SXSW Sydney returned for Day 2 and not even Sydney’s gloomy skies and morning rain could dampen the spirits on the ground. With ponchos and umbrellas at the ready, attendees descended on Darling Harbour and surrounds, with a continued sense of curiosity as to what inspiration & positivity was to come. Upon reflection of my own day, it was a case of thinking towards the future, but not without a trip back in time for inspiration!
How To Think Like A Futurist? Think Beyond The Next Big Thing
Speaking of positivity, futurist Brian D. Johnson’s presentation, “How to Think Like a Futurist”, challenged the audience to reimage the future with a proactive and human-centred approach. Beginning with a declaration that he is optimistic about the future despite so much negativity, Johnson emphasised that futurists “don’t predict the future…instead, we create frameworks to understand a range of possible outcomes, helping us take action today toward the futures we want.”
Johnson highlighted the concept of “Übermorgen” — the day after tomorrow, or “the thing after the thing” — to encourage looking beyond immediate trends to see what’s coming afterwards.
In discussing AI, Johnson, like many other speakers at SXSW Sydney, reminded the audience that “AI isn’t taking your job. What’s taking your job is a human — a human using AI.” While many people remain concerned about the impacts of AI on society, Johnson explained to the audience that this is not an AI problem, but a human problem. Using the analogy of a hammer, Johnson explained how hammers can be used to build amazing things, but can also be used as a weapon. You see, the problem isn’t the hammers, it’s the humans using them.
So how do we change the future? Well, as Johnson encouragingly puts it, “we change the stories people tell themselves about the future they live in”. Johnson’s ultimate challenge was for individuals to embrace their role in shaping the future, using imagination and collaboration as powerful tools to create a positive, human-centred world. “Own the fact that you will build the future—you will build your future, the future of your family, your community, your business, everything about it.”
The Future of News is Local and Personal
Venturing out to Tumbalong Park to experience all the great activations and experiences that SXSW Sydney has to offer, it’s hard to not stare and wonder at Suntory’s giant 12-metre-tall -196 Vending Machine. Venturing a little further, however, and it was time for ARN’s Educational Series with a session led by Fiona Ellis-Jones (head of News & Information) and Brooklyn Ross (newsreader for The Kyle & Jackie O Show).
Discussing ARN’s evolving approach to radio news, Ellis-Jones highlighted ARN’s strategic focus on quality journalists, audience trust, regional stories and personalised news through an audience-focused approach. Speaking to how he approaches news reading on The Kyle & Jackie O Show, Ross highlighted the challenges and satisfaction of serving news across both Sydney and Melbourne audiences by providing local bulletins which enhance the relevancy of stories and strengthen audience engagement.
Future talent was highlighted as a key challenge for journalism in the Australian market with many universities merging journalism and corporate comms degrees leading to lower uptake of journalism as a career pathway compared to “what was once a really fiercely contested competitive field to get into”. To bridge the gap, Ellis-Jones emphasised how ARN is investing heavily in grassroots journalism through university partnerships, cadetships, and high school outreach, aiming to inspire the next generation of journalists.
Cybernetics – Back to The Future Through Tech and Art Innovation
As I mentioned in my blog yesterday, my favourite thing about SXSW is the ability to find yourself immersed in an idea or topic that stretches your way of thinking or is completely out of the ordinary of your day-to-day. In a presentation from ANU’s Amy McLennan and Andrew Meares (ANU School of Cybernetics), it was a trip back in time (with the use of an original Kodak Carousel Slide Projector!) to explore the interconnections between art, technology, and culture.
Through examining historical exhibitions like London’s 1968 “Cybernetic Serendipity” and subsequent cybernetic developments in Australia, McLennan and Meares highlighted how early computing and cybernetics redefined what art could be and how computational art from the 60s really was laying the groundwork for future visual art, animation and even generative AI.
In essence, the session illustrated how early collaborations between tech and art laid the groundwork for modern digital creativity, urging the audience to think of technology as a connector rather than a replacement for human ingenuity. An inspiring presentation that challenges you to wonder what future innovations in the arts have now been unlocked through advancements in AI.
With each session and activation, SXSW Sydney sparks a fresh wave of inspiration, leaving me eager to see what transformative ideas tomorrow will bring.
See also: SXSW Blog Day 1 – Sessions with Canva’s Melanie Perkins and Meta AI guru Manohar Paluri
By James Manning, Alisha Buaya and Jasper Baumann
The rain didn’t stop attendees from coming to day two of SXSW Sydney, and Mediaweek is on the ground. Here’s what happened on Tuesday, October 16.
James Luty, AWS+Ads, technical business development, APAC Lead from Amazon led this discussion focused on Amazon’s advertising strategies and the integration of its first-party data.
Prime Video has 200 million subscribers worldwide and just over 4 million in Australia. Luty shared that 53% of viewers in Australia have three or more people in the room, and 81% watch on large screens and emphasised the potential for brands to engage with customers at scale and also the importance of large-screen platforms for branding.
Luty then introduced Darren Stein, CEO of Annalect, an agency part of the Omnicom Media Group that helps agencies make smarter data-led decisions.
Stein mentioned that many brands are not utilizing their first-party data to its full potential and highlighted the importance of having clear use cases for data, while having a balance between visionary and granular approaches.
“I got in trouble for saying this earlier in the year, but I’m going to say it again. I think the marketing profession, through automation in the platforms, has gotten lazy,” Stein said
“I’m not saying people are lazy, the craft has gotten lazy. Marketers need to understand the insight, pull it through to a campaign of some sort, and not just let a platform buy an audience that looks close enough.
“The platforms are brilliant, and they’ll speed up what you do, but don’t let them do everything for you.
“I also think the marketing profession needs to stop focusing on what’s broken or what we used to have, and start focusing on what’s still possible, what hasn’t changed and what’s actually better, even if it has to be different.” – JB
Arielle Gamble, co-founder & CEO of Groundswell Giving led a panel including Andrew Davies, Dan Ilic and Kiranpreet Dhillon discussing the role of advertising in climate action.
The panel highlighted historical and contemporary examples of climate advertising, including a look into the 1980s, which saw oil companies like Exxon and Shell discredit climate science and hire PR firms to spread doubt amongst the public, delaying climate action.
The discussion also covered recent initiatives, including Ilic’s billboard campaign in Times Square in 2021, which raised $80,000 to criticise Australia’s climate policies.
The panel emphasised the need for authentic brand stories, effective behaviour change strategies, and the importance of cultural and corporate accountability.
“I think advertisers need to draw up the guilt and the sadness in storytelling around climate change,” Dhillon said.
“After the big C (Covid), Australians and many other people around the world have been emotionally and mentally exhaused by all the causes that are reporting their attention. Our audiences are consuming content more than ever around world issues in a very scary way.
“Unfortunately, they’re exhausted and they are just going to turn off their blind eye when they’re being told they should care again. While these tactics worked back in the day, now, there’s a really good case to start telling your story in a way that people are engaged and not take the classical approach that used to work.” – JB
It was a full house at the Accenture lounge for ‘The Future of Marketing’ panel, with Mediaweek spotting new Accenture Song top dogs Melissa Fein, Sam Geer and Chris Colter even watching the discussion from a TV located just outside the entry doors.
The trio wrapped up their first week at Accenture Song in September after their wave-making departure from Initiative back in May. Fein and Geer are now both managing directors, media at Accenture Song APAC, while Colter is managing director, media strategy.
The panel featured Gen AI lead, APAC at Accenture Kunal Shah and Joanna Robinson, CMO at THE ICONIC discussing the transformative impact of agentic AI on the marketing landscape. The panel also discussed how advanced AI systems with autonomous decision-making capabilities are revolutionising marketing strategies, driving personalised customer experiences, and optimising campaign performance. – JB
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Top image: Tumbalong Park – SXSW Sydney 2024
News Corp Australia hosted a number of sessions at SXSW presented by The Growth Distillery. For marketers wanting to learn about the purchase habits of their customers, arguably none were more important than learning about how tech understanding can make an impact on purchasing habits of existing and potential customers.
The Tuesday late afternoon session was well attended as the audience heard about Technographics – The most influential view of your customers…that’s hiding in plain sight.
Hosting the session was Dan Krigstein, director of The Growth Intelligence Centre & The Growth Distillery. Krigstein has also been busy this week, also hosting a series of 11 podcasts for The Growth Distillery.
Co-presenting with Krigstein, was Rikki Pearce, managing director of Verve Australia.
This session introduced Technographics, a study on how Australians’ tech use influences their shopping choices. The word fuses technology and demographics.
The presentation showed how this new approach enhances the customer journey design and captures shopper value.
• Many people believe technology is a net negative for society; 75% fear scams or data leaks.
• There is a societal inability to disagree civilly, and technology intensifies this.
• Australia has the highest online shopping basket abandonment rate in the world at 81%.
• Consumer loyalty is declining due to uncontrollable circumstances.
• Marketing effectiveness is faltering, and consumers seek new influences and nudges to make purchases.
• A third renaissance of experience design is needed as traditional metrics (demographics, geolocation) fail to satisfy contemporary consumer expectations.
• Hidden cognitive friction such as unease and anxiety goes unaddressed despite technological advancements.
• Technographics are introduced as a method to bridge the gap and align with consumer desires better.
Krigstein noted “from the research that we’ve just done, we know that the majority of Australians, actually believe that technology is a net negative for our lives and our society.
“And then even more than that, 75% are scared that they’re going to get scammed or hacked, or their data’s going to be leaked online. We are also increasingly aware of the social and economic impacts of algorithms.”
Pearce added: “We talk to a lot of people, a lot of people in this line of work, and so many of them now believe that they are in the 80% who have lost the ability to disagree with each other, to seek out alternative perspectives and to disagree with, like civilly, and have a conversation.
“We’re seeing the symptoms of this tension between the amazing enabling capability of technology, but this growing weight of the risks that it has socially, emotionally, economically.”
Krigstein: “We have the highest shopping basket abandonment rate in the world. Up to 81% of all online shopping purchases are elbowed at some point in the journey. And if you think about that, how much of that decisions are made on the 19% that make it to the bottom of the funnel? We also know that loyalty is becoming much harder earned and harder retained. We see higher rates of brand experimentation and brand switching than we have ever seen in the last decade.”
Pearce: “We love new things and we’ve realised that the lazy tacks of sticking with a brand might not necessarily be paying off. The more sobering impact of this tension that’s playing out is that we are seeing marketing effectiveness fall off a cliff. This is not us saying it, this is not just from the work that we’ve done.
“Marketing effectiveness is starting to erode and erode quickly. At the same time, consumers are seeking new influences, new nudges to push them through that funnel.”
Krigstein: “We’ve spent 18 months looking at these two key ingredients for preference driving, influence and behavioural nudges, and we’ve seen a foundational shift in what influences Australians and the nudges that are going to push them into a state of active confidence to be able to get them to purchase.
“We continue to use technologically agnostic traits to architect almost the entirety of where and when brands show up. We use demographics, we use geolocation, we use things like affluence, gender, to decide what good looks like. And for some areas of the buying experience that holds water, but for many, and an increasingly large component of what good looks like, this just doesn’t hold true. And we’ve broadly ignored the hesitancy and the trust eroding in technology that Rikki spoke about earlier.
“Inadvertently, we’ve started to force customers down journeys that just don’t align with how they want to work with us, that doesn’t accommodate the increasing nuance in my technological posture, and increasingly don’t delight Australians. And so we thought to close this gap. These forces are already potent, and they’re only going to become more material over time. And that means that this gap is going to widen. Unless we integrate a new way to think about customers and design journeys that are made for them to delight them. Enter…Technographics.”
Toward the end of the session, the presenters were joined onstage by psychologist and author Amanda Gordon and Jason Davey from Ogilvy One.
Krigstein added they will soon have research on their website for a deeper dive.
Visit https://www.thegrowthdistillery.com.au/.
In the meantime, the presenters summarised action points:
• Conduct further research to assess consumer beliefs about technology’s impact on society.
• Explore the causes of high online shopping basket abandonment and implement strategies to reduce it.
• Innovate new ways to foster brand loyalty despite external market pressures.
• Update marketing approaches to enhance effectiveness by integrating consumer influence trends and behavioural nudges.
• Redefine experience design paradigms to align with evolving consumer expectations and satisfaction metrics.
• Address cognitive friction by recognizing and mitigating consumer stress and anxiety with technology.
• Implement and integrate Technographics to better understand and cater to consumer needs.
The Ideas Dome, powered by The Growth Distillery, is centrally located in Tumbalong Park and offers free sessions all week curated by SXSW Sydney.
The first session inside News’s Corp’s The Ideas Dome at SXSW was presented by The Australian. The topic was Innovators: The Next Wave.
The session coincides with a significant publishing event at the national daily this week. On Saturday, The Weekend Australian will announce the Top 100 Innovators of 2024 in a weekend magazine insert
Chairing the discussion about innovators was Helen Trinca, The List: Innovators editor at The Australian.
Her guests on the panel were Jared Lynch, Tech Editor, The Australian, Ada Guan, CEO Rich Data Company, and Michael Batko, CEO, Startmate.
As our photo indicates, storm clouds gathered above Tumbalong Park during the session. Towards the end of the allotted time, event organisers shut it down as the Park was evacuated after several loud claps of thunder.
Does starting a company offer more job security through rich experiences and employability compared to traditional corporate jobs?
• Entrepreneurship could be considered a viable career path, shifting cultural views away from narrow job options.
• Key traits needed for successful entrepreneurs.
• Resilience as a factor: Embracing challenges and failure are keys to growing stronger.
• Founders should remain focused on solving core problems rather than only developing solutions.
• Importance of diverse gender representation in funding and entrepreneurship.
• AI’s rapid advancement mirrors past technological shifts, with practical applications highlighted.
• AI aids in faster, more efficient product development and customer engagement.
• Financial services, health, and hardware are key areas for AI-driven innovation.
Helen Trinca started the session: “So many people think that the safe path is just to go and work at a big corporate. I’m not going to call out any names right now, but you can think about banks, consulting companies, etc. Because you’ve got so much optionality. You’re going to work with 15 different companies and it’s going to open up so many different doors.
“But then those companies let go five or 10% of the workforce every couple of years and they go for a huge redundancy or thousands and thousands of people.
“Actually, job security is when you start a company because you have the entire spectrum of experience and you’re so much more employable, so many more richer experiences off the back of it.”
Ada Guan: “One thing I would say is don’t leave any regret in life, right? So if you have a passion to do something, do it and don’t wait. I’m a different person sitting here today versus nine years ago when we started RDC. I learned a ton in the process. I think RDC being successful, great. And if not, I’m still learning a ton as a person and I am growing a lot as a person. It’s a very rewarding journey and being on an entrepreneurial journey and you build some very strong partnership, very strong friendship, which will last a lifetime. It’s something people should try, but perhaps not too driven by money and more driven by the learning and the growth. Because if you have the good product, good customer, I think money will come.”
A question from the audience then asked about the three most common traits an entrepreneur needs.
Jared Lynch: “I think tenacity. I mean, you’ve got to be, to a certain point, you’ve got to be as hard as nails and really back your ideas and not be scared of failure. If you do fail, make sure you do it quickly and bounce back again. That’s a really hard thing to do. On the flip side, you don’t want to be jaded. You also want to be full of boundless optimism, right?
“Because if you’re not, then people pick up on that. And at the end of the day, you’re selling something. You’re selling your ideas. If you’re a bit jaded and a bit downtrodden, then people are going, nah, I don’t want to have anything to do with you.”
Michael Batko: “The first one is definitely resilience. And because you also mentioned it, failure is hard. It is so incredibly hard. It’s painful. But then again, we all go to the gym. What do we do in the gym? We injure our muscles. We injure our muscles to get stronger. It’s kind of like through that failure, through that, like actually leaning into the hard things, you actually become better.
“The best founders are the ones who are not afraid of the hard truths. They actually lean into it, and they expose themselves to the daily pain of talking to customers and getting rejected every single day. It is so frustrating, but it is so magical when one customer comes on board. The second thing would be a founder problem fit.”
See also: SXSW Sydney 2024 day one recap – Thunder rocks houses as year two conference & festival launches
The Ideas Dome, powered by The Growth Distillery, is centrally located in Tumbalong Park and offers free sessions all week curated by SXSW Sydney.
The session, From Mates to Soul Mates – Dating in the Digital World, was moderated by Kerrie McCallum, head of Travel, Food & Health at News Corp Australia.
McCallum introduced the session: “People are often confused about how well they know someone, after a few chats online (often, not even on the phone). It is not your fourth date when you meet for the first time after chatting online, so you are not compelled to engage sexually – but who knows when you know one another well enough anymore, and what the expectations are?
“With captivating discussions on media innovation and emerging societal trends, there’s always something new to explore. In the digital dating world, there is often little privacy, as people share messages and discuss their potential responses with friends.”
Guesting panellist was leading relationship expert Amanda Gordon, Adjunct Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology. The session was facilitated by Body+Soul and it’s recent 2024 Sex Census.
• Dating in the digital era has transformed significantly due to technology, with dating apps becoming the third most common way to meet partners.
• Skepticism about online dating safety is prevalent, especially among females, due to reasons like dishonesty, relationship status, and financial scams.
• Online chatting is not classified as a date; a physical meeting is essential to consider an interaction a date.
• Forming relationships in the workplace should be approached with caution, ensuring clear boundaries and communication, especially regarding power dynamics.
• Financial stress is a significant factor affecting relationships and dating, but dating doesn’t have to be expensive, and joint financial goals should be prioritised.
• The definition of cheating has evolved with the digital age, with actions like liking social media posts questioned.
• Young people’s social skills are affected by over-reliance on digital interaction, and parents should model face-to-face connection to ensure meaningful relationships.
Kerrie McCallum: “Technology has transformed the way we do almost everything in our lives and dating is no different from the meteoric rise of apps to the digitisation of desire. As a brand, Body+Soul has never been afraid to tackle taboos or delve into the seismic social shifts that are shaping our world, especially when it comes to relationships and we’ve made it our mission to normalise conversations in this space.
“So much so that in September we revealed the results of a comprehensive deep dive into the nation’s habits and behaviours via the 2024 Body+Soul Sex Census and it’s safe to say that the results were fascinating, from how satisfied we are with our collective sex lives to topics like sexual health, intimacy and what infidelity really means in today’s tech-driven world. We asked more than 100 questions in a quest to understand what’s really happening in and out of Aussie bedrooms, but perhaps of every subject we covered in the Body+Soul Sex Census, the biggest changes took place across the digital landscape and just one example is the fact the way we find partners has migrated online with dating apps now the third most popular way to meet someone after mutual friends and the workplace.”
Amanda Gordon: “I don’t think you should act on the romantic relationship at work but I’m very comfortable with people getting to know each other in the workplace and deciding this is worth pursuing. First of all you often have something in common like you’re interested in the same industry or you have experiences of the same sort of people and the same sort of culture.
“You have some basis for getting to know each other and you can get to know each other in the safe space, which is work, before you decide.
“But let me tell you when you’re chatting at work, it’s not a date. The date happens afterwards when the two of you have chatted each other up and decided this is something where you might like to get to know each other better. That’s a date.
“Proceed with caution with any dating in your life and in a date you start to be a little more vulnerable than you are at any other time.
“Be self-protective. I wouldn’t necessarily date upwards or downwards without very clear understanding and boundaries around it. I think you need to talk about it. You just can’t have an elephant wandering around the room whenever you’re together like you’re my boss or I’m your employee. That’s not a good elephant to have in the bedroom with you. It’s worth actually talking it through, sometimes talking it through with someone in HR, making sure that things are clear and okay so that there isn’t a power differential that could interfere with a real relationship.”
Kerrie McCallum: “One of the things that the Body+Soul Sex Census showed was that one in three Aussies feel that online dating is unsafe. Predominantly more females than males were likely to feel this way. Some of the reasons included people being dishonest about their identity, lying about their relationship status, concerns about being scammed for money and also worrying about their physical safety. In what ways can you or would you recommend people can prioritise their safety when they’re online dating? Are there any red flags to look out for?”
Amanda Gordon: “Yes…but remember you’re not online dating, you’re online chatting or online flirting, you’re not dating, you don’t know that person. So when you do actually meet that person, do it in the same place the way you would any first date.
“Go to a restaurant or a bar where there are other people around. Do not go to the other person’s home. Men don’t go to her home and women don’t go to his home. Don’t go to a hotel together, go to a public place. Get to know each other where there is an exit and a place with other people there as well.
“You might even want to meet with a group and say that a group of us are going out, would you like to come and join us and get to know the person that way. Like you would in the old days when you happen to meet them in a bar or at a party or through a mutual friend and then you go on your first date.”
Kerrie McCallum: “What about in people’s profiles? Are there any words that you would think of that people use to describe themselves as being a red flag?”
Amanda Gordon: “If in your conversation you decide you want to go on a date or meet up, do so in a public place and then use your brain, not any other part of your body, in getting to decide whether that is a person who you’d like to see again.
“Be aware, be vigilant, don’t think that they told me such good things about themselves. Actually get to know them the way you would if it was someone in the workplace or someone whom a mutual friend introduced you to.”
Kerrie McCallum: “More than 50 percent of single Aussies say the cost of living is affecting their ability to meet people and the majority of couples in relationships say it’s affecting their ability to do things like go on dates, buy an engagement ring, have a baby, afford a wedding. We know that financial stress is bad for our health and relationships and that Covid lockdowns also delayed many people in their 20s and 30s meeting people too. What advice would you give to Aussies that are currently struggling with this?”
Amanda Gordon: “It’s a very big question and there are lots of bits of wisdom that we have. The first thing is dating doesn’t have to be expensive. You can make an agreement at the beginning about the sort of meet-up that you have. It doesn’t have to be at a lavish restaurant where one person is actually put under pressure to pay or each of you are finding it difficult.
“You can go for a walk in a park, go for coffee, not a secluded park on the first dates where there are lots of people. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on dating. I advise lots of people in relationships about how to have a date which doesn’t have to cost really anything at all.”
See also: Inside The Ideas Dome – Innovators – The Next Wave
Thinkerbell and Val Morgan Outdoor (VMO) have teamed up with Australian Bananas for a campaign to mark National Banana Day, on October 16th, allowing Aussies to use a banana as their entry pass into one of hundreds of gyms nationwide.
The creative agency partnered with the outdoor media company to connect with over 350 gyms nationwide, including Goodlife Health Clubs, Fitness First, Zap Fitness, Club Lime and Viva Leisure.
Gym goers can find their nearest participating gym on Banana Gym Pass and present a banana as their Banana Gym Pass for one day only to enjoy access to a free workout across the country.
“We hope that this initiative will encourage more Australians to fuel their next workout with an Aussie banana,” Belinda Van Schaik, head of marketing, Hort Innovation, said.
“National Banana Day is a day to celebrate our local produce in a unique and fun way. Naturally convenient, full of magnesium, folate and vitamin B6 – bananas are the perfect go-to energy snack.”
Philippa Netolicky, general manager at Thinkerbell North, said: “Banana Gym Pass is a simple idea that brings utility to Australian Bananas positioning of encouraging an active lifestyle. Anything that means more bananas purchased and eaten, and more gym sessions, sounds pretty good to us. There’s no telling what healthy activities Banana Pass might open up next.”
“The Banana Gym Pass partnership is the first of its kind for Val Morgan Outdoor and our network of gym partnerships,” Ryan Simpson, national sales manager, independent agencies, VMO, said.
“We’re so excited to get behind it, we’ve even delivered bananas to media agencies and offered our staff time off to participate. It’s a brilliant initiative to connect those who don’t have gym memberships across the country with a free opportunity to feel the benefits of a good workout and make their body sing.”
Banana Gym Pass is supported by a multi-channel national campaign including OOH, gym retail, YouTube, radio and owned socials.
Credits
Client: Australian Bananas (Hort Innovation)
Creative, Earned, Paid & Owned: Thinkerbell
Media Partner: Val Morgan Outdoor
Beloved Australian journalist and broadcaster George Negus has died aged 82 following a battle with Alzheimer’s disease, his family have confirmed.
The family released a statement saying Negus “passed away peacefully surrounded by loved ones” and paid tribute to his healthcare workers who had supported him “in the best possible way” at the end of his life.
“Despite the challenges diseases like Alzheimer’s inflict on families, we still shared beautiful times, laughter and happiness together in recent times.
“We also learnt a lot.
“While we know he will be celebrated for his unique contribution to journalism, football, and the environment, he would also want to be remembered for the incredible family man he was.”
Negus was a giant in the Australian media and was admired for his down-to-earth interview style and his fearless pursuit of a story.
He started his career in journalism writing for The Australian and The Australian Financial Review.
He later became a reporter on the ABC’s This Day Tonight, and was then a correspondent for 60 Minutes and a co-host on Today Australia.
In 2015 Negus was made a Member of the Order of Australia for his significant service to the media as a journalist and TV presenter, and for conservation and the environment. Later, in 2021 he was honoured with the Walkley Award for Most Outstanding Contribution to Journalism.
In 2022, during an interview with 60 Minutes, the journalist looked back on his 57-year career saying he was proud of his contribution and the people he had met.
“When people say to me ‘when I meet you, you’re just like you are on television’, I say ‘no, you’ve got it wrong’,” he said.
“On television, I’m just like I am. And if you think you know me, you do.”
Last month his son, Ned, said his father was in an aged care facility and was mostly “non-verbal”.
“For those of you who don’t know, my dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s around five years ago,” Ned wrote on LinkedIn. “He’s now non verbal most of the time (mind-blowing for me but also any of you that know him).”
By Adam Furness, MD APAC at impact.com
Growing up, one of the most memorable ads of the 80s was Victor Kiam’s iconic line, “I liked the shaver so much I bought the company,” for Remington Shavers.
Despite its low production values and corny charm, this advertisement became a global sensation, not least as Victor Kiam recorded each commercial in the native language of the audience.
One of the main reasons it resonated with its audience is because the line was not only memorable, it was also true: Kiam’s wife famously bought him an electric shaver, and he went on to buy the entire company.
This is an extreme example of the power of a personal recommendation, but Kiam’s genuine endorsement catapulted the brand into the spotlight. And it highlights the impact of authentic recommendations from satisfied customers; a strategy that marketers have long recognised as the ultimate marketing tool.
Today media, societal and technological shifts mean that customer-referral marketing is experiencing a renaissance.
Here’s why.
Today’s buyers aren’t as persuaded by conventional advertising techniques as they used to be. Declining levels of trust in companies, brands and the media; irritation at intrusive and clunky digital ads, and the fact that the proliferation of brands out there (technology has been a great enabler for anyone wanting to launch an online store) means it’s difficult for consumers to determine the reputable from the scam.
Consequently, people need reassurance that they are making the right choice and they do this by seeking out reviews and recommendations from people they can trust – as well as searching social media where they can see the product being used. IAB and Pureprofile’s recent Australian and New Zealand Ecommerce Report 2024 found that well over half (58%) of shoppers aged 18-29 said influencers and social media impact their research and shopping habits.
This means an increasing number are ‘doing their own research’ by seeking out social proof from existing networks and relationships, including trusted publications, trusted influencers and content creators, as well as product reviews and recommendations. And within their own network, friends and family are at the top of the trust tree. Indeed, according to new Australian research commissioned by impact.com, 84% of consumers make purchase decisions based on referrals and recommendations from people they know, with 58% trusting personal connections the most when gathering information for a purchase compared to just 3% trusting traditional advertising channels.
Whilst it’s long been acknowledged that happy customers are your best marketers, it’s historically been tricky to put this knowledge into practice.
In part, this is because it’s difficult to manage a customer referral program at scale for anything other than the largest of enterprises. It’s also because many customers can feel a bit “off” about recommending a product to just get a reward just for themselves. In fact, our recent research showed that the majority of consumers (61%) prefer when both parties receive the reward and the main reason (49%) cited by those who’ve never participated in a referral program is because they “don’t want to annoy people”.
The good news for marketers is that it’s now possible to automate bespoke referral programs that can engage customers with tailored offers that are easy to manage at scale – without requiring significant resources. And the good news for consumers is that technology now makes it incredibly straightforward for them to participate whether via mobile or laptop.
Rachel Gerson and Zhenling Jiang, both Assistant Professors at University of California, Berkeley and University of Pennsylvania Wharton School respectively, recently published a research paper “Referral Contagion: Downstream Benefits of Customer Referrals” which highlights the powerful phenomenon of “referral contagion.”
Analysing data from over 41 million customers of a cashback app, they found that referred customers make more purchases and also attract 30%-57% more new customers through referrals than those acquired through other methods.
According to the authors of the research, this trend, observed across various industries, is influenced by social factors including the appropriateness of referrals and the tendency to form social circles with similar individuals. They also conducted an experiment involving over 10 million customers that demonstrated that reminding referred customers of their referral origin increased successful referrals by 21%!
Given the considerable upside of customer referrals it isn’t surprising that we’re seeing more businesses begin to implement or reinvent their customer referral programs as they seek to benefit from the: built-in trust; extended customer retention (our research found that after referring a brand to someone, 37% of customers said their brand loyalty increased) and reduced customer acquisition expenses that such programs offer.
Perhaps the bigger surprise is that more businesses haven’t yet adopted authentic advocacy into their marketing efforts.
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Top image: Adam Furness
Gabby Corcoran has been appointed sales director for independent new business at Channel Factory.
Corcoran joins the team with over a decade of experience in digital media sales, having previously held senior titles at oOh!, Adshel, Fairfax Media, and Bauer Media.
In her new role, Corcoran will lead efforts to expand Channel Factory’s presence within the independent agency sector across New South Wales. With a strategic focus on relationship-building and a deep understanding of the digital media landscape, she will support the company’s aim to deliver more tailored solutions for the indie market.
On her appointment, Corcoran says: “I’m inspired by Channel Factory’s growth vision and its dedication to investing in both people and technology to support client success and drive new business. Building strong relationships is at the heart of this role, and I look forward to creating partnerships that bring meaningful outcomes to our independent agency clients.”
James Rose, managing director of Channel Factory Australia, said: “In today’s landscape, as clients demand sophisticated and adaptive brand suitability solutions, Gabby’s wealth of industry connections and talent will be a tremendous asset. Her ability to build relationships with key decision-makers will help us deliver solutions that not only meet our clients’ needs but also enhance our credibility and visibility within the independent agency sector.”
Corcoran’s appointment to Channel Factory’s growing sales team underscores the company’s commitment to supporting the unique needs of independent agencies, helping them achieve brand suitability and campaign effectiveness in a competitive market.
Corcoran’s appointment comes after the platform promoted Georgina Gellert to the role of director of marketing and people strategy across AUNZ in June.
In her new role, she will oversee all the platform’s marketing and PR activities, internal communications, client engagement strategies, and HR functions, alongside Channel Factory’s external consultants.
See also: Channel Factory promotes Georgina Gellert to director of marketing and people strategy
Thinkerbell has acquired Hardhat to further build on its CX capabilities Hardhat, founded by CEO Dan Monheit in 2005.
The Australian CX company has been at the forefront of designing and building digital customer experiences for Australian brands and businesses for almost 20 years.
Margie Reid, CEO of Thinkerbell, said: “Dan and Hardhat are best in class at what they do, and we are always looking for ways to help our clients build their brands with our particular brand of Measured Magic. In order to keep doing this it’s imperative we continue to invest in, and build our capabilities across all touchpoints between the brands we work with and their consumers.
“Along with Dan, the Hardhat crew will bring something special to Thinkerbell, as they are specialists in thinking customer first across the entire customer journey as well as their behaviour change creative capabilities. This will mean that we can unleash the power of Measured Magic for our clients across their entire customer experience. This will in turn help us to continue creating brand led business transformation for our clients.”
“Along with our expansion into New Zealand, our buying back of the PwC equity, and some deeper investments into production it’s been a big year or so for Thinkerbell. We look forward to continuing to work with some of the most iconic and loved brands in Australia and New Zealand,” she added.
Monheit joins the independent agency as a partner and will take on the role of chief CX thinker.
“When the opportunity came knocking to do something bigger with Thinkerbell, it was just too compelling to ignore,” Monheit said of the acquisition.
“The scale of Thinkerbell allows us to take our CX offering and apply it to bigger brand opportunities. Further, Thinkerbell’s measured magic philosophy, or marketing sciences meets hardcore creativity resonates to our core. Our skill set will further build on the Thinkerbell offering and we look forward to seeing what our combined forces can do.
“This is especially true for all of the clients who have backed us until now, who will immediately benefit from Thinkerbell’s world class strategic and creative firepower. Over time we will retire the Hardhat brand as we enter our next chapter as Thinkerbell.”
Adam Ferrier, chief thinker of Thinkerbell said: “The successful agencies and consultancies today have a much broader remit than just advertising. From our inception we’ve embraced a broader marketing pallet embracing brand strategy, PR, research and media.
“Bringing Dan and his team on board means we can deliver measured magic through the entire customer experience, and ensure we offer a holistic brand led business transformation offer to our clients. I’ve known Dan for years, we catch up regularly, and we share a similar point of view on the world. Dan has built an incredible business in Hardhat and we are extremely proud to bring the business into the Thinkerbell family.”
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Top image: Adam Ferrier, Margie Reid and Don Monheit
Zoe Goodhardt has been promoted to partner at Tag, the Melbourne-based digital agency.
Goodhardt, who is also head of growth and marketing, will focus on expanding the agency’s presence across the east coast of Australia and continue building momentum in the United States, where TAG works with clients in the health industry.
In her time with the agency, her commitment to excellence is demonstrated through her remarkable achievements in the property, health and e-commerce sectors, where her forward-thinking strategies consistently deliver tangible returns on investment.
She will continue working on bringing in new and exciting clients to Tag. Current and previous clients include Morgans Financial, Sidekicker, Nala, FUNDAY Natural Sweets, Shippit, MYOB, Adidas and The Wiggles.
Goodhardt said of her extended role: ‘This partnership is an exciting milestone for me, both personally and professionally. After being inspired by TAG’s long-standing relationships with its clients and commitment to excellence, I knew that I wanted to be a part of the journey.
“The last five years have been nothing short of incredible, having had the opportunity to work alongside the best team and clients. Looking ahead, we have big ambitions, not just to grow, but to revolutionise how businesses approach marketing.”
Gary Tenenbaum, TAG co-founder and head of operations, said: “Zoe’s hustle, leadership and ability to never take no for an answer are qualities we strongly value here at TAG.
“With Zoe on our team and through her established network, we have been able to attract well-known clients across all industries. Zoe has become the heart and soul of our agency – our team look up to her and under her leadership we have been able to build out a successful graduate program.
“It’s great to be able to recognise Zoe’s contribution to TAG by officially naming her as a partner,” he added.
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Top image: Gary Tenenbaum, Zoe Goodhardt and Alon Abraham
InMobi Advertising is furthering its commitment to sustainability in advertising by choosing Scope3, the collaborative sustainability platform decarbonising media and advertising, to pioneer the world’s largest green media offering, purpose-built for mobile and in-app.
The Scope3-powered solution allows InMobi Advertising’s clients to buy against low carbon emissions and supply path optimisation-compliant media, access carbon emissions measurement data at the placement level, and inform their overall media strategy to reduce their emissions in the long term.
Scope3 data shows that campaigns running on green media-compliant products delivered, on average, a 39% reduction in emissions and a 10% increase in click-through-rate.
“This partnership with Scope3 and the launch of InMobi Advertising’s green media offering marks a significant milestone in the company’s sustainability journey,” says Abhay Singhal, CEO at InMobi Advertising.
“InMobi Advertising is translating its commitments into tangible actions that will positively impact the environment and the advertising industry; this is a critical step towards a unified standard of measurement for sustainability across ad tech.”
“Inefficiency and waste in digital advertising aren’t just bad for marketers—they’re bad for the planet, too. The industry must shift to more sustainable media buying, but that change will only happen if marketers see the connection between sustainability and growth,” says David Fischer, global head of ad tech platforms at Scope3.
“InMobi Advertising’s new green media segments, powered by Scope3’s data, offers a solution that helps buyers continue to hit their media targets while cutting down on emissions of their campaigns. This work is another big step forward in making advertising more sustainable.”
“Consumers are increasingly prioritising sustainability and will look toward brands that do the same,” says Martin Bryan, chief sustainability officer at IPG Mediabrands.
“According to our recent global study, Sustainability Speaks, 77% of people want to see more companies take a stance on sustainability and brands climate action has an impact on purchase intent.”
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Top image: Abhay Singhal & David Fischer
Nine’s 9News recorded a total TV national reach of 2,012,000, a total TV national audience of 1,225,000, and a BVOD audience of 102,000.
Nine’s The Block recorded a total TV national reach of 1,984,000, a total TV national audience of 1,114,000, and a BVOD audience of 177,000.
Seven’s My Kitchen Rules recorded a total TV national reach of 1,663,000, a total TV national audience of 930,000, and a BVOD audience of 83,000.
On MKR, married Germans Robert and Andrea were eliminated from the competition after their Instant Restaurant scored just 46, landing the couple at the bottom of the final round two leaderboard.
Modern Italians Simone and Viviana, fussy friends Mike and Pete, kitchen queens Janey and Maddie, mother and son Caz and Fergus, loved-up couple Hannah and Lawrence and competitive brothers Rob and Liam advanced to Kitchen HQ to continue their quest to become MKR champions.
Also on Seven, Seven News recorded a total TV national reach of 2,173,000, a total TV national audience of 1,357,000, and a BVOD audience of 69,000.
10’s Have You Been Paying Attention? recorded a total TV national reach of 1,166,000, a total TV national audience of 724,000, and a BVOD audience of 32,000.
Nine’s The Block:
• Total TV nation reach: 781,000
• National Audience: 497,000
• BVOD Audience: 108,000
Seven’s Seven News:
• Total TV nation reach: 547,000
• National Audience: 323,000
• BVOD Audience: 36,000
Seven’s My Kitchen Rules:
• Total TV nation reach: 521,000
• National Audience: 285,000
• BVOD Audience: 46,000
10’s Have You Been Paying Attention?:
• Total TV nation reach: 532,000
• National Audience: 345,000
• BVOD Audience: 19,000
Nine’s The Block:
• Total TV nation reach: 353,000
• National Audience: 221,000
• BVOD Audience: 63,000
Seven’s Seven News:
• Total TV nation reach: 195,000
• National Audience: 111,000
• BVOD Audience: 19,000
Seven’s My Kitchen Rules:
• Total TV nation reach: 204,000
• National Audience: 102,000
• BVOD Audience: 25,000
10’s Have You Been Paying Attention?:
• Total TV nation reach: 218,000
• National Audience: 149,000
• BVOD Audience: 10,000
Nine’s The Block:
• Total TV nation reach: 1,543,000
• National Audience: 884,000
• BVOD Audience: 142,000
Seven’s Seven News:
• Total TV nation reach: 1,738,000
• National Audience: 1,104,000
• BVOD Audience: 55,000
Seven’s My Kitchen Rules:
• Total TV nation reach: 1,338,000
• National Audience: 759,000
• BVOD Audience: 67,000
10’s Have You Been Paying Attention?:
• Total TV nation reach: 934,000
• National Audience: 582,000
• BVOD Audience: 26,000
Data © OzTAM and Regional TAM 2024. Not to be reproduced, published or communicated (electronically or in hard copy) in whole or in part, without prior written consent of OzTAM and Regional TAM.
In a statement, his family said he died “surrounded by loved ones, after a gracious decline from Alzheimer’s disease, all the while with his trademark smile”.
Negus began his professional life as a high school teacher before switching to journalism, writing for The Australian and The Australian Financial Review, but he shot to prominence as a reporter on the ABC’s This Day Tonight in the late 1960s.
By the time he was hired as one of three founding correspondents for 60 Minutes in 1979 – alongside Ray Martin and Ian Leslie – he was truly a household name.
“George was just such a strong television character,” Martin told The Australian. “In the almost 70-year history of Australian television, I think Bert Newton and George stand out as the two most memorable figures.”
That is not always common in the highly competitive and ego-driven world of journalism. For a variety of reasons, journalists are a pretty selfish lot, mostly born out of professional rivalry. We guard our sources and contacts, constantly driven by the thirst for a scoop or the lead story. We have been known to turn the road sign the other way to beat a colleague to the punch. To be first with the story. George didn’t play those games.
We were a tightly bonded bunch of journalists and film crews thrown into the deep end of prime-time television. Public affairs programming at 7.30 on Sunday nights had never been attempted on Australian television.
60 Minutes colleague Ray Martin said George Negus was “more than a colleague, he was a mate”.
“He was probably the strongest TV character I can remember on Australian television,” Martin said.
“He was outrageous, he was charismatic, he was loud, he was heavily opinionated, he was funny but he was just a great bloke.”
Fellow journalist Liz Hayes said Negus was a “trailblazer” in Australian journalism with a “larger than life” personality.
“George always had an insatiable appetite for information, but he was a regular guy too,” Hayes said.
“This is a guy who loved the cooking segment on the Today show, this is a guy who enjoyed sport and he was a family man.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid tribute to Negus as “a giant of Australian journalism”.
“His courage, curiosity and integrity gave millions of Australians a sense of the big issues on 60 Minutes, and a window to the world through Foreign Correspondent,” he said.
“George sought and served the truth with steely determination and a twinkle in his eye, and along the way, he made even the smallest TV screen feel that much bigger.
“He was a wonderful human being and his loss will be deeply felt by so many Australians.
“We offer his family the heartfelt condolences of our nation. May he rest in peace.”
On Monday night, journalist Avani Dias presented a report that explored the Australian live music sector, which has undergone a tumultuous few years since the Covid pandemic of 2020.
The program, titled Music for Sale, featured interviewees including Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett and veteran concert promoter Michael Chugg, whose animus toward Live Nation framed a report that was highly critical of its business practices, which includes owning interests in concert promotion, music venues, ticketing and booking agencies.
“Without nurturing your local artists … we’re finding out that we’re not hearing our songs. We’re not hearing the things that connect us to the place that we’re in,” said Garrett, 71. “For me, that’s a healthy country, when we’re listening to our songwriters and watching our performers. I don’t think Live Nation cares at all about Australian artists.”
For Tina Brown, a Brit who became synonymous with Manhattan media in the 1980s and 1990s, it is something less grandiose. It is simply a chance to have fun.
“This is just an extra something I’ll be doing on a Monday afternoon,” she said in an interview last week.
Her newsletter, Fresh Hell, is set to debut on Tuesday. In an introductory note to readers, she said the title referred to the experience of waking “every day to a news alert from Hades.” The newsletter, she said, would be written mostly in weekly “notebook form,” rather than “Big Think columns.”
The chief executive of BBC News, Deborah Turness, announced the changes in an email on Tuesday, saying the corporation sought to cut 185 roles and open 55 new ones with the aim of saving £24m, amounting to 4% of the current news budget.
The BBC’s long-running world affairs news TV program HARDtalk and the BBC Asian Network’s bespoke news service will be axed. The broadcaster also said it would synchronise the production of news bulletins used on Radio 5 Live and Radio 2 and domestic radio would take summaries from the World Service.
The cuts are part of broader efforts by the broadcaster to cut 500 jobs across the corporation by March 2026.
Fifteen days out from the completion of a multi-level, off-grid waterfront house in Avalon on Sydney’s northern beaches, surrounded by a garden of native plants, including an 80-tonne rooftop oasis, and sporting a geothermal heated infinity pool, the landscape designer reflects on the project that has been five years in the making.
For the first time in his career, which took off in 2000 with Nine’s Backyard Blitz and has seen him conquer US television, beginning with The Oprah Winfrey Show, Durie is launching his most personal series yet, Seven’s Growing Home with Jamie Durie.
“Normally, I would never dream of doing this,” says Durie, who was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to the environment in 2012. “But this is a passion project, and more important than my privacy. I’ve been in the sustainability space for almost 30 years. I did my first biodegradable washing detergent ad for Planet Ark in 1993. This is the show I’ve always wanted to make. I think my entire career has prepared me for this event.”
Warner Bros International Television Production Australia, part of Warner Bros Discovery’s international production network, is the maker of the down under versions of The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Impractical Jokers, The Celebrity Apprentice, The Masked Singer, Dancing with the Stars, Who Do You Think You Are? and Selling Houses Australia.
“The market is dictating partnerships more than ever,” said Critical CEO Jenny Daly. “We are building a community of companies all with incredible content creators and tremendous respect and reach in their regions. We are so excited to now align our creative with WBITVP Australia and Blue Engine Studios – they’re both phenomenal producers and leaders in their countries.”
Michael Brooks, WBITVP Australia’s managing director, said: “Critical Content has some of the most innovative new formats globally, and excellent relationships with some of the world’s most engaging talent. WBITVP Australia has a proven history of creating hit international formats with a distinctly Aussie flavour, and we’re excited about the prospect of expanding on that through our partnership with Critical Content.”