60 seconds with Rebekah Billingsley

Industry Voices

60 seconds with Rebekah Billingsley

6 April 2023

Industry Voices

60 seconds with Rebekah Billingsley

Gfinity Managing Director and PPA Festival speaker Rebekah Billingsley has always loved storytelling. From being the first non-Oxbridge candidate to be selected for Carlton TV’s prestigious Graduate Training Scheme, to working for some of the UK’s most respected brands as a digital and content specialist – Rebekah has been at the forefront of pioneering new opportunities for brands.

For anyone who isn’t aware, what is Gfinity and what are some of the exciting things happening?

Gfinity Digital Media is the go-to home for gamers and geeks, with a monthly reach of 100m. We have eight websites covering everything about the biggest games around. We’re heavily focused on expanding our content through an extended network of journalists; developing more engagement and community; and investing in our first-party data and segmentation pieces.

Tell us more about your career, from the start up until now, what have the highlights been?

I started as a Graduate Trainee at Carlton TV and went on to work in the digital divisions of many big brands including Times Online, BBC, Hachette, and Bauer. I’ve also been agency side, running the digital content programmes for Tesco, John Lewis, and Natwest.

My focus throughout has been on transformation – launching, fixing, and strategic progresses. A couple of highlights have included… pioneering how publishers should approach digitalisation at Times Online; convincing Mark Frith to launch a digital brand at Heat; and bringing content, customer, and commerce together for Tesco during the pandemic.

What are you most passionate about, at work, currently?

I just love working with content, I love its power and value, how it changes behaviour or makes people feel things. There’s something about content and its structure that glues so many key areas together in a way that has the customer at its heart. Being in the gaming sector is also really exciting. Gaming is now bigger than the cinema and music industries combined – I think it’s where all the innovation is happening.

What can PPA Festival attendees expect from the session you’re speaking in?

We’re bringing some business perspectives on AI and machine learning and how to protect your business – what kind of questions you need to be asking strategically, what you need to do from an organisational perspective, and how it’s going for people working with it currently. It’s part prep work and part call to arms.

What’s your go to for content?

BBC and Guardian news apps and social media feeds, and industry emails. I do worry I’m in an echo chamber half the time though.

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