Boomtown has announced its 2026 winter masterclass, bringing together BYD Head of Media Emilyn Jones and SCA Head of Strategic Insights and Effectiveness Jasmine Beech to unpack the power of regional advertising.
The online masterclass will be held on Wednesday, June 17, and will be moderated by The Ideas Business founder, Wade Kingsley.
The session will also explore the recently launched Boomtown Spend Snapshot, a joint report from Boomtown and CommBank iQ, which found that regional Australians contribute $250 billion annually to the national economy and consistently outspend metro consumers across several key categories.
Regional strategy in action
Jones brings 16 years of experience across client-side marketing and media publishers in Sydney and London.
She has held insight-driven partnership strategy roles at the Daily Mail, POPSugar, and Nine, and now leads paid media strategy at BYD Australia, an electric-vehicle and hybrid-car manufacturer.
Regional media has been a key part of BYD’s campaign activity, with the brand focused on reaching Australians outside major cities. In 2024, BYD chose Broken Hill to launch its Shark 6 vehicle.
“As a growing car brand, BYD’s strategy is to reach all car-driving Australians, a strategy backed by the 100 (and counting!) dealerships we have opened across the country,” Jones said.
“Regional audiences inevitably make up a large portion of this market, and it would be short-sighted not to ensure they were a key target within our media plans, particularly when considering their incomes and spending habits.”
Spend Snapshot takes centre stage
Beech brings 15 years of strategic insights and sales experience to the masterclass, having worked across client insights and research roles at SCA since 2011.
She said the Boomtown Spend Snapshot gives advertisers a clearer view of regional Australia’s economic power.
“The Boomtown Spend Snapshot gave us something genuinely powerful: real transaction data from more than 17 million Australians that shows us the power of brands showing up in the regions,” Beech said.
“Regional consumers are contributing $250 billion to the national economy and outspending metro consumers across category after category.
“The masterclass is an opportunity to unpack what that means for planning, and hear directly from a brand like BYD that is already putting it into practice in regional markets.”
Boomtown on the masterclass
Boomtown Marketing Lead Francesca Ryan said the session will give marketers practical insight into regional advertising.
“Our winter masterclass brings together two media professionals who are extremely knowledgeable on the value of regional advertising,” Ryan said.
“Jas has spent her career in research and insights roles, most recently working on projects dedicated to uncovering why regional Australia is so powerful for advertisers, while Emilyn’s work with BYD shows how brands can leverage regional markets to meet customers where they are.”
Boomtown’s annual masterclass series has trained more than 2,000 Australian marketing professionals since its launch.
According to Boomtown, regional advertising dollar share has jumped almost 40% since the collective was formed.
The Boomtown winter masterclass will be held online on Wednesday, June 17, from 10 am to 11.30 am AEDT.
Top image: Emilyn Jones and Jasmine Beech