is you’re allowed to bring in your own coffee or coffee pods as part of the latest cost-cutting exercise.

Let’s rewrite the job ad so it’s closer to the truth.

Social Media Follower - Myer

Work is a whole lot better when you love what you do, especially as we’re going to ask you to work extra hours without extra pay. We take what you love, and we let you imagine you live it while paying you as little as possible.

Somehow we’ll convince you that working for love is so much better than working for holiday pay, superannuation, bonuses and all the security workers have earned over the years.

You’ll play a pivotal role in briefing and creating content for Myer social media channels in the vain attempt that platforms that deliver less than 0.01% sales conversion will miraculously save a flailing department store that fails to understand that tactics are not strategy.

Because we don’t know anything about social, digital and mobile content, we expect you to bring the entire department store up to speed.

  • Opportunity to be a part of and execute special projects that make senior managers and executives look good as they look for new positions
  • Make an impact within a dynamic and collaborative team while not ruffling any feathers or questioning how we’ve always done things
  • Ongoing training and development for your progression as long as it’s not Harvard, Stanford or any other world-leading tertiary institution

About the role:

  • Creative lead for content published on Myer social media channels (paid and organic), managing calendars and ensuring all content drives key success metrics which will be constantly changing on-the-fly
  • Produce relevant and engaging content for use across Myer social media and digital channels, including but not limited to resizing of existing assets, designing new assets, organic copywriting, and the creation and editing of GIFs and MP4s to basically mimic our print catalogue because we don’t do standalone ideas
  • Working with the Content Production Lead on concepting, receiving feedback, and leading the art direction and execution of in-house social media content shoots which means you’re essentially the creative director working barely above minimum wage
  • Advising on the creation of supplier content, including influencer created content because apparently influencers are still a thing to somebody somewhere
  • Assisting in the creation of creative collateral for business and marketing purposes as we don’t have enough creatives on staff and you love working after work without getting paid
  • Briefing Clemenger BBDO on social media requirements for marketing campaigns and providing guidance and feedback on shoots where necessary to ensure social-friendly assets are being considered but ultimately rejected because there’s never enough time
  • Briefing and collaborating with freelance designers in the production of content for use across Myer social media and digital channels, ensuring content adheres to brand guidelines and is received in a timely manner while screwing down their quotes and losing their invoices
  • Maintaining awareness of best practices and trends in social and mobile content and educating the broader team and key stakeholders on best practice in the full knowledge that it will go in one ear and out the other
  • Identifying opportunities for channel enhancements and initiatives, working with the Social Media and Marketing teams to bring poorly thought out ideas to life on your day off
  • Analysing and reporting on content performance metrics, making suggestions for improvement week on week and sharing insights with key stakeholders who will pretend to know what you’re reporting about on a regular basis

About you:

  • 4+ years social/digital design experience, including graphic design, copywriting, branding, storyboarding, art direction, psychology, brain surgery
  • Previous experience as a Content Design Lead, Digital Designer, Content Producer, Production Lead (or equivalent), Senior Design Director, Executive Creative Director, Secretary of State
  • Advanced knowledge of Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, After Effects or Premiere Pro because you’ll need to do final effects edits and professional colour grades on top of everything else
  • Knowledge and understanding of key social channels for business purposes including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest which senior management still think are free delivery networks despite falling reach
  • Ability to guide creative decision making in conjunction with other team members to compromise any good ideas into a futile waste of pixels
  • Retail industry experience highly valued despite such experience essentially being the kiss of death

Benefits to you:

  • Generous team member discounts of up to 25% on poorly made Myer merchandise that no one wants to buy let alone wear
  • The experience to work alongside industry pioneers if we could somehow turn the hands of time back a hundred years to 1921 when Sydney Myer (born Simcha Myer Baevski) bought the building in Bourke Street to create what was to become the Myer chain of department stores
  • Ongoing training and development for your career progression without any of the founding humanist values such as medical and nursing aid for the staff, and rest homes for them at the seaside and in the Dandenong Ranges
  • The opportunity to be a part of and contribute to the Myer death spiral strategy

If you think you can make your mark within Australia’s largest department store that only managed to return a profit this year thanks to wage subsidies and rent waivers, run the other way.

NEVER APPLY!

Yes, Myer has some issues. Least of which are the pariahs and vultures waiting to feed on its corpse.

The sad truth is that Myer has become a discount brand of its own making. It literally discounted its own future.

For all its talk of disrupting retailing from the inside out, it chose the cheapest option.

Total sales continue to plunge. It cut off its nose to spite its face.

Is it any wonder it’s bleeding to death?

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