Kenny Hill has sold his Melbourne-based creative agency Akkomplice to Chris Howatson‘s three-year-old indie, Howatson+Co, 10 years after Hill left his post as managing director at M&C Saatchi Melbourne to launch the agency.

The Akkomplice team has already joined Howatson+Co in Melbourne, bringing with them a client roster including Sorbent, Slater & Gordon, and Totally Workwear. The commercial details of the sale have not been revealed.

“I have admired Kenny as an agency leader, and his unwavering commitment to his clients,” Howatson, CEO and founder of Howatson+Company, said.

“We’ve supported each other over recent years and when the opportunity came to merge our businesses and welcome Kenny and his team, it was a natural fit.”

Since its inception in 2014, Akkomplice has also worked with Kellogg’s, Darrell Lea, Mercedes-Benz, Sirena, Pringles, Choice Hotels, and Wesfarmers.

“10 years ago I saw a shift in what the market wanted and set up Akkomplice to meet these evolving needs. The response was terrific, with ambitious clients gravitating to our collaborative and agile approach to creativity,” Hill said.

“Now, 10 years on, with even greater seismic shifts afoot, the time is right to find a partner with complementary skills and values to continue to outpace the pack – and for that you really can’t look further than what Chris and his team are doing.”

Andrew Drougas joined Howatson+Company Melbourne as managing director in September.

While Akkomplice joins Drougas’ team in Melbourne, the agency in Sydney is preparing to upgrade to a bigger office space, after outgrowing the premises on Surry Hills’ Commonwealth Street.

Howatson has previously made his ambitions clear: he wants to stay medium-sized to preserve the creative product, he doesn’t want to grow beyond a headcount of 200, and his name on the door acts as a stamp of accountability.

“I’ve been really clear that we’re not doing this independent model to one day sell and say, ‘See you, bye’. I think so many indies, that’s their end game, is to get to a size, get to a level of margin, that they can then go to a holding company [and] sell,” he said late last year.

“The end game is not to get big and sell. The end game is to stay medium, and maintain a consistent creative standard for a long time.

“I think agencies don’t scale. They just don’t. They can, if you then accept a lessening of the product.”

Howatson+Co’s award-winning work includes Exhibit A-i for Maurice Blackburn, Rejected Ales for Matilda Bay, and Touch, the motion picture without pictures for blind and low vision audiences which has since been taught in film schools and entered the festival circuit. It is Canne’s reigning Independent Agency of the Year – Good.

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Top image: Kenny Hill outside of the Melbourne Howatson+Company offices

There’s been no shortage of commentary in the market about the changing face of TV. From the size of linear TV audiences, to the rise of streaming TV to the revolution in TV ratings.

To gauge one view of where the TV business is heading, Mediaweek met with Seven’s chief revenue officer Kurt Burnette. Joining him in our round table were national sales director Georgie Nichols, director 7RED Katie Finney, and national digital sales director Rachel Page.

The discussion started around audiences – both the size and how they are being bought and sold.

KB: “In line with the changes in how people are viewing content, the way TV is being sold is changing too. Seven has metro, regional and digital distribution. In the past people have bought that separately. Some still do.

“But I can’t remember the last time I walked into a client and said, ‘Can we just talk about linear TV please.’ We now just talk about an audience. How you get to the audience does not matter to a client.

“We feel that in the future the audience that watches premium video will be traded as one. Clients will be able to hit that audience in mass. Or they can decide to target to an addressable audience.”

Burnette said Seven was aiming to be able to offer a 100% addressable audiences by 2028-29. To successfully meet that target, Seven is making sure it has the right people, the right platforms and the right content.

“We believe we are leading the way in convergence – combining the audience available on metro, regional and digital. We want our customers to come on that journey with us.”

Key to Seven’s commercial future is the introduction of Total TV trading platform Phoenix. Also its internal sales structure.

Looking at his colleagues during our discussion, Burnette explained: “This is the leadership team to take us into the future.”

Seven’s sales leadership team

Georgie Nichols: Burnette – “Our national director of sales comes with an agency background in agencies and on the client side at Telstra.”

Katie Finney: “Been with Seven for many years. She’s worked in program partnerships and strategy. She works very closely with clients and she has a great understanding of how our content teams work. Leading to opportunities for clients to integrate within that.”

Rachel Page: “Our national digital sales director. She comes with experience from IMG, Network 10 and oOh!media.”

After introducing the sales leadership team, Burnette discussed the TV market landscape.

Seven’s sales leadership team [L-R] Georgie Nichols, Kurt Burnette, Katie Finney, and Rachel Page

SVOD: No room for a new player

“Right now there are two major things we believe can happen. When you look at SVOD, we believe there is no room for any more players. We are now where we are going to be. If HBO Max comes, it would replace something at Foxtel.”

Burnette did make one footnote. “There could be room for one massive gamechanger. That is the free digital streaming rights for the AFL and cricket on Seven.”

He also made reference to the impact that SVOD ad tiers could have. “There will be change when Prime Video, Disney+ and Paramount+ join Netflix and Binge with an ad tier.”

Linear viewing trends and Seven’s USP

When talking about the audience for traditional, linear TV viewing, Burnette said you could call those audience numbers flat. “There has been stability in the numbers year-on-year. With BVOD growing at 20-30%, there is total growth for FTA TV.”

He noted also the one thing that most of the SVOD players don’t have, a linear FTA service. “The combination of a free linear channel with scaled reach, with the support of digital and BVOD, is going to be the USP.

“How we sell that is convergence, which is our strategy. There is an exciting future ahead, but it will be different.”

Burnette said there is an education piece to work on about the perception of what is TV. “We still sit in rooms where people say they don’t watch television. Except they then say they get to see Australian Idol or MAFS or they watched the Women’s World Cup. We explain to them that’s what television is.

“We need to do a better job as an industry to let people know what is going on.”

Kurt Burnette

Measuring FTA with SVOD

One of the hopes for the reporting of TV is that the streaming platforms join to share audience data with advertisers. In the UK, Netflix and Prime Video are included in the TV ratings as measured by BARB. Burnette wants more players measured here too.

KB: “There is a call to arms from Seven, Nine, 10 and SBS, Foxtel too, to come together and be collaborative. We want all the SVOD players involved to make it easier for all of our customers to engage with us.

GN: “Having that data will help the traders in all of the agencies and the clients want to see it too.”

RP: “It is important to get an understanding of what the audiences are for an ad tier.”

Seven’s utopian trading world

KB: “Imagine a world where there are no make goods, there are no under deliveries or over deliveries.” A make good happens when an advertiser doesn’t get what they expected in terms of audience. They then are given a make-good, bonus spots to boost the reach to what was sold.

“How we are doing that is optimising the linear inventory to deliver the optimum way to get to an audience in real-time. On digital we are working with AI company Databricks to predict exactly what the audience is going to be.

“Even now, make goods and under deliveries are pretty rare. We will eventually completely get rid of them.”

Georgie Nichols

Phoenix being likened to Kaizen – The Japanese way of working

The Cambridge Dictionary calls Kaizen “a Japanese way of running a company by always trying to improve the way people work and what they do”. It’s a term used by Burnette to describe the concept driving trading system Phoenix.

RP: “Our teams will be converged [in Phoenix]. We are already working towards that. That’s why I am here. We are all working very closely together every day. Our staffs in regional, or in digital, are already working on how trading will look – converged in Phoenix.”

GN: “We are already trialling that in the Brisbane market. The team there is already converged. Some of the smaller independent and direct teams are also doing that in Sydney and Melbourne. We have already done 50 converged tests and we want to have about 100 tests. They have been very successful.

“It’s all about the audience and the screens. It doesn’t matter where they are viewing, it’s about how we reach them.”

KF: “We have brands that want to show up in a big way and connect with cultural moments. They can be integrated through all of Seven’s screens and beyond off-network. The audience can be mass, or super-targeted using 7Red IQ. We need to cater for all our different advertisers and how they want to be working with us.”

See also: Seven Upfront 2024 – Meet Phoenix, Seven’s total TV trading system

Using AI for content guidance

While AI is helping predict audience delivery closely after a show launches, Burnette said Seven still uses is content team to commission from the best content creators.

“They can use our data to help them make decisions though. Made in Bondi comes from an insight we gleaned from younger people on 7plus and their viewing habits.”

Rachel Page

New format Dream Home a magnet for brands

While advertisers are happy to take the audience however it comes, many have a desire to be in certain shows.

KF: “We have brands who want to be associated with our biggest sporting events and our tentpole programming. We have just had ING come on as or finance partner on Sunrise. They want to be having a conversation with viewers when they are making decisions in the morning.

“On our new format Dream Home, we have the most brands we have ever had on a new format. Because we are in a cost-of-living crisis people can’t afford to renovate their homes. They are looking to do some of the work themselves. Brands want to be part of that.”

GN: “We have so many clients who get the power of TV. There are people who are really interested in women in sport for example. We are able to work with them across women in AFLW and women’s cricket with the WBBL. Those are cultural moments when brands tell us they want to amplify their message.

“We also still get clients who come to us wanting direct response. We are working on a trial from midnight to dawn with a specific client to test what they can do from a performance point of view in that space.

“We talk to clients about all aspects of the funnel and how we can help them from brand to conversion.

“Because we have such diversity of experience in the leadership team, we can make sure we can deliver to whatever that client might need.”

RP: “Brand or performance – we can deliver on both. We have deterministic data and predictive data. We can look retrospectively or look into the future. We have some amazing premium ad format products in terms of shoppable and others.”

Katie Finney

KF: “When it comes to measurement we work with a lot of third party research providers to make sure we are delivering. They include Gemba, Adgile, Marketing Science. It depends on what we are trying to measure.

“We have been working with Gemba since 2020 on our sponsorships for both entertainment and sport. We benchmark every year how our different assets are working. We now have over 600 studies now with Gemba.”

GN: “That’s why we have so many clients who come back year after year. Particularly from a sport perspective. We do that measurement every year and they can see the impact on brand and sales.

“There is so much negativity associated with some of the discussion around the decline of linear. It’s important to look at the strength of the content we do have. We are in audience growth for H2 last year and we were in growth over the summer. We have also grown audience in Q1 2024.

“One of the things important to us is how strong our tentpoles are. We have seen growth in all of them including Australian Idol up against some very strong competition from Nine.

“Still to come is what might be the best-ever season of Dancing with the Stars. There’s strong content for younger audiences including Stranded on Honeymoon Island and Made in Bondi.

“As an industry, our audiences have stabilised from a linear perspective.”

Seven as a fundraising force & behind the negative news

Burnette stressed that his sales leadership team is about driving the very best culture. “We call it people first and we drive it particularly hard. As a company we do things like raise $77m for Perth Telethon, $23m for the Good Friday Appeal at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital and $2m+ for the Big Freeze FightMND appeal. That’s over $100m in charity.

“Overall there is a lot of good that comes from not just Seven, but other domestic media players too.”

Burnette was making his comments in a week where the headlines about what might have gone on in the company were front page.

“What has been seen over the last few weeks. We do not recognise that behaviour. We are reading it like everybody else. There are a lot of dedicated and committed people who work here who are devastated about what they are reading. A lot of it is incorrect. But clearly some mistakes have been made, and we feel it has been acted on pretty quickly.

“People who make comments about Seven need to realise there are a lot of good people in this organisation doing good work.”

The Foxtel Group has announced that Amanda Laing, Foxtel Group chief commercial and content officer and Binge managing director, has resigned and will be leaving the Foxtel Group later this year.

Laing was seen as a future potential leader of the subscription TV and streaming businesses. If of course that vacancy ever came up.

Patrick Delany on the dealmaker

Patrick Delany, CEO of the Foxtel Group said, “Since joining the Foxtel Group in 2018, Amanda has been instrumental to the Foxtel Group’s content strategy and has played a key leadership role in the transformation which has enabled us to launch Kayo, Binge, Flash and Hubbl during her tenure.

“Amanda led dozens of negotiations with US studios for content and channel acquisitions, as well as supported the business as a leading executive on our sports rights deals. She has made an outstanding contribution to the growth of subscribers and revenue that the Foxtel Group has seen during her tenure, and I thank her for the commitment and passion she has always brought to her role.”

Laing was a direct report to Delany. Reporting to Laing were the heads of content at Foxtel, including Alison Hurbert-Burns, executive director, Binge and commissioner, Foxtel Group.

See also: The dealmaker – Foxtel’s Amanda Laing on securing Warner Bros Discovery

Commenting on her decision to leave the Foxtel Group, Amanda Laing said, “I am very proud of the transformation and growth we have achieved at the Foxtel Group over the last six years. I’ve had the privilege to work across both sport and entertainment, my two great loves, to drive strategic change and to deliver the best content in the world for our customers. We are all lucky to work in an industry that values innovation, creativity, intellect and drive.

“Harnessing these to deliver revenue and negotiate innovative deals to drive growth for Foxtel Group and its partners has been my focus and I know the talented teams at the Foxtel Group will continue this work under Patrick’s leadership.”

Laing will remain with the company until September to help with the transition of leadership. Foxtel Group will reveal details of executives to take over Laing’s responsibilities before she departs. For now, Binge and the broader functions of content strategy, acquisitions, commissioning, and production will remain under her leadership.

Amanda Laing with Patrick Delany

Amanda Laing: ‘I still have business to take care of’

Earlier in the day, Laing shared her thoughts on her departure on a LinkedIn post.

It’s hard but not impossible to express in a snappy LinkedIn post how much I’ve loved my time at the Foxtel Group and how proud I am of all that has been achieved while I’ve been here. Fox Sports Australia and Foxtel had just merged when I started in 2018 so we immediately set about optimising the potential of the newly merged entity.

First, we needed to restructure and renegotiate the content deals to provide us with the foundations to successfully launch Kayo Sports, Binge and later Flash. Then we needed to cement our position as a partner of choice for studios, talent, channels, production partners and apps. We drove the new streaming businesses hard and kept the legacy businesses firing. We transformed our cost base and drove greater revenues, and our clever, passionate teams rose to the occasion on every occasion.

I’ll be at Foxtel Group for the next few months, so I am not signing off – I still have plenty of business to take care of – but I wanted to take the opportunity today to acknowledge the terrific people and remarkable successes of the last 6 years.

Started career in legal for Kerry Packer

Laing began her media career as a general counsel. First for Kerry Packer’s Australian Consolidated Press (ACP) in 1999 and then for PBL Media for a total of 14 years.

She then segued into Nine first as commercial director and group general counsel and then as managing director until mid-2017. The following year she joined the Foxtel Group where she has been for just over six years.

By Vanessa Lyons, CEO at ThinkNewsBrands

The phasing out of third-party cookies is driving a fundamental shift in media planning, with a renewed focus on contextual advertising as a privacy-conscious and effective alternative.

With contextual advertising, the media is the indicator of audiences’ needs and interests and the strategy by which to target them. As such, selection of the right media based on needs and interests is fundamental to success.

But other factors including diversity of content, relevance, reach and trustworthiness are also crucially important and planners should consider these when making their selections.

Within this context, Total News Publishing emerges as one of the best media types for contextual advertising campaigns.

Diversity of content

Written news publishing covers a wide range of topics, from politics and business, to lifestyle and entertainment, to sport and culture. It also features sector and industry-based content including automotive, financial, technology, food, education and many others.

This rich content landscape provides ample opportunities for advertisers to reach diverse audiences based on their needs, interests, and the reasons and contexts in which they are consuming content.

Reach

High-reach media that can carry relevant content is particularly important in contextual advertising because it helps ensure as many appropriate people as possible are exposed to the advertising.

The latest Roy Morgan readership figures show written news reaches 97% of Australians (or 21.4m) aged 14+ each month. That is a staggering number.

It means written news has the power to deliver large audiences, regardless of age, income level, location or any other segmentation factor, ensuring more of the right people are exposed to any given campaign.

Relevance

A recent nationwide study of more than 2,000 Australians covering media perceptions and behaviours found written news is the most relevant high reach channel for contextual advertising – more than search, social media, radio, online video or TV.

Relevance has always been fundamental to contextual advertising (and advertising generally) because consumers see the ads as more aligned to their current purpose, useful, informative, and less disruptive. This increases engagement which leads to brand memorability and propensity to purchase, key ROI KPIs.

Trustworthiness

If media is considered trustworthy and credible, ads shown within it are more likely to be perceived as relevant and reliable by the audience. For contextual advertising, this is of vital importance.

Journalists and editors create and fact-check written news everyday, so ads appear alongside quality, safe and trusted content, and nothing inappropriate.

No wonder a recent study by FiftyFive5 found that advertising in Total News Publishing is considered 18% more trustworthy when indexed to all other media.

As a greater focus is placed on contextual advertising, Total News Publishing stands out as a media type of immense promise. Media planners everywhere should invest in its powers and qualities.

Find out how Total News Publishing can improve your media mix [email protected]

ThinkNewsBrands helps advertisers and their agencies understand how advertising in today’s news content drives real business results.

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This story is in partnership with ThinkNewsBrands

Mastercard in Australia has appointed Florencia Aimo as its new vice president, integrated marketing and communications, Australasia. Her appointment follows Kirsty Redfearn‘s departure from the position last month, after just over 12 years with the company.

She will report to Mastercard’s division president of Australasia, Richard Wormald, and its executive vice president, integrated marketing and communications, Asia Pacific, Julie Nestor.

She moves from her previous post as senior area director of marketing for the Australia, New Zealand and Pacific region at Marriott International. There she led marketing strategies through brand, public relations, digital, loyalty and partnerships to raise brand awareness and drive hotel performance across a portfolio of 46 hotels and 15 brands.

Aimo spent just shy of nine years at the hospitality giant in various marketing positions. During her time, she supervised the launch of 20 new hotels and introduced six new brands to the Australian market, including Aloft, Moxy, The Ritz-Carlton, and W Hotels.

Prior to Marriott, Aimo tenured at Hilton for ten years.

Earlier this week, Mastercard announced its Australian-first motion picture without pictures, Touch, was now being taught in film schools and entering the international film festival circuit, following its premiere at the Westpac OpenAir cinemas in February.

The production and creative were led by Mastercard’s agency partner, Howatson+Company, with the creative agency bringing together blind and low vision (BLV) and non-BLV collaborators from around the world.

See Also: Mastercard and H+Co’s film for low vision audiences hits festival circuit

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Top Image: Florencia Aimo

MasterChef Australia and Crown Resorts have launched a new pop-up restaurant called ALUMNI at Crown Melbourne. 

ALUMNI will see a rotating cast of MasterChef Australia alumni serve dishes at the pop-up restaurant for a limited time.

Each ALUMNI chef will take up a rotating residency for three weeks, commencing with Kishwar Chowdhury (16 May-2 June), then Callum Hann (6-23 June) and Khanh Ong (27 June-14 July), with a surprise fourth MasterChef Australia chef to be announced in late June. 

The restaurant is a collaboration between media agency Initiative, integrated creative agency Mediabrands Content Studio, Paramount Brand Studio, and Endemol Shine Australia. ALUMNI is the latest launch to support Crown’s brand platform “Here’s Where Things Get Interesting”, which rolled out in September 2023. 

Rod Prosser, chief sales officer, Paramount Australia, said this announcement is breaking new ground for the MasterChef franchise.

“The Paramount Brand Studio team has amplified this audience opportunity and worked closely with our partners to create a remarkable brand extension and experience like nothing we’ve seen before in Australia.

“It’s a direct hit with consumer desire and we can’t wait for Australians to see, smell, touch and taste MasterChef Australia at ALUMNI.”

“There’s media sponsorships, brand collaborations and then there’s audacious ideas like this,” added Chris Colter, chief strategy and product officer at Initiative. “Both these iconic brands have more than come to the table, harnessing their entire experience ecosystems to maximise the cultural and commercial potential of this partnership.

“I couldn’t be more proud to see this come to life, and have already reserved my table at ALUMNI.”

Awareness of ALUMNI will be driven via the MasterChef Australia franchise including integrated billboards, a social campaign across all platforms, in-house promotion throughout Crown venues in Perth and Sydney and the launch of a bespoke TVC featuring the celebrity chef lineup nearer ALUMNI’s opening date. 

MasterChef Australia’s Season 16 premiere recorded a total TV national reach of 1,423,000, a total TV national audience of 776,000, and a BVOD audience of 57,000.

See also: MasterChef Australia team on S16: ‘Viewers are going to connect in a way maybe they haven’t for several years’

By Tyler Greer, general manager of client strategy, solutions and CPM – Newsamp VIC, SA and WA

I used to travel to South Africa annually for work. Nice place, if you’re careful. The plane ride there is long and unusual in its route. Leaving Australia via Sydney, the flight path takes you south, very south, until you hit the air space of Antarctica. From there, you skirt the edge of the frozen continent for about nine hours before veering northward to J’burg.

And if you believe the talk, this middle part of the journey, spent at the bottom of the world, is so isolated, it is completed in the absence of connection to, well, anyone. The plane is off the grid. Trying concentrating on your movie knowing that. Contact is only re-established once the flight gets nearer to Africa.

Whether this is true or not doesn’t stop me from telling it to anyone who will listen. And it puts me in mind of another journey for which we often, as advertisers and marketers, feel we lose contact through the middle – the consumer journey. This has become known, thanks largely to Google, as ‘The Messy Middle’, and it describes the non-linear process through which decisions are made, incorporating consideration, research, evaluation, comparison, and a whole bunch of other stuff both media and non-media related, experienced on the way to purchase. More than anything, it is the moment at which brand marketers and media buyers feel they have the least contact with their audiences.

To complete the plane trip analogy, consumers are ‘on the radar’ early when targeted with awareness building media, disappear from view through the middle part of the journey, only to re-emerge again closer to market once they have indicated (deliberately or otherwise) they are nearing purchase. Data fragmentation from third party cookie shut down is going to make this signal loss even more acute, further robbing planners of a line of sight.

It is unlikely that consumers feel as challenged. It is, after all, the moment in which they have the most control.

And this may be the most misunderstood aspect for marketers. Early exposure to brands is generally unsought – out of home billboards, radio ads, digital display and pre-roll, and all the other solid placements some of us make a living out of thrusting in front of people – and closer to purchase they are retargeted, often relentlessly.

But the middle part belongs to them. Here, they can take their time, choosing what they wish to consume and learn about products. It’s up to them what they watch or listen to, what they read about. Vexingly, the pace at which they do this is also completely up to them.

If we understand that sense of audience control, we can plan accordingly. Brene Brown, though speaking to the creative process rather than the purchase process, says that ‘the middle is messy but it is also where the magic happens’. Indeed, given that this middle of the funnel moment is where preferences are settled on and decisions made, for brands it can be magic. It is a part in which they can exert significant influence.

This apparent messiness means we spend insufficient time planning for it, but the ways in which we can engage and pursue consumers at this point in their pathway are manifold. Video content is the most obvious. We fixate on bite sized content because we recognise, rightly or wrongly, that attention spans will only accept 6” or less. And for some formats, that may be true. But medium and long form content have critical roles to play in providing brand comprehension.

There is something else that is of crucial importance when it comes to content length: almost everything over 30” in length is viewed at the users’ discretion. Meaning, to activate such content, the audience must choose to watch it. And whilst there won’t be as many of those audience members as there are suffering the albeit short interruption of bite sized short videos, the nature of their opted-in viewership makes them a more likely prospect. Where effective targeting falls short, audience control fills in the gaps.

Written content, particularly integrated native, offers another opportunity to move consumers from awareness, through consideration, and into the pointier end of the funnel. Video may dominate our thinking, but people still like to read. They also like to listen, and the intimacy audio offers is another powerful way for brands to hold longer engagement with audience members.

Instinctively, we get it. I have had a ton of conversations with marketers across the years who leap at the chance to produce and distribute content, activate creative experiences and ad units, and find fresh ways to tell their brand stories. Time spent with their brand is, to traditional marketers at least, of inherent value. It is when it comes to measurement that confidence starts to waiver. Attribution in the middle of the journey can be less clear, or at least not as directly and immediately attributable to outcomes as measuring awareness and exposure at the beginning, and acquisition at the end. But as the bridge between the two, it makes it no less important to activate.

At Newsamp, where I work, we spend a lot of time with Kantar, measuring campaigns. And we do so because much of what we do involves creative integration. That means we help brands tell stories through the storytelling of our own published brands. Testing for brand uplift and awareness is not enough; comprehension and affinity matters too.

Critically, a focus on these goals achieve something greater for brands in their overall health. Newsamp-generated campaigns have consistently rewritten the Kantar brand norms for across the past five years and much of it is a focus on middle funnel activity including native, content, and integrated storytelling. In other words, giving audiences the opportunity to spend time with your brand is healthy for it.

Talk of the ‘collapsing’ funnel makes it all feel very out of fashion, but that doesn’t make it wrong.

There is likely little new thinking in this piece about why the middle matters, but we seem to keep talking about it as the third, forgotten child of the Funnel Family. But it is helpful, perhaps, to reframe this not as a point of mess and unhelpful signal loss, but a point at which the audience enters the cockpit and steers the plane in the direction it finds most helpful or appealing.

If we accept this idea, we can better understand the kinds of gateways to content and information they may be seeking out. And we can begin apportioning appropriate value to those who have made time with brand a choice.

The part of the journey that exists between awareness and conversion is not linear but it is no less valuable for it, nor is there less opportunity for brands to exert influence. There have never been more channels or more creative opportunities for brands to offer engagement gateways to audiences and, in doing so, facilitate time spent between the two. Don’t waste it.

The Brag Media has extended its exclusive ANZ commercial partnership with Playwire, a global ad tech provider that reaches more than 10 million people in Australia and New Zealand every month. 

Playwire has over 250 unique audience segments, customisable segment development, and data collection and retargeting capabilities. The Playwire network includes 150+ gaming communities with video and custom media across web, app, in-game, and console, and includes partnerships with names such as Roblox and Minecraft.

The deal renewal means The Brag Media now offers agencies and clients direct programmatic solutions, and direct IO across Playwire, while Playwire’s proprietary Revenue Amplification Management Platform (RAMP) powers The Brag Media network of publishers to optimise campaign efficiency and minimise media wastage.

Playwire’s network also provides access to media solutions for movie, TV, and streaming campaigns through sites like Letterboxd, as well as music audiences through sites such as Genius and Discogs.

The Brag Media general manager, Jessica Hunter, said the partnership was “a huge win for our clients in the gaming space. 

“This goes beyond just maintaining exceptional advertising – it’s about unlocking new possibilities for our clients to achieve their goals, all while prioritising quality, transparency, and brand safety.” 

James Haley, EVP of International Sales at Playwire, added: “The Brag Media’s growth over the last year has been impressive, and the choice to partner with them for our growth in Australia was easy.  

“This partnership underscores our commitment to providing innovative, effective advertising solutions while ensuring quality, transparency, and performance to our advertisers. We’re excited to see the remarkable results this collaboration will bring to our clients and stakeholders.”

The partnership renewal comes at the same time as The Brag Media has launched its new corporate website, working to improve the user experience for both advertisers and partner stakeholders – with campaign case studies including Adidas, Jim Beam, and Bonds. 

Hunter said: “The Brag Media’s success lies in understanding a key market need for simplified campaign solutions. Of course, our key media brands are a vital pillar to the business, but we’ve now levelled up and become a cultural media agency and content hub for brands. 

“The Brag Media’s revamped website communicates this unique proposition to current stakeholders, prospective clients, and the media industry more widely.”

See also: Crowded House and Angus & Julia Stone headline 2024 Rolling Stone Awards

News Corp Australia will publish The Lost Letters from the Anzacs of Gallipoli tomorrow in an eight-page special across its state and regional mastheads.

More than 100 years after they were written, Australians will be able to read first-hand accounts from soldiers across the ranks, revealing the Anzacs as they actually were.

The handwritten letters, kept safe by the Australian War Memorial, were sent home to family members, and have been transcribed for this eight-page special on ANZAC Day.

Peter Blunden, national executive editor, said: “The Gallipoli letters provide a deeply personal and poignant insight into the courage of Australian troops on the frontline.

“It’s truly remarkable that it has taken more than 100 years for these heartbreaking Anzac letters from the trenches to surface.

“They make compelling and inspiring reading for all Australians this ANZAC Day.”

The diggers’ tales include Arthur Blackburn’s description of the 10th Australian Infantry Battalion’s Gallipoli landing in a letter to his brother, dated 3 June 1915, and brigadier Harold Edward ‘Pompey’ Elliott‘s account of the horrors of the battlefield to his wife.

General John Monash was just as open in his letters to his wife. In a letter penned on the eve of the landing, he grappled with the prospect of his death, saying his “one regret” was the grief that it would cause his family. But “with the full and active life I have had, I need not regard the prospect of a sudden end with dismay,” he wrote.

The Lost Letters will be published tomorrow in The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, The Courier-Mail and The Advertiser, as well as Cairns Post, Gold Coast Bulletin, Townsville Bulletin, The Mercury, NT News and Geelong Advertiser.

Cancer Chicks has launched a new brand platform and campaign ‘FUCC It’ via Mediabrands Content Studio (MBCS) and Initiative’s purpose-led consulting division, Initiative IMPACT.

The provocative platform, ‘FUCC It’, aims to liberate young women living with cancer, while encouraging Australians to keep the conversation going in support of young women dealing with the disease.

The platform aims to make its tagline “a cultural catch cry” that empowers young women not to let cancer, severe chronic and terminal illness define their lives. The campaign’s 30 second hero film tells the empowering story of three such women, brand ambassadors Sharni, Rhiannon and Carlina, who tell their story of reclaiming the normalcy in their lives amid their cancer battles.

The campaign will be rolled out across a multi-channel strategy including screens, radio, OOH, social, print, all amplified by influencers, brand ambassadors and public relations.

MBCS’ general manager, Marshall Campbell, said the team knew it needed a provocative idea to cut through the charity clutter. “There is something liberating in saying ‘F*&% It, I’m doing it anyway’ and that became the basis of CC’s new brand platform, which encourages young women to ‘Be Who You Are, Cancer or Not’,” he said.

“Cancer is often portrayed as a source of sadness and despair, but FUCC It stands out from the norm and seeks to reshape the narrative towards one of empowerment and defiance, rather than yielding to the constraints imposed by illness.”

The work follows MBCS’ February announcement that it had appointed creative duo Laura Murphy and Abby Clark.

See also:
MBCS welcomes creative duo Laura Murphy and Abby Clark
Orphan says ‘They need our help’ in latest for children’s cancer research

Credits:

Client: Cancer Chicks
Rikki Stern: Co-founder
Melissa Fein: Board member and Initiative Australia CEO
Michele Molnar: Co-founder
Katrina Konstas: Board member
Kiki Paul: Board member
Adele Greenberg: Board member
Tresna Karras: Board member

Creative agency: MBCS
Olivia Warren: Managing director
Marshall Campbell: General manager
Luke Simkins: Group creative director
Shanan Goldring: Creative director
Livia Canto: Senior producer
Jacob Abi-Arrage: Director/editor
Abby Clark: Copywriter 
Laura Murphy: Art Director
Ryan Beetson: Grade
Jonathan Baker: DOP
Nadia Stone: Stills photographer
Collaboration with MIK Studios

Initiative – Media Agency
Chris Colter: Chief Strategy and product officer
Danielle Galipienzo: Head of Initiative IMPACT
Triere Anthony: Client director
Sarah Moore: Client director
Summer Treseder: Strategy manager

Mable has partnered with Val Morgan Cinema through EssenceMediacom to extend its partnership with HOYTS Sensory Screenings until July 2024.

The online disability and aged care support platform became Australia’s first-ever sensory screening partner in July last year, with the brand sponsoring all screenings across the country.

HOYTS Sensory Screenings are sensory-friendly screenings that have been designed to provide a comfortable and enjoyable cinema experience for individuals with sensory needs.

As part of the session, the lights are dimmed, and the volume is softened so people with autism or sensory needs can feel safe.

Pippa Berlocher, CEO of EssenceMediacom, said: “With Mable’s business connecting people looking for disability or aged care support with local independent support workers, it is important we are investing in solutions that foster a more inclusive and accessible experience for all. HOYTS Sensory Screenings provide us with an opportunity to reach our audience in a sensory-inclusive environment and we are delighted to be continuing our partnership by sponsoring sessions for all cinema-goers to enjoy.”

Mable’s head of marketing and communication, Guillaume Papillon, added: “We’ve found HOYTS Sensory Screenings to be a strong media channel to talk to our audience in a very relevant environment. More importantly, renewing our sponsorship is a great opportunity for us to keep supporting more inclusive experiences for people with disability in Australia, so more people can live their kind of independence.”

Stephanie Mills, director of sales, marketing and content at HOYTS, said: “Our Sensory Screenings have always been about offering a tailored and inclusive experience for those with sensory needs, and this partnership represents our shared dedication to fostering a more inclusive, understanding, and connected community.”

The brands made the point that HOYTS Sensory Screenings deliver a unique advertising opportunity to connect with hard-to-reach audiences.

“We are always working with our partners to innovate and expand our advertising solutions and HOYTS Sensory Screenings are a prime example of a hyper-targeted opportunity fit for brands like Mable,” Paul MacGregor, Val Morgan’s director of strategy and marketing, said.

“A partnership like this has effectively zero wastage and maximum attention, which makes it such a valuable opportunity to be part of.”

HOYTS Sensory Screenings run on the last Sunday of each month across all HOYTS locations.

oOh!media has launched the first 3D anamorphic (3DA) out of home display in Perth’s Yagan Square.

The outdoor advertising and media company’s creative and innovation hub, POLY, partnered with Scitech for the inaugural campaign.  

Scitech is a not-for-profit that brings to life engaging and entertaining science experiences through its Scitech Discovery Centre and to people across Western Australia. 

The campaign for Scitech’s ‘Human Potential’ exhibition, imagined by Initiative, developed by creative agency RARE, and built by Last Pixel, is the first advertiser to feature on oOh!’s inaugural 3DA site in Perth’s city centre.

Richard Moore, production and content director, POLY, said: “oOh! continues to invest in adding scalable 3D and 3DA technology to our digital network across Australia. It maximises creative impact, capturing significantly more attention than static digital creative, to make brands unmissable.

“We’re excited to have partnered with Scitech, this campaign is a great example of collaboration between the creative agency, client, media agency and media provider.  The interactive visuals created for the campaign are a perfect choice to showcase its arrival in Perth.”

Lina Rudinskaite, marketing manager, Scitech said: “We’ve been waiting for 3DA in Perth for a long time. To be the first to experience this technology that brings our Scitech exhibition visuals to life is incredibly unique and a powerful new way to engage with our audience.”

The outdoor advertising and media company noted that large format digital OOH screens are 35% more likely to capture attention, with iconic locations driving a 27% greater emotional response compared to standard large format screens.  

Perth’s Yagan Square becomes the latest full motion 3DA site from oOh!, joining The Bourke in Melbourne – a six-storey high 3DA screen and the largest outdoor animated site in Australia, and The Macquarie Centre located in Sydney.

See also: oOh! launches full motion 3D Anamorphic offering in Sydney and Brisbane

Ardent has been appointed to lead the public relations campaign for The Fred Hollows Foundation.

The independent agency will support the not-for-profit across earned media relations, ambassador procurement, influencer engagement, and social media amplification for two major community fundraising events in 2024.

For almost 32 years, The Fred Hollows Foundation has restored sight to more than 3 million people and currently works in over 25 countries worldwide, including across Indigenous Australian communities.

Tapping into Ardent’s strategic creativity and integrated and collaborative PR storytelling, the campaign aims to build brand awareness and loyalty among a new generation of supporters across two community fundraising events, Fred’s Big Run and the Sydney Harbour Hike.

Esther Au, head of communications at The Fred Hollows Foundation, said the partnership and importance of the Foundation’s community events in propelling the charity’s mission to eliminate avoidable blindness worldwide.

“Events like Fred’s Big Run and the Sydney Harbour Hike bring people together for a physical challenge while helping many more people learn about and support The Foundation’s work.

“This campaign will drive novel and engaging approaches to community engagement, helping us raise vital brand awareness and funds.”

The Ardent team

Elouise Hahn, Ardent’s chief operating officer, credited the agency’s full-service mindset and creative strategic solutions for the appointment. ​

“We are thrilled to embark on this journey with The Fred Hollows Foundation, leveraging our seamless integrative appraoch and creative thinking to add our mark on what is an iconic Australian charitable legacy.”

“It is Ardent’s ethos and passion to seamless and personalised growth strategies that blend transparency and honest accountability enabling us to find affinity with our partners across categories and propel our growth trajectory as an integrated agency.”

The Fred Hollows Foundation account adds to Ardent’s growing roster of not-for-profit partners, including award-winning regional and rural care provider, Whiddon, international aid agency, Action on Poverty, heartkids, Spinal Cure and several leading independent schools.

See also: Ardent welcomes new additions to its Sydney team and client portfolio

78% of Australian consumers will only purchase from brands that are trustworthy, while 88% have expressed a preference for brands that make them feel good.

The Science of Loyalty report by Intuit, the financial technology platform behind Intuit TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks, and Mailchimp, examined findings from a survey of 4,000 consumers across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

It looked into consumer behaviour and insights marketers can take to build loyalty and cultivate meaningful relationships between their brand and its customer base.

The Intuit report also revealed ease of purchase was the top brand association for Australians, with 97% of repeat purchasers saying their preferred brand makes it quick and easy to purchase, a cost-effective solution to the rising costs and resources it takes to acquire new customers.

Michelle Taite, chief marketing officer at Intuit Mailchimp, said: “Loyalty is more important than ever.”

“Our study found that 78% of Australian consumers will only purchase from brands that are trustworthy, highlighting the significance of establishing a strong connection while guaranteeing credibility. However, surprisingly, only 50% of shoppers expect brands to reward them with deals and discounts, highlighting the changing patterns of consumer loyalty.”

“In today’s ever-changing business landscape, characterised by overwhelming amounts of data and endless options, brands and marketers should be equipped with the tools and resources needed to build marketing strategies that make an impact and build meaningful connections that drive loyalty with their customers,” added Taite.

The Commitment Spectrum

The report also found that consumer loyalty falls on a spectrum, ranging from inert, habitual, dedicated and fandom.

What many brands and marketers view as the pinnacle of loyalty – fandom – is characterised by a strong emotional bond and shared values amongst the brand’s community. According to the Intuit report, only 13% of global respondents belonged to the fandom loyalty group.

Experts like Richard Shotton, author of The Illusion of Choice, have cautioned that such affiliations can be extremely hard to cultivate and may not make sense for every brand. Most brands are likely to have a mix of all of these customers, and a good strategy should have tactical approaches that target different levels of commitment.

He said: “I think a goal like loyalty, whereby people avoid better alternatives out of a sense of obligation or genuine passion, is phenomenally hard to achieve. The danger is that marketers overestimate their chances of achieving that and maybe convert their budget into smaller sales rather than [pursuing] the much, much simpler goal of habit.”

The 12 Tactics of Loyalty

The Intuit report outlined 12 Tactics of Loyalty to assist brands and marketers with building meaningful relationships with consumers. 

1. Smart exposure: Be top-of-mind with strategically placed brand codes and symbols. Almost half (46%) of Australian repeat purchasers said they know a lot about the brands they purchase from. This rises to 60% globally among Fandom purchasers, who feel they know the brand best.”

2. Familiar foundations: Build familiarity by showing up in trusted spaces. About half (48%) of repeat purchasers in Australia said that recommendations from friends or family help them decide what to buy.

3. Choice validation: To encourage renewed commitment, help customers feel justified in their choice. Only 52% of inert and 51% of habitual customers globally had a very favourable opinion of their preferred brand, but this rises to 84% among fandom purchasers.

4. New routines: Build repeat purchases into your customer’s routine. Routines are powerful drivers of loyalty. 25% of Australian consumers will repeatedly purchase from the same brand because it’s part of their routine. Globally, 35% of those who purchase on a daily or weekly basis said their preferred brand was the only one they’d consider (vs 22% among those purchasing monthly or less).

5. Smooth selling: Remove obstacles that could disrupt customers’ shopping journeys. Ease of purchase was the no.1 brand association for Australians with 97% of repeat purchasers saying their preferred brand makes it quick and easy to purchase; this was the number one brand association for repeat purchase shoppers. 

6. Easy decisions: Create friction-free experiences that combat choice fatigue. Half (49%) of all email subscribers in Australia explore new product offerings through brand emails and 42% went on to make a purchase after reading the message.

7. Gift giving: Promote organic peer-to-peer marketing through gift giving. Less than half (36%) of Australian customers have recommended their preferred brand to friends or family, and only 20% have given it as a gift), revealing an untapped opportunity for brands to spread the word. However, globally, this increases among 18-24 year olds, of which 43% have recommended their preferred brand to family and friends and 30% have given it as a gift.

8. Insider status: Help customers feel heard by asking for, and responding to, feedback. The most popular method of contact is email with over half (55%) of Australian shoppers looking to keep in touch with brands this way and 22% subscribed to an email/mailing list – the highest among surveyed countries. Other popular methods of contact are SMS (20%) and social media (16%). If a brand can’t offer quality customer service across channels, 1 in 4 said they would consider switching brands.

9. Meaningful rewards: Personalise reward programs with customer lifestyles to boost satisfaction. While 50% of repeat Australian purchasers said they’d like their preferred brand to provide them with deals or discounts, rewards aren’t always about monetary incentives. In fact, 88% said their preferred brand made them feel good, which was the second biggest driver of loyalty, after consistency.

10. Game on: Gamify your rewards to foster a sense of achievement and fun. 28% of repeat purchasers in Australia said they’d like to receive loyalty reward perks from their preferred brand. However, only 18% have joined a loyalty benefits program, suggesting untapped potential.

11. Shared interests: Build emotional resonance by aligning with a cultural niche or value. 31% of Australian consumers said they would consider switching brands due to environmental impact (13%) or unethical manufacturing (18%).

12. Sense of ownership: Actively engage consumers to foster a sense of co-collaboration. Customers are keen to provide their thoughts and experiences to brands, with over 1 in 4 (24%) Australian email subscribers participating in surveys or feedback.

Forethought research has found just 3.3% of Australians ranked education as a top priority for the federal budget, well behind the cost of living (53%), healthcare (13%), and housing (13%).

The marketing advisory, strategy, and analytics company’s study revealed that universities are not a funding priority in education. Only 14% of Australians think they should be, compared with schools (44%) and childcare (29%), which take the top spots.

Forethought’s research, conducted in March this year, follows the release of the Australian Universities Accord on 25 February: a 12-month review of Australia’s higher education system, led by a panel of eminent Australians and chaired by professor Mary O’Kane AC.

The Government invested $2.7 million to deliver the Accord with the objective of devising recommendations and performance targets that will improve the quality, accessibility, affordability and sustainability of higher education.

The advisory company’s research also found Australians would prefer to increase the quality of teaching and learning, provide greater financial assistance for students cost of living while studying, and minimise the impact of study debt for students after graduating. Meanwhile, only 19% of Australians agreed that more workers need degrees.

Rebekah Antonucci, director of education at Forethought, said: “There are many important recommendations in the Accord, but now it comes down to where the priorities lie and where upcoming budgets will allocate spend.”

She said Forethought’s research highlights to the minister for education Jason Clare and the sector that everyday Australians don’t think investing in higher education is as important as other areas.

“Heading into an election year, increasing investment in higher ed would be a hard sell. Additionally, where investment is made, Australians would prefer to see a focus on the quality of the higher education offer and minimisation of the increasing financial burden for students.

“The challenge extends to universities themselves and the perception of the sector: Australians are sceptical about university spending. We found that many don’t believe universities are under financial strain or that they allocate their money in the right areas.

“They were also significantly less trusted than TAFEs as a collective. This highlights that it’s not just a job for government, but for universities themselves to be better at demonstrating the value and impact of their programs.”

–

Top image: Rebekah Antonucci

Monday 22 Apr 2024: VOZ Total TV Ratings Overnight Top 30 – Programs ranked on reach

Total People TV Ratings

Nine’s LEGO Masters recorded a total TV national reach of 1,752,000, a total TV national audience of 728,000, and a BVOD audience of 48,000.

Nine’s A Current Affair recorded a total TV national reach of 1,634,000, a total TV national audience of 1,053,000, and a BVOD audience of 65,000.

Seven’s Farmer Wants a Wife recorded a total TV national reach of 1,698,000, a total TV national audience of 923,000, and a BVOD audience of 83,000.

Also on Seven, Home & Away recorded a total TV national reach of 1,333,000, a total TV national audience of 843,000, and a BVOD audience of 94,000.

10’s airing of MasterChef Australia recorded a total TV national reach of 1,423,000, a total TV national audience of 776,000, and a BVOD audience of 57,000.

See Also: TV Report 22 April 2024: MasterChef Australia ushers in new era with the help of Jamie Oliver

People 25-54

Nine’s LEGO Masters:
• Total TV nation reach: 628,000
• National Audience: 328,000
• BVOD Audience: 31,000

Nine’s A Current Affair:
• Total TV nation reach: 525,000
• National Audience: 300,000
• BVOD Audience: 37,000

10’s MasterChef:
• Total TV nation reach: 556,000
• National Audience: 290,000 
• BVOD Audience: 35,000

Seven’s Farmer Wants a Wife:
• Total TV nation reach: 537,000
• National Audience: 269,000
• BVOD Audience: 46,000

Seven’s Home & Away:
• Total TV nation reach: 436,000
• National Audience: 270,000
• BVOD Audience: 54,000

People 16-39

Nine’s LEGO Masters:
• Total TV nation reach: 242,000
• National Audience: 114,000
• BVOD Audience: 16,000

Nine’s A Current Affair:
• Total TV nation reach: 199,000
• National Audience: 100,000
• BVOD Audience: 19,000

10’s MasterChef:
• Total TV nation reach: 243,000
• National Audience: 130,000 
• BVOD Audience: 20,000

Seven’s Farmer Wants a Wife:
• Total TV nation reach: 225,000
• National Audience: 113,000
• BVOD Audience: 26,000

Seven’s Home & Away:
• Total TV nation reach: 190,000
• National Audience: 113,000
• BVOD Audience: 33,000

Grocery Shoppers 18+

Nine’s LEGO Masters:
• Total TV nation reach: 1,258,000
• National Audience: 496,000
• BVOD Audience: 38,000

Nine’s A Current Affair:
• Total TV nation reach: 1,218,000
• National Audience: 797,000
• BVOD Audience: 52,000

10’s MasterChef:
• Total TV nation reach: 1,098,000
• National Audience: 601,000 
• BVOD Audience: 46,000

Seven’s Farmer Wants a Wife:
• Total TV nation reach: 1,338,000
• National Audience: 741,000
• BVOD Audience: 67,000

Seven’s Home & Away:
• Total TV nation reach: 1,042,000
• National Audience: 665,000
• BVOD Audience: 75,000

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.

TV Report 23 April 2024:

Nine TV Report

LEGO Masters

Nine’s evening began with the sixth episode of LEGO Masters.

The LEGO Masters teamed up with K-Mart and created teams of four to build a visual spectacular that will be displayed in a real-life K-Mart store.

Team America and Australia’s Dianne and Shane won the challenge, building a LEGO Theme Park. 

Brickman was confused by a decision to put a minifigure with a tool box at the edge of the build, seemingly doing nothing. He felt it was out of place and mentioned that all minifigures should have a purpose when building.

A Current Affair

Over on A Current Affair, elderly residents are living in fear after the government moved a criminal next to their houses and spoke to the Sydney bakery where cooking and English classes collide. 

Seven TV Report

Farmer Wants a Wife

On Seven, Farmer Wants a Wife saw host Sam Armytage enlist the farmers’ mums to give them their best chance of finding the perfect match. 

“Your mother has chosen two incredible women who they think would be an excellent match for you,” Sam texted the farmers.

As the farmers set out to complete the task at hand: inviting one or both of the new ladies back to the farm; Joe said: “I don’t want to feel guilty about this, but I want my mum to really like the person I’m with. So if she has seen something in someone, I really want to explore that.”

Uneasy with the thought of Farmer Bert dating potential new partners, Lauren made a heartbreaking decision.

Her parting words left Bert upset: “I wanted to come chat to you, because I’m really struggling. This whole process has been really hard for me. I’m not sure I can keep doing it, so I’ve got my bags. I’m gonna go home.”

Home & Away

Before Farmer was Home & Away as Dana did a runner, Stevie had a fresh offer for Cash and Felicity worried for Tane.

10 TV Report

The Project

The Project on 10 looked into the Aussie families left deserted after builder collapse and spoke to Australia’s first astronaut alongside comedian Luke Kidgell.

I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!

On 10’s MasterChef, it was Day Two in the MasterChef Kitchen and already the 22 contestants were thrown in their first big service challenge, with Jamie Oliver running the kitchen.

ABC

7:30

On 7:30, Sarah Ferguson interviewed author Salman Rushdie and looked into the cave system that lies beneath the Nullarbor Plain.

SBS

Great British Railway Journeys

Michael Portillo continued his travels through the capital in the heart of London’s East End. Michael explored Hackney Wick, which is transformed from the time of his 1930s Bradshaw’s Guide when factories belched smoke and the Communist Party of Great Britain launched The Daily Worker.