Henry Innis doesn’t mince words.
Whether he’s delivering a keynote, hashing out product strategy, or accepting Mediaweek’s 2024 Next of the Best Award for leadership with a few colourful expletives, Innis speaks like a man in motion.
That’s because he is.
As co-founder and CEO of Mutinex, a marketing effectiveness platform rapidly carving out space in the Australian media and tech landscape, Innis isn’t just leading a company, he’s reshaping the way marketers think about growth, accountability, and culture.
Henry Innis
His leadership journey has not been shaped in boardrooms but in the chaotic, high-stakes world of startups. That difference matters to him.
“In a large corporate culture, you’re maintaining a system,” he says. “In startups, moving the needle has real impact. You’re hungry, scrappy, customer-obsessed.”
It’s a hunger that was recognised last year when he took home the Next of the Best Leadership award. Innis admits he had a hunch he might win, and celebrated accordingly.
By the time he took the stage, he was three or four drinks in. The speech was, in his words, heavy on swearing and light on polish. “My mum wasn’t thrilled,” he laughs. “But swearing is emphasis. It’s part of the vernacular now.”
You can listen to Natasha Lee interview Innis here:
The Henry Innis of today isn’t the same leader he was 18 months ago. He’ll tell you that flat out.
“Back then, I would’ve talked about engineering skill or product capability as our most important assets. Today? It’s culture.”
He credits two people for that shift: Chloe Hooper and Matt Baxter. “Matt pushed me to actually codify our culture, to write it down, to back myself to build it,” Innis says. “It made me realise that leadership isn’t about control. It’s about vision, clarity, and alignment.”
It wasn’t an easy pivot. Like many founders, Innis is obsessive and hands-on. Delegation doesn’t come naturally. But he’s learning to let go, a little. “Clarity disappears when you’re trying to do everything yourself,” he says. “There are different ways to reach the same goal. That’s been a big learning.”
Henry Innis
Growth at Mutinex hasn’t been linear. It’s been steep, fast, and at times, overwhelming. Innis has been open about the toll it can take. “It’s incredibly challenging,” he says. “The faster you grow, the more unfamiliar situations you face. That constant unfamiliarity? It’s stressful.”
He doesn’t sleep much. His fiancée worries. And while he knows he should switch off more, doing so often makes his anxiety worse. “I probably am addicted to the stress. That’s not uncommon, from what my peers say.”
Droga5 ANZ, part of Accenture Song, has appointed Michael McEwan as Director of Droga5 Melbourne, effective late May 2025.
He brings nearly three decades of experience in the marketing industry, having held senior roles both in Australia and internationally.
McEwan joins the Droga5 ANZ leadership team from M&C Saatchi Group, where he spent five years – most recently serving as CEO of M&C Saatchi AUNZ. Under his leadership, the agency secured major clients and delivered award winning campaigns, earning accolades at D&AD, Cannes Lions, One Show, and multiple Effies in 2024.
McEwan is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is widely respected for his client partnerships, creative leadership, and team-building acumen.
McEwan said of his new role: “I’m beyond excited to be joining Droga5. There’s enormous opportunity in Melbourne to unleash the creative depth at Droga5 and the world-class capabilities of Accenture Song.
“Droga5’s reputation for culturally resonant, effective work is second to none. While others talk about the future, Droga5 and Accenture Song are actively shaping it – I’m looking forward to contributing to that momentum.”
Droga5 ANZ CEO and Accenture Song ANZ Marketing Practice Lead Matt Michael added: “As we continue to shape Droga5 in Australia and New Zealand, I’m thrilled to have Michael join us. He is a natural collaborator with a strong track record of pushing for great work and building exceptional teams.
“I am greatly looking forward to working with him and watching him harness the capability we have across Droga5 and the broader Accenture Song network. His appointment reflects our commitment to investing in the Melbourne market and supporting its business and creative communities.”
In recently months, the agency has unveiled a series of appointments and reshuffles including Kit Lansdell as head of effectiveness, Barbara Humphries and Damon Stapleton as co-chief creative officers for Australia and New Zealand, and Tara Ford taking the reins as chief creative officer of Droga5 London.
Top image: Matt Michael and Michael McEwan
Canva has launched LinkedIn Ads app for the platform to help marketers create high-impact creative that’s easy to produce and to scale.
The app, now to the Canva community, is designed to streamline how marketing teams create and publish LinkedIn ad campaigns, connecting Canva’s visual communication platform directly with LinkedIn Campaign Manager.
First demoed live in the keynote at Canva Create the app gives marketers an end-to-end solution for launching scroll-stopping campaigns.
Marketers are now able to create polished video and image ads using the design platform’s templates built specifically for LinkedIn, export creative assets – including videos – directly to your LinkedIn ad account and publish campaigns based on exported Canva assets straight to LinkedIn Campaign Manager – no downloads or uploads needed.
The workflow aims to help marketers move faster, stay on-brand, and maximise performance.
With nearly 69 million company pages posting on LinkedIn and over 95% of Fortune 500 companies designing on Canva, brings the platforms together creates a more streamlined workflow to help busy marketers keep up with demand.
With LinkedIn videos generating 1.4x more engagement than static posts – and video viewership growing 36% year over year – marketers are leaning into formats that capture attention and drive connection.
This integration pairs Canva’s flexible design tools with LinkedIn’s reach and targeting power, making it easier for brands of all sizes to produce creative that actually performs.
This launch also marks the design platform’s official certification as a LinkedIn Marketing Partner. The LinkedIn Ads app joins more than 600 apps and integrations available in Canva’s Apps Marketplace – all built to help teams improve workflow efficiency, creative quality, and campaign speed.
Available now to the Canva community with a LinkedIn Campaign Manager account, this collaboration helps teams and brands boost engagement, make the most of their ad spend, and scale content marketing easily.
Melbourne-based spice company Mingle Seasoning has rolled out a bold new campaign featuring Australian adult content creator Girthmaster, as it expands distribution of its products across major supermarkets.
The campaign, titled “DTF – Down to Flavour,” introduces a range of meat rubs and seasonings now available in Coles and Woolworths nationwide. Girthmaster, who retains anonymity behind his online moniker, has been named the brand’s chief satisfaction officer and appears in a new content series and social media rollout.
Speaking to SmartCompany, Girthmaster described the collaboration as a “no-brainer,” noting, “Mingle is the kind of brand that reflects my personality. I like to eat and cook healthy and not take life too seriously.” He added that while mainstream brands may be hesitant to work with OnlyFans creators, independent companies like Mingle are more open to unconventional partnerships.
Founded in 2016 by Jordyn Evans, Mingle Seasoning has grown rapidly, now offering 25 products stocked in over 3,000 stores across Australia and New Zealand. The company claims to sell one spice bottle every 16 seconds and has doubled its business year-over-year since 2020.
Girthmasterr & Jordyn Evans.
Evans said the choice to feature an OnlyFans personality was intentional. “We’re not tied up in red tape or boardroom approvals,” she told SmartCompany. “We choose to lean into cultural relevance, storytelling, and a little cheek to stand out.”
Evans added that while some grocery brands might consider this type of collaboration risky, Mingle’s approach is about staying authentic and culturally attuned. “Authenticity matters. Girthmaster has built a following by being unapologetically himself, and that realness is exactly what cuts through in today’s content-saturated world.”
Just days after the sudden departure of 7NEWS boss Anthony De Ceglie, the Seven Network has announced a major shake-up across its sports division, unveiling two key leadership appointments with a strong focus on cricket, racing and the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
The network confirmed today that Joel Starcevic has been promoted to Head of Horse Racing and Cricket, while Anna Stone steps into the newly created dual role of Head of Commonwealth Games and Executive Producer of Cricket.
These changes come at a pivotal time for Seven.
With De Ceglie exiting after just over a year at the helm of the newsroom, the focus now shifts toward cementing the network’s dominance in premium live sport, a crucial battleground for both audience attention and advertising dollars.
Fresh faces, familiar pedigree
Starcevic and Stone are no strangers to Seven’s sport stable.
Starcevic has already been leading Seven’s cricket coverage and boasts a long production résumé spanning AFL, horse racing, the Olympics, Commonwealth Games and the Bathurst 1000.
In a statement, Starcevic said he was “honoured and proud” to lead a “talented team” of production and on-air talent delivering what he called “world-class horse racing coverage every Saturday afternoon for 52 weeks of the year.”
That coverage, available both on Seven’s main channel and 7plus, has become a cornerstone of the network’s live sport slate, offering consistent reach for sponsors and advertisers in a relatively uncluttered programming window.
Starcevic also flagged a huge summer ahead for cricket, with the Ashes returning to Australian soil, alongside a full season of the Big Bash League and WBBL.
Meanwhile, Stone moves into her new remit from her role as Executive Producer of Women’s Cricket. She previously led Seven’s Supercars coverage and played a senior role in the broadcast planning for the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
She said her appointment was “an incredible honour,” and spoke about the Commonwealth Games as a “global celebration of culture, resilience and world-class athleticism.”
“Producing coverage of Australia’s most storied sporting rivalry is always a privilege,” she added, referring to the Ashes. “We’re ecstatic to deliver every ball, every boundary and every big moment to fans around the country.”
Stone’s elevation also marks a strategic move as Seven gears up for two future Commonwealth Games. In April, the network announced an exclusive broadcast partnership with Commonwealth Sport for the 2026 Games in Glasgow.
Seven is also locked in as the official media partner for the 2030 Games, with the host city yet to be confirmed.
Seven’s long-term play in this space reinforces its status as the home of major sporting events, and underlines its pitch to advertisers looking for consistent, brand-safe environments with national reach.
Angela Rampal, currently Head of Motorsport, has also been tapped as Executive Producer of the Commonwealth Games, working alongside Stone to deliver what the network hopes will be a compelling broadcast experience across TV and digital.
As part of today’s announcement, Seven has also elevated Matthew Gray to the new role of Co-ordinating Producer of horse racing. The network is in-market for a second person to work alongside Gray, reflecting both the growth of the racing vertical and the scale of production required across multiple venues and platforms.
Chris Jones
Chris Jones, Director of Network Sport at Seven, described the appointments as a vote of confidence in Seven’s “remarkable” sport production team.
“Joel, Anna, Angela and Matt have been integral to our team for many years now,” he said. “It’s great to see them taking on these new opportunities and growing their careers at Seven.”
Today’s announcement rounds out several recent senior appointments to Seven’s sport team, which is now made up of:
Chris Jones – Director of Network Sport
Gary O’Keeffe – Head of AFL and Sport Innovation
Kirsty Bradmore – Head of Sport Digital
Joel Starcevic – Head of Horse Racing and Cricket
Anna Stone – Head of Commonwealth Games, Executive Producer Cricket
Angela Rampal – Head of Motorsport, Executive Producer Commonwealth Games
Greg Smith – Head of Production – Sport
Lisa Peach – Head of Production Management – Sport
Emma Francis – Head of Communications – Sport
Chantelle Hugo – Head of Marketing – News, Public Affairs & Sport
Simon Atkinson – Head of 7Sport Creative
LiSTNR’s The Mel Robbins Podcast has topped the April 2025 Triton Top 200 Australian Podcast Ranker, reaching a around 1.24 million Australian listeners. It’s the fourth consecutive month the podcast has topped the chart.
April’s results saw LiSTNR secure a dominant presence in the space, boasting more podcasts in the top 10 than any other network: Hamish & Andy, It’s A Lot with Abbie Chatfield, and The Imperfects.
The results further extend Southern Cross Austereo’s (SCA) dominance in the podcasting game, with LiSTNR holding firm as the #1 Sales Representation Network in the country.
SCA executive head of LiSTNR audience and growth Grant Tothill said, “It’s great to see LiSTNR continuing to drive podcast listening in Australia, with more titles in the Top 15 than any other podcast network.”
Tothill said the result was “is a strong testament to our ongoing commitment and investment in podcast creation and strategic sales partnerships.”
Other notable achievements included clocking 33 titles in the Top 100, equating to a monthly listening audience of 7.96 million across its podcast slate.
A number of shows also made solid gains including Call Her Daddy (up seven places to #12), Dan Does Footy, Triple M Footy, and The Briefing. A standout mover was Fifi, Fev & Nick, which surged 124 spots to land at #55, a leap that speaks to LiSTNR’s ability to drive discovery across its network.
Source: The Australian Podcast Ranker, Triton Digital, April 2025 results.
Suncorp and Leo Australia have launched Haven, a digital tool gives Australian homes a voice to talk about extreme weather risks and provide resilience tips to better protect their properties.
Suncorp’s Haven helps and provides homeowners with knowledge and tools in the face of worsening extreme weather, as an advocate for greater investment in resilience and mitigation initiatives to reduce the impacts of extreme weather as a result of climate change at both a community and household level.
Haven uses property, location, weather, and natural peril risk data, allowing any homeowner in Australia to enter their address, see their weather risks, and receive a tailored video and downloadable resilience report for their home. It is the first time in Australia that expert data sources have come together to tackle resilience.
The platform uses ethical AI technology to give every home a voice in a tailored video that represents its age, providing homeowners with information about their risk to cyclones, bushfires, floods and storms, and tips on how to protect their homes from future events.
The experience is captured in a detailed interactive report, providing tailored, practical resilience tips relevant to each specific weather threat.
Haven’s launch coincides with the release of new Suncorp data, revealing the extent of extreme weather risk across Australia.
Suncorp’s data shows more than 2.7 million Australian addresses are at high risk of at least one extreme weather peril, such as bushfires, floods, cyclones and storms.
“To help encourage home resilience across the country, Suncorp included extreme weather risk data for storms, cyclones, floods and bushfires in the Haven experience, therefore making resilience tips more tailored to each property,” Mim Haysom, Suncorp Executive General Manager Brand and Customer Experience, said.
“We are committed to continue finding new and innovative ways to leverage our 100 years of extreme weather experience, alongside the latest technology, to help our customers and all Australians reduce risk.”
Andy Fergusson, Chief Creative Officer at Leo Australia, added: “The Suncorp resilience journey, which includes our One House initiative, now extends to every house in Australia. And it wouldn’t have been possible without the shared vision, immense dedication, and collaboration of countless people at Leo, Suncorp, and all our production partners.”
Haven comprises live APIs and AI technologies. Leveraging Google APIs, users visualise their homes in 3D Tiles and Street View and locate nearby resilience services such as hardware stores.
CoreLogic supplies detailed property insights, helping to identify the property’s age and house type, while Geoscape’s data facilitates seamless integration between various data sources.
WillyWeather provides users with real-time weather conditions, along with other insights about anticipated future weather conditions.
The campaign launches across OOH, TV, cinema, social and influencer, and digital channels such as YouTube and Spotify.
Suncorp launched its resilience brand platform in 2021 with One House, a house designed to withstand and survive catastrophic weather conditions. This was followed by Resilience Road in 2022, where the lessons of One House were applied to five homes in one of Australia’s most disaster-prone towns, and If Your Home Could Talk in 2023.
Haven represents a continuation of Suncorp’s existing globally recognised resilience initiatives.
Credits
Clients – Suncorp Insurance
Mim Haysom – Executive General Manager Brand and Customer Experience
Rapthi Thanapalasingam – Head of Brand and Content
Travis Hughes – Manager Marketing, Suncorp
Jade Thomas – Marketing Lead, Suncorp
Yvette Braybrook – Marketing Specialist, Suncorp
Breanna Webster – Marketing Specialist, Suncorp
Development
Creative Agency – Leo Australia
Dave Bowman – Chief Creative Officer, Publicis Groupe ANZ
Andy Fergusson – Chief Creative Officer, Leo Australia
Laurent Thevenet – Head of Creative Technology, Publicis Groupe APAC
Michelle Walsh – Creative Director
Marijke Spain – Creative Director
Bec Johnson Pond – Creative Director
Daniel Stewart – Art Director
Jim Walsh – Art Director
Dan O’Bey – Writer
Michael Dawson – Writer
Chris Jovanov – Creative Technologist
Catherine King – Chief Strategy Officer
Amanda Wheeler – Chief Client Partner
Alex Barkworth – Group Business Director
Shae Jones – Senior Business Director
Tash Tollo – Business Director
Digital Production – PXP
Gary Arnas – Chief Delivery Officer
Nicole Marshall – Executive Producer
Daniel Payne – Digital Producer
Kiki Lauda – Technical Director
Janifer Wong – Senior Digital Designer
3D Animation – Prodigious Australia
Development – Le Polish Bureau
Maciej Zasada – Founding Partner / Technical Director
Tariq Duff -Partner & Group Client Director, UNIT9
Paweł Świacki / Kamil Gruszczyński – Project Managers
Łukasz Fiuk – Tech Lead
Igor Michalak – Web GL dev
Kacper Smyczyk / Mateusz Cybulski – React Dev
Adam Haj Obeid – QA
Piotr Przygoda – Head of Production
Maria Poćwiardowska / Katarzyna Kujawska – UX/UI Designers
Stanisław Ogarek – 3D Designer
Tobiasz Dziubiński / Tom Lagodzinski – Backend dev (devops)
Data & Voice Production – Hogarth
Raphael Ruz – Creative Innovation Lead
Siobhan Crowley – Senior Producer
Kayleigh Hutchinson – Junior Producer
Jaron Ransley – Abe’s Audio – Head of Production
Media – OMD Sydney
Nielsen has published its 2025 Annual Marketing Report, highlighting how marketers are adapting to shifting technologies and economic pressures.
The seventh iteration of the report surveyed 1,400 global marketing professionals between February 25 and March 6, 2025, all overseeing annual marketing budgets of at least USD$1 million.
Three core trends emerged from the findings: investment reallocation in media channels, shifts in strategic priorities, and challenges in cross-media measurement.
Retail Media Networks and Connected TV (CTV) are gaining traction, with 65% of marketers planning increased focus on retail media and 56% intending to raise OTT/CTV spend, a three-point increase from last year.
Traditional media is also seeing renewed interest, with 16% planning to boost out-of-home budgets by over 50%.
Despite these shifts, budgetary caution is apparent. Over half (54%) of global marketers plan to reduce ad spending in 2025, rising to 60% in Europe.
Brands with large budgets (over $1 billion) are prioritising AI for personalisation and optimisation, with 71% identifying it as a key trend impacting their business.
The second trend reflects marketers’ tension between brand building and direct revenue growth.
Regional discrepancies are notable: North America and Asia-Pacific report nearly even splits between brand awareness and revenue priorities, while Europe leans more heavily towards revenue (59%).
Globally, 44% of marketers are attempting to balance digital and traditional media spend, though digital remains a growing priority.
A third key finding points to a continued measurement challenge.
Only 32% of marketers report being able to measure media spending holistically across digital and traditional channels, with Latin America (29%) and Europe (23%) trailing further behind.
Barriers include fragmented data, limited tools, and inconsistent transparency, particularly in newer channels like retail media.
Alison Gensheimer, SVP of Marketing at Nielsen, noted, “Despite difficult economic uncertainties, marketers are demonstrating their inherent agility by embracing new touchpoints like Retail Media Networks and CTV… Reliable and comprehensive measurement is paramount and, at Nielsen, we are committed to ensuring measurement solutions keep pace with the complexities of modern cross-media advertising, supporting growth now and well into the future.”
This year marks Nielsen’s fourth global edition of the report, which draws insights from senior marketers across multiple industries focused on media, technology, and measurement strategies.
For more than a decade, George Wendt greeted TV audiences with a simple word, “Norm!”, and in doing so, cemented his place in sitcom history.
The beloved actor, best known for playing barstool philosopher Norm Peterson on the classic comedy Cheers, has died peacefully at the age of 76.
Wendt passed away in his sleep at home on Tuesday morning, his family confirmed via The Agency Group. “George was a doting family man, a well-loved friend and confidant to all of those lucky enough to have known him. He will be missed forever,” their statement read.
Before he became a pop culture icon on prime-time television, Wendt honed his comedy craft in Chicago’s influential Second City improv troupe, a launchpad for comedic heavyweights.
Despite a college degree in economics from Jesuit Rockhurst College, he found his calling on stage rather than in spreadsheets. It was during his time at Second City that he met his wife, actress Bernadette Birkett, who later voiced the unseen but ever-mentioned Vera, Norm’s long-suffering wife on Cheers.
His big break came in 1982 when he auditioned for what was initially a one-word role in a new sitcom set in a Boston bar. That one word? “Beer.” But the producers saw more in him.
“I was having a hard time believing I was right for the role of ‘the guy who looked like he wanted a beer’,” Wendt recalled in an interview with GQ. “So I went in, and they said, ‘It’s too small a role. Why don’t you read this other one?’ And it was a guy who never left the bar.”
The rest is small-screen history.
Wendt’s portrayal of Norm struck a nerve with audiences during a golden era of network television. His character embodied the everyman, loyal, sardonic, endlessly quotable, and his rapport with the bar’s staff and patrons became a hallmark of the show’s success.
Cheers, which ran from 1982 to 1993, not only launched careers but defined ensemble comedy.
The series became a juggernaut, pulling in 117 Emmy nominations and winning 28, including six straight nods for Wendt as Outstanding Supporting Actor. It later spawned Frasier, another ratings behemoth.
Wendt’s legacy extends beyond his own body of work. He is the uncle of Emmy-winning Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis, a fitting familial connection for a man who helped usher in a new era of character-driven comedy.
Wendt’s influence is quietly threaded through generations of sketch and sitcom performers, a reminder of how foundational ensemble shows like Cheers remain in the entertainment economy.
Wendt leaves behind his wife and three children.
Fandom is no longer a niche but rather seen as culture with 3 in 5 Australians consider themselves fans of something and spending more than $500 annually on fan-related purchases.
Snack Drawer has released a new report – Fandomination!: A Brand Growth Playbook in a Culture-Driven World – examining how fandoms are reshaping marketing, culture and consumer behaviour in 2025.
The agency identified fandom as a potent, underutilised force for brands seeking to build true cultural relevance, in an age where passive impressions are losing their power, with 70% of media investment reportedly wasted on attention that doesn’t last beyond two seconds.
“Fandoms aren’t a niche, private pursuit anymore – they are culture, ” said Hannah McElhinney, Chief Creator and Co-Founder at Snack Drawer.
“Brands that invest in building and sustaining the fandoms around their brand will win against the tide of attention decay, deepen their engagement and see an uptick in spend, while brands that continue to push content one-dimensionally will be left shouting into the void.”
Based on a nationally representative YouGov survey of 2,000 Australians, the research finds fandom is now mainstream, with 57% of Australians identifying as fans, and 32% saying their fandom forms a significant part of their identity, influencing style, conversations and daily decisions. Among Gen Z, that number rises to 75%.
The report found 66% of Australians believe brands should participate in fandoms, but only if they add real value – 20% have stopped supporting a brand because they felt the brand took advantage of the fandom and exploited fans for profit.
“Fandoms are living ecosystems, bound together by a shared passion for a creator, brand or cultural property,” says McElhinney.
“What sets fans apart from passive consumers is their deep emotional investment; they engage, connect, and build community, even in the absence of new content or brand involvement. Sneakerheads don’t need Nike’s permission to gather and Swifties don’t wait for an album drop to obsess and connect. ”
The report also found that fandoms fuel active attention with 75% of fans engaging on social media and over 50% through personal style and online communities.
Nearly half of Gen Z said in the survey that they’ll buy from a beloved brand even when they don’t need the product. Meanwhile, passionate fans will critique the brand and 60% of fans critique brands while remaining a fan.
The report also noted that fandom spans far beyond entertainment, with Australians identifying as fans across a wide range of categories: 76% are into entertainment, 48% sports, 38% food, 38% tech, 35% fashion and beauty, 29% cars and lifestyle, and 28% consumer goods.
Central to the playbook is Snack Drawer’s Fandom Tornado, a strategic model mapping fan behaviour into five tiers — from passive observers to core identity fans. This layered framework helps marketers identify how fans interact with their brand and how to deepen engagement over time.
Like a supercell storm, the most loyal and creative fans sit closest to the centre, generating memes, fan art, commentary and critique. Snack Drawer encourages brands to embrace this energy, rather than control it to help brands activate and grow their own fandoms.
Jamie Searle, CEO and Co-Founder of Snack Drawer, says fandoms are the future of brand-building, and the brands that get it right will own the next decade.
“Fandom is identity, belonging and emotional investment – everything brands need but can’t achieve through advertising alone. As media fragments and audiences scatter, fandom gives brands a way to anchor themselves to something meaningful – a shared passion people rally behind.
“Fandom gives brands across all industries a new path to relevance and loyalty. Brands that nurture fandoms now will earn loyalty that lasts far beyond the next campaign cycle.”
Top image: Jamie Searle and Hannah McElhinney
We The People has appointed Lani Cush as its new Client Service Director.
She is known for her ability to merge deep strategic thinking with bold creative execution and brings close to two decades in client service and strategy to the social-first agency.
Cush joins We The People from her recent role as Strategy Partner at Sunday Gravy, with previous senior experience as Head of Strategy at Think HQ & Hardhat prior.
Her extensive experience in social and digital marketing, audience engagement, and business transformation will be invaluable in scaling We The People’s strategic capabilities and driving even greater results for client partners.
“We The People has built a reputation for creating social programs and campaigns that actually work, creating content that brands don’t just put out into the world for the sake of it, but that people genuinely choose to engage with,” said Cush.
“I’m excited to join an energetic & vibrant team that understands the future of brand engagement and driving commercial impact. I can’t wait to help shape what’s next.”
Jacob Arnott, Managing Director of We The People, said: “Lani brings an unmatched blend of strategic acumen and brand leadership to the agency.
“Her deep understanding of audience behaviour, combined with her ability to nurture and grow teams, makes her the perfect addition to our agency as we continue to push the boundaries on social with our client partners,” he added.
With offices in Melbourne, Sydney, and Auckland, We The People has established itself as a leading agency for brands looking to create unmissable social-first work across Australia and New Zealand.
The agency’s expertise spans creative, social, paid media, content, and influencer marketing, working with brands to conquer and convert attention on social and digital platforms.
Top image: Lani Cush and Jacob Arnott
Australia’s podcast scene has hit another milestone with the Australian Radio Network’s (ARN) iHeart clinching its 60th consecutive month as the nation’s #1 podcast publisher.
Over the last five years, iHeart has not only held onto its top spot but massively expanded its footprint.
Downloads have more than doubled, while the monthly audience has surged by over 150 per cent, reaching a staggering 6.8 million listeners. April 2025 alone saw more than 22 million podcast downloads.
However, despite the milestone, the network has not recorded a single podcast in the Australian Podcast Ranker Top 10.
Corey Layton, ARN’s Head of Digital Audio, explains that hitting 60 consecutive #1 rankers isn’t just about numbers, it’s a testament to iHeart’s content strategy and its value to brands.
“We’re delivering scale, consistency, and content quality that audiences love and advertisers trust,” he says. Layton highlights how a varied slate, spanning news, pop culture, personal finance, and true crime, keeps listeners coming back.
Even flagship shows like Life Uncut and The Kyle & Jackie O Show maintain strong numbers despite breaks, proving the strength of iHeart’s portfolio.
Shows like The Daily Aus continue to resonate with younger demographics with recent launches such as the hard-hitting three-part Investigating Ozempic series diving deep into topical health trends that spark cultural conversations.
iHeart says its dominance means advertisers and brands will get access to Australia’s most engaged podcast listeners across a broad spectrum of interests and demographics.
From established hits like On Purpose with Jay Shetty and Stuff You Should Know to BBC Studios’ globally recognised Global News Podcast and gripping true crime series Stalked, the network offers a diverse playground for brands to create unmissable audio moments.
Paper Moose has appointed Hannah Day as its new Head of Production.
She joins the independent B corp full service agency from Hogarth Australia, where she served as Executive Producer. She brings over a decade of experience in both large-scale and independent agencies, she has led production across major brands including Suncorp Group, Vodafone, Subaru, and Nestlé.
In her new role, Day will spearhead the growth and evolution of Paper Moose’s production capabilities, ensuring the agency remains at the forefront of industry trends with smart, sustainable solutions. Her focus will be on delivering added value for clients at every stage of the production process.
“It’s important that clients feel just as proud of the way their work is produced as they do about the creative itself, so it’s awesome to be a part of a company that shares that vision,” said Day.
Paper Moose, originally founded as a production house, has always placed production at the heart of its business. The agency believes that having in-house production is essential to ensuring ideas pitched to clients are not only achievable within their budgets but also grounded in practical execution.
“With our origin story in entertainment, it’s great to have such an incredible producer leading our production offering once more. I am looking forward to Hannah taking our craft to yet another level,” said Nick Hunter, founding CEO of Paper Moose.
Paper Moose continues to deliver impactful campaigns for clients such as Australian Ethical, ROLLiN Car Insurance, Klook, CSIRO, NSW Gov and the federal government. With a commitment to creative effectiveness, Paper Moose recently launched Moose Review, its own proprietary creative diagnostics tool.
Top image: Hannah Day
InfoSum has announced a new suite of integrations with Amazon Ads, aimed at helping advertisers securely use their own customer data across Amazon DSP (ADSP) and Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC).
The tools are designed to improve campaign targeting, reporting, and budget optimisation, while keeping all personal data protected through InfoSum’s decentralised architecture.
Announced today, the integration leverages InfoSum’s decentralised data collaboration technology, enabling advertisers to push insights directly into Amazon Ads without exposing or transferring raw data.
This allows for functions such as audience enrichment, suppression, and retargeting to be executed across Amazon’s ecosystem, which includes Prime Video, Twitch, and Fire TV.
The integration also opens up enhanced measurement capabilities. Marketers can analyse campaign performance through AMC, using metrics like customer acquisition cost, lifetime value, and in-store impact.
More advanced tools, such as Multi-Touch Attribution (MTA) and Media Mix Modelling (MMM), are also supported, giving advertisers a detailed view of digital and offline effectiveness.
Valerie Mercurio, Vice President of Business Development at InfoSum, said the new tools address growing demands for secure, data-driven media buying.
“In 2025, it’s imperative that the media industry prioritises privacy,” Mercurio said. “Our new integration with Amazon Ads makes it easier for advertisers to activate their customer insights in a privacy-first manner while benefiting from Amazon’s rich audience insights.”
InfoSum’s platform is part of WPP’s portfolio and uses Privacy-Enhancing Technologies (PETs) to connect data sets without centralising them, aiming to make secure data collaboration easier for brands and agencies.
As Amanda Meade writes in The Guardian Australia, the move is part of a proposed revamp of the Commercial Television Code of Practice currently under review by ACMA.
If Free TV Australia gets its way, M classifications would stretch to a five-hour daytime block from 10am to 3pm.
With 35 years in the biz and over two decades specialising in casting, she’s the quiet force behind the chaos, connecting networks with talent and talent with airtime.
In a rare peek behind the curtain, she’s offered some industry secrets in this interview with David Knox in TV Tonight.
As Daanyal Saeed writes in Crikey, locals are fuming over proposed parking changes near the $38k-a-year school, with one parent unloading in a quote that made it to the headline.
The Age has since cleaned things up, and the headline’s been softened and the offending quote pulled.
The Gold Coast-born business has been sold by private equity player the Riverside Company to Hong Kong supplements group Vita Green.
As Carrie LaFrenz writes in The Australian Financial Review, Vita Green is eyeing off Asian expansion, with plans to fast-track Alpha-H’s presence across the region.
As Sarah Perillo reports for The Daily Telegraph, the Noosa-based business has collapsed, with administrators on the hunt for a buyer to salvage what’s left.
Among the long list of unpaid bills are major players like Active Apparel Group, Shopify, PayPal and American Express. Even the ATO is chasing over $800,000.
As Georgie Hewson writes for ABC.net.au, the clip shows the creator and his crew climbing a Mayan pyramid and exploring the site after dark, both of which are off-limits to the public.
Mexican authorities are now questioning whether proper permits were secured.
According to Danielle Long in The Australian, it’s been a year since the national rollout kicked off during the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, a splashy moment that grabbed the country’s attention.
But the campaign didn’t just stay on screen, NRMA has reshaped everything from logos and websites to policies and sponsorships, turning a simple promise of “help” into a full-on brand overhaul.
As Michael Liedtke writes in The Australian Financial Review, the latest update, launching soon in the US, aims to make searching feel more like chatting with a knowledgeable expert than typing keywords into a box.
This “AI mode” promises to change how people find information, offering deeper, more conversational answers across a huge range of topics.
As Sarah Patterson writes in Radio Today, in a recent bonus podcast episode, Christian revealed Jack made the decision himself and doesn’t have any new gigs lined up.
Christian described their relationship as more than just co-hosts, a mentorship that grew into a genuine friendship. “I’m heartbroken, but in the right way,” he said.
As Marina Dunbar writes in The Guardian, the paper is accused of leaning on AI, specifically ChatGPT, to whip up the recommendations, a move that didn’t quite go to plan.
Social media quickly picked up on the blunder, pointing out how the AI-generated list paired real authors with fictional books.
As Eli Greenblat writes in The Australian, backed by $400 million in cost savings, the retailer is betting it can win shoppers with cheaper shelf prices on staples from Greek yoghurt to tomato sauce.
Despite these cuts kicking in this month, a fresh JP Morgan report reveals Woolworths’ usual price edge over Aldi barely budged in May, sitting steady at around 7.7 per cent.
The character’s iconic entrance, met with a chorus of “Norm” from the bar crowd, remains one of TV’s most memorable moments.
According to news.com.au, a family spokesperson shared the news with The New York Post, describing Wendt as a devoted family man and cherished friend.