Laura Sexton, Group Client Partner – VIC Major Direct and VIC/TAS
Regionals, News Australia
Last Friday, I had the pleasure of attending the Future Geelong Summit at
GMHBA Stadium. Presented by the Geelong Advertiser, I was hosted by industry partner Boomtown.
The conversations in the room reinforced something many marketers still underestimate: some of Australia’s most valuable consumer audiences live outside the major capital cities.
The summit brought together political leaders, industry voices and community
stakeholders to discuss Geelong’s future.
Speakers included Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and Opposition Leader Jess Wilson. The calibre of that lineup speaks volumes about the growing national importance of regional centres like Geelong.
One theme came through clearly. Cities like Geelong are no longer simply
“regional alternatives.” They are thriving economic ecosystems, hubs for
population growth, infrastructure investment and industry expansion.
For national marketers, that shift represents a real opportunity.
The rise of Australia’s boomtowns
Boomtown, the industry collective representing Australia’s regional media
companies, has long championed the commercial value of audiences beyond the capital cities. Its mission is simple: to remind the advertising industry that
regional Australians are not a niche audience, but a powerful and growing
consumer base.
Geelong is a perfect example. Just an hour from Melbourne, the city is
experiencing strong population growth, significant infrastructure investment and increasing economic diversification. Despite this momentum, regional cities and towns remain underrepresented in many national media plans.
For marketers focused on reach and growth, that’s a gap worth paying attention to.
A high-value consumer audience
Research consistently shows that regional audiences often represent high-value consumers for national brands. Audience profiling from The Growth Distillery’s Cities & Towns (CAT) research reinforces this.
Many regional markets demonstrate strong household incomes, high rates of homeownership, and stable employment across sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and tourism.
Importantly for brands, these audiences remain highly engaged with local media.
Regional news mastheads play a central role in daily life, providing trusted
information about community issues, economic development and local
opportunities.
When brands appear alongside trusted journalism that reflects a community’s priorities, their message carries greater credibility and relevance.
Regional scale with local trust
One of the biggest misconceptions about regional media is that it lacks scale.
In reality, Australia’s regional news networks allow brands to reach millions of
consumers through highly trusted local platforms.
News Australia has one of the most extensive national footprints in the country, with 17.67 million people visiting our publisher sites last month, according to the Ipsos Iris February 2026 rankings.
Across the country, our regional print and digital mastheads, including The
Geelong Advertiser, The Mercury, The Weekly Times, Courier-Mail, Cairns
Post, Gold Coast Bulletin, NT News, The Chronicle and Townsville Bulletin play a vital role in their communities. They are not only trusted news sources but connectors of people, businesses and ideas.
Together, they form a powerful network that allows national brands to reach
audiences across regional Australia while maintaining the authenticity and
relevance that only local media can provide.
In my role leading Group Client Partnerships across Victoria’s major direct clients, and representing News Australia’s Geelong Advertiser, The Weekly Times and The Mercury in Tasmania, I see firsthand the value these mastheads deliver for advertisers.
They offer something increasingly rare in today’s fragmented media landscape: genuine local connection within trusted editorial environments.
A national shift underway
A clear theme throughout the Future Geelong Summit was that regional citiesThey
are central to Australia’s future growth.
Speakers discussed infrastructure investment, housing development, renewable energy projects and economic diversification, all signs of a region preparing for continued expansion.
Geelong’s transformation reflects a broader national trend.
Across the country, regional centres are growing rapidly as Australians seek lifestyle benefits, employment opportunities and more affordable housing outside the major capitals.
For marketers, this demographic shift should prompt a rethink of traditional
media strategies.
If audiences are moving beyond the capitals, media investment needs to move
with them, and marketers need to be smarter about how they follow growth.
A call to marketers
For national marketers and media planners, the message from Future Geelong was clear: regional Australia deserves a bigger place in the media mix.
Cities like Geelong and the broader network of Australian boomtowns represent vibrant, economically active communities with strong consumer potential.
They are places where businesses are growing, infrastructure is expanding, and populations are rising. They are also places where audiences remain deeply connected to trusted news media.
For brands seeking meaningful engagement and long-term growth, that
combination is powerful. Because if the conversations at Future Geelong revealed anything, it is that Australia’s economic story is being written in more places than many media plans still account for.
Our boomtowns are not peripheral to growth. They are central to it. The
opportunity for marketers is not simply to add regional as an extra layer, but to
plan more intelligently around where influence, demand and trust are growing.