Why industry legends launched the Black T-Shirts 

Thinkerbell’s Adam Ferrier and IAG chief marketing officer Brent Smart, recently launched their new podcast on LiSTNR, Black T-Shirts. 

Ferrier is a multi-award-winning advertising creative strategist and founder of the creative agency Thinkerbell. He is also a leading consumer psychologist, and authority on behavioural economics. He is the author of Stop Listening to the Customer andThe Advertising Effect, and a regular on shows such as Gruen, Sunrise, and The Project.

Smart spent 20 years in agencies, leading the NZ agency Colenso BBDO and rising to CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi New York. In 2017, he moved client side, becoming CMO at IAG.

Podcast Week‘s Trent Thomas caught up with the pair about their motivations to launch the show, which they said came from that saw as a change in the industry.

BS: “About 18 months ago, Adam and I had a drink. We’re having a bit of a chat and we said, ‘this would be a good podcast’. Then we thought about what we thought was missing in the creative market.”

AF: “Everyone’s talking about data, everyone is obsessed with the consumer, and there are a lot of conversations around marketing sciences, behavioural economics, data sciences, and so forth. Most marketers, their key strategic opportunity, or one of the things they bring to the table within any organisation is creativity. There are not a lot of people in the whole marketing landscape championing creativity and how to be more creative in a commercialised business sense. That’s what we think is fun and interesting and missing from the narrative at the moment.

“I’ve had a relationship with SCA’s Nikki Clarkson for a long time, and LiSTNR are actually a client of Thinkerbell’s so we spoke to them and formed a relationship.”

In each episode, Ferrier and Smart will go deep into a famous piece of creative work to understand what it takes to make something great, and also whether it would pass market research, putting it to a focus group.

BS: “As a marketer, I see so many marketers who take the customer’s word as gospel and use research in a way that I don’t believe is conducive to great creative work happening. Research is a wonderful thing to get insights early in the process, but it is not a great tool to test creative ideas. We wanted to make that point. What better way to make that point than taking famous work that’s really worked, and reengineering it back into a research process to show that that work wouldn’t have done that well in your normal focus group?”

AF: “We find out a bit about our guests, jump back in time a little bit about what they were like growing up, then look at their overall approach to creativity, and then start to drill down on one particular piece of work and express it to a focus group. Then we pull together the emerging themes.”

When asked about their future plans for the show, they said that they want it to become a brand.

BS: “We do a parody ad at the start of each episode and that’s unique every single time which is a lot more work. We don’t think we can be out there being opinionated about creativity without this being creative, without the show being creative, without the brand being creative, and without applying creativity to what we’re doing as well.

“We want globally renowned marketers and globally renowned creatives who are doing globally renowned work. We want to look at world-class creativity, not just great Australian creativity that’s a really important way we’re trying to position the show”

The Daddos peel back the curtain on Nova’s So You Want To Make A TV Show?

Ever wondered how your favourite TV shows get made? So You Want To Make A TV Show is a new Nova Podcast that follows brothers Cameron and Andrew Daddo as they take you behind the curtain of the creative process. The pair create their very first TV show by roping in industry heavy weights including an Emmy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner to help them to make their vision a reality.

Podcast Week’s Tess Connery spoke to Cameron and Andrew about what goes on behind the scenes of the show.

The first episode of So You Want To Make A TV Show opens with the brothers coming up with the idea for their show from scratch. 

AD: “I was curious – what if you have one idea, and then put it to lots of different people? How do they influence your thought and make it their own, or change your idea and make it better? Or worse? I thought it would be a great podcast to start with nothing and see where you wind up, so put that to Cam. He said ‘you’re an idiot, but okay’, and off we went.”

The pair then took the raw recording to Nova’s Rachael Corbett, and presented what would eventually become episode one.

AD: “We went to Rachael and Rachael goes, ‘Great. So now that I’ve heard the tester, Can you do it again?’ We went ‘no, that’s it!’. She said ‘okay, fair enough’. It was quite funny, actually.”

With careers that span TV, radio, podcasting, books, and acting between the two of them, So You Want To Make A TV Show is the first time that both Cameron and Andrew have actually worked together.

CD: “We haven’t done anything like this, and also we’ve had 25 years apart because I’ve been away. Both of us have gone off and experienced all these varied things. I’m still catching up with what Andrew has done in his career – which is massive, the breadth and all the scope of what he’s done. So for me, it was a journey of discovery as well of who Andrew is and his expertise.”

AD: “We’re very, very different. Cam’s much more serious and looks deeper into things than I do. I want to have jokes pretty much wherever I can. So it works that way as well.”

At the end of the day, the pair hope that the podcast will give people a little more patience next time they finish an entire season of a show in one sitting and can’t wait for the next one.

CD: “We all do it now, we all sit down and binge on these TV shows. I remember just getting so cranky because Game of Thrones was taking 18 months to fire up, but it takes time to procure those that quality, it doesn’t just happen – especially when there’s an expectation built around it as well. So maybe it’s a bit more about educating people about the process, we need to have a little more patience with our TV creators or film creators.”

AD: “To do anything creative is all a lot more difficult than people give it credit for.”

And as for what happens with the idea once the podcast reaches its end?

CD: “I’m going ‘This is really good. We can do this,’ and Andrew is going ‘It’s a podcast. Just a podcast. We’re making a podcast, bro!’  and I’m going ‘yeah, but!’”

AD: “I haven’t got the patience to go through this process for real. Someone can do it, Cam can do it and I’ll take an executive producer credit!”

[Listen to So You Want To Make A TV Show here]

LiSTNR and Schwartz Media team up for The Politics Podcast

Schwartz Media and SCA’s LiSTNR have announced their first podcast co-production, The Politics Podcast following a strategic partnership in 2021.

The Politics Podcast is hosted by The Monthly’s Rachel Withers and will be published at 6pm each weekday evening. Launching in the lead up to one of the most talked about Federal Elections in Australian history, The Politics Podcast is designed to cut through the soundbites and spin to give listeners the information they need.

New episodes of The Politics Podcast will be available each week-day evening and is available now on LiSTNR.

[Listen to The Politics Podcast here]

CRA and Triton Digital sign Podcast Ranker agreement through to 2024

Industry body Commercial Radio Australia has signed a three-year agreement with Triton Digital to continue publication of the Australian Podcast Ranker through to March 2024.

The partnership will see Triton Digital continue to publish the monthly report on the top 100 podcasts in Australia, provide data on listener numbers and monthly downloads, and further develop the australianpodcastranker.com website.

Since its release in October 2019, the ranker has increased from seven to 18 participating publishers, and the number of monthly podcast downloads has grown six-fold from 10 million to 62.3 million in February.

The ranker is produced in accordance with IAB Tech Lab’s Podcast Measurement Guidelines and reports on the most popular Australian and international podcasts in the country among participating publishers across radio, TV, print, and independent producers.

SMH and 60 Minutes launch investigative podcast about Melissa Caddick

The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) and 60 Minutes have teamed up to launch an investigative podcast series exploring the case of Sydney businesswoman Melissa Caddick, her audacious $23 million Ponzi scheme and the subsequent, grisly discovery of her severed foot on a beach.

Launching on April 11, Liar, Liar: Melissa Caddick and the Missing Millions will be hosted by the Herald’s Walkley award-winning investigative reporter Kate McClymont and award-winning 60 Minutes reporter Tom Steinfort, with the series uncovering startling new evidence, and features never-before-heard audio of Caddick, as well as interviews from key players speaking for the very first time.

Delving into one of the most captivating crimes of the century, the nine-part series will chart how a seemingly successful financial planner, from Sydney’s eastern suburbs, turned out to be a sociopathic con artist, who stole more than $23 million from mainly family and friends who thought their funds were being invested in shares.

Within hours of her home being raided by ASIC in November 2020 amid questions over an unlicensed financial services business, she disappeared. But this is no ordinary missing persons case.

Featuring chilling audio of Caddick as she leaves phone messages for victims, Liar, Liar: Melissa Caddick and the Missing Millions follows the web of deceit and behaviour that allowed Caddick to rip off some of her closest friends and ended with her vanishing into thin air on November 12. 

9Podcasts launches two political series

With a federal election just around the corner, 9Podcasts has launched two series to help you navigate the political landscape, unpack the key policy issues and give you greater insight into what makes our leaders tick.

Deb Knight‘s Pollie Waffle is an opportunity to get to know the politicians we think we know: their upbringing, professional careers, and why they chose to enter the bear pit of Federal Parliament. Most importantly, do they really believe the “pollie waffle” they dish up every day?

This in-depth interview series will introduce listeners to the people who represent us, away from the camera lights and scripted speeches – all over a plate of waffles.

On The Trail: Election 2022, lead by Nine’s former US Correspondent Charles Croucher, speaks with some of Australia’s best political minds to condense years of fires, floods, lockdowns, lies, crisis, and cost increases into the one decision we all have to make.

From the leaders, the tactics, the commercials, and the campaigns themselves, On The Trail: Election 2022 analyses what’s happened, what will happen, and what it all means for you.

On The Trail: Election 2022 features Nine’s leading political experts, spearheaded by 9News Political Editor Chris Uhlmann, together with 6PR’s Gareth Parker and 4BC’s Neil Breen.

[Listen to Deb Knight’s Pollie Waffle here]
[Listen to On The Trail: Election 2022 here]

Love Island stars launch season three of Where’s Your Head At podcast

Fronted by former Love Island stars, Anna McEvoy and Matthew Zukowski, the Where’s Your Head At podcast debuts its third season and marks the latest project from DM and Born Bred Talent.

McEvoy and Zukowski talk about relationships, break-ups, reality tv and more, clearly striking a chord with fans as a regular feature in the top 10 most downloaded podcasts in the country. 

Further to this, Where’s Your Head At has now attracted over 600,000 listeners over the last three seasons, making it one of the most listened to Australian-made podcast series. 

Supporting the podcast is an army of high profile guests from across the reality television space including fellow Love Island stars, Beauty and The Geek contestants, and guests from The Bachelor all discussing their life after reality tv and their respective quests for love. 

“No topic is  ever off limits to us, we bare it all” says podcast host, McEvoy.

[Listen to Where’s Your Head At? here]

Season four of What She Did Next

Season four of What She Did Next has launched, with the first episode released on April 6th.

In a brand-new season, host Jacqui Ooi chats with women from different fields and backgrounds who’ve successfully made career changes 10, 20, even 30 years into their careers.

“I’ve made two career changes myself so I know what it feels like to want a new challenge or more flexibility in your work, or to do work that feels more meaningful,” says Ooi.

“Hearing other women’s stories can spark ideas and give us the courage to take that next step. Our podcast features an amazing group of women who’ve made different types of career changes, sharing how they did it, why they did it and their best tips to help other women.”

Upcoming guests include former ABC TV host Jane Hutcheon, who is now ‘creator-in-chief’ of her own communications business, academic turned award winning gin maker Dervilla McGowan of Anther, journalist turned sustainability consultant Tamara Pitelen of Greener Matters, and pharmacist turned ethical fashion designer Chamani Weerasekara of CHAMANI.

[Listen to What She Did Next here]

Mediaweek has been tracking the impact of the VOZ TV viewing data since it was introduced in 2021 and this week we hear from Seven’s national sales director, Natalie Harvey.

Virtual Australia, or ‘VOZ’, brings together broadcast viewing on TV sets and connected devices to provide all-screen, cross-platform planning and reporting for the television industry.

“VOZ has proven that Australians are passionate viewers and increasingly watch content via catch-up and live streaming services such as 7plus,” Harvey told Mediaweek.

She explained to Mediaweek that since the introduction of VOZ, broadcasters have been able to show genuine incremental reach across a combined broadcast and BVOD audience.

“As well we get a deeper insight into campaign performance from a total audience perspective rather than just the traditional siloed platform approach. VOZ also enables us to identify which shows perform the strongest on catch-up and which content performs the strongest in the moment or live.

“It’s not really a surprise but the heavy BVOD viewing of younger audiences and being able to prove our reach capability beyond linear broadcast television in premium, engaging content has also been a strong insight.”

One of the big attractions for buyers seeking more information is an analysis of the data of a truly national number for the first time.

“The concept of ‘when watched’ is finally being adopted over ‘what watched’ and VOZ is proving this out.”

Some of Seven’s key programming that has generated audience insights includes SAS Australia.

“Being able to report de-duplicated numbers has shown us how big the appetite is for this genre of show,” said Harvey.

“We have seen on average a 21% increase in total people through BVOD on each episode and a 54% uplift in people 18 to 39 – which has been great for our commercial partners.

“The BVOD numbers will continue to grow as the competition for people’s time intensifies. We saw massive numbers throughout the Winter Olympics after the huge success of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. In July we have the biggest cross-platform and convergent opportunity for clients in the  Commonwealth Games. The event offers the opportunity for brands to take an audience-led approach rather than that traditional siloed approach I mentioned previously. Our big tentpole programs will also continue to drive adoption of 7plus with The Voice and Big Brother launching post-Easter.

“With a focus on promoting 7plus into the regional markets, we are expecting to see significant growth in overall audience, particularly for the increasingly valuable regional audiences. We have already seen a 75% increase in daily devices from January to March this year. Partly due to the Winter Olympics, partly due to the increase in regional viewing.”

Harvey and her team are working on several initiatives for 2022.

“We’re testing how to best repackage programs and events to drive more viewing on 7plus. A good example of this in 2021 was SAS Uncut – an uncensored live or on-demand version of the show.

“We also have a very strong focus on convergence for advertiser campaigns. Evolving the model in how we deliver a sponsorship or general audience-based buys across all screens and all markets. Clients are leaning in hard and I believe convergence will accelerate quickly this year. Breaking free of traditional metrics and working in a more evolved, audience-led approach.

“To help clients and agencies navigate our full ecosystem from an audience perspective and leverage the myriad of data available, we appointed Alex Tansley to the role of head of converged audience trading. He has been working with our internal teams as well as agencies on developing different models of trading.”

Seven is also sifting through VOZ data looking at specific dayparts.

Harvey: “The VOZ data is very much genre-driven, viewers like their news and sport live but they are happy to catch up within a week on their favourite drama and entertainment shows like Home and Away, The Voice and Big Brother.”

When asked what this all means for advertisers and how they could be leveraging all this information, Harvey replied: “Advertisers have been demanding a measurement currency that provides a more holistic view of audiences across screens and now they will have that with VOZ. VOZ stitches together broadcast and BVOD viewing to get a holistic picture of content consumption and campaign performance across devices. It proves the incremental nature of BVOD audiences on top of broadcast, particularly against younger audiences that can be difficult for marketers to reach in high quality, highly engaging and brand-safe environments.

“For many viewers, there is no difference between linear broadcast or watching a live stream through a connected TV. They are not saying they are ‘watching 7News on a connected TV’ but just that they are watching 7News. However, most advertisers are treating the delivery vehicle of content very separately; a traditional channel-first approach rather than a viewer-first approach. We do believe this approach will evolve quickly to being more converged, more channel-agnostic.”

Harvey has a background in television and media agencies. Early in her career she spent time with Mediacom and later moved to UM and worked across a mix of clients including the Australian Government, Pfizer, Boots, and Meat and Livestock Australia. After relocating to Brisbane with her family, Harvey took up the position of general manager at UM Brisbane, working with clients including McDonald’s and Tourism and Events Queensland.

Her career has been bookended by stints at Seven though. First as an office assistant to the CEO. In Brisbane Harvey departed UM and re-joined Seven where she created the first combined SWM sales team, bringing Pacific Magazines and Seven together, before she moved back to Sydney in 2017 to take up the role of Sydney sales director and was promoted into the network sales director role in 2018.

Harvey was most recently promoted to national sales director in March 2022.

delicious. has announced a new digital-first video program for Australian audiences called Make it delicious. 

The show is hosted by chef Darren Robertson (Three Blue Ducks and The Farm, Byron Bay), and takes viewers on a food journey around Australia following the creation of one meal at a time, meeting the chefs, farmers and producers behind it.

Robertson will show viewers how to make restaurant-quality dishes at home with help from notable names such as Peter Gilmore, Josh Niland, Colin Fassnidge, Khanh Nguyen, Adam D’Sylva and Alanna Sapwell. 

Make it delicious. will premiere weekly on delicious.com.au and its social channels. The show will take a non-linear approach with each episode of the eight-part half-hour series watchable in its entirety or able to be broken down into segments that can be enjoyed in isolation – allowing consumers to decide on their own content journey. 

Mediaweek caught up with News Corp Australia’s editorial director of premium food and travel Kerrie McCallum to talk about this new venture which she said that the brand has wanted to do for years.

“The discussion would always be around doing a traditional format show. delicious. really lends itself to telling a visual story. There are a lot of emotional layers around food and delicious. always felt like a natural fit to bring to life visually.”

McCallum said that while the project was originally planned to be a linear program that the delicious. team changed course during the pandemic.

“Covid hit, and the availability of talent changed and we reassessed how we were going to produce it. We decided to produce something that can be viewed in a traditional linear way but filmed digital-first, and cut for social platforms first, rather than in the last instance. That’s actually where our audience is now. delicious. pioneered video, we started a video channel five years ago and we are the leader in our category by a long way. When we thought about it, why are we producing something that wasn’t actually for our audience? We have multi-million video views every month on and off-platform and it made sense to film it in a more innovative way that sits with our audience first.”

McCallum said that going with a non-linear format meant that it had extra appeal to both viewers and advertisers.

“The beauty of the way we film the programme is that it’s like a jigsaw puzzle, you can put it together and run it in one long format in the traditional way but how amazing that you can actually break it apart and run segments on their own anywhere in our network. That lends this complete element of longevity and flexibility that will appeal not just to our audience, but to Massel who came on board as the sponsor because they were looking for something innovative and different.”

When asked about working with the show’s host Darren Robertson, McCallum described him as a great talent.

“He’s done a lot of video for us before. He’s done commercial television before. He’s also worked with Massel before. He’s got the credibility and the relationships to talk with top chefs but he equally can speak really well to a farmer and he knows his produce really well. His food is really in keeping with delicious. by cooking recipes that are impressive, but effortless.”

Discussing the overall delicious. strategy, McCallum said that it is a video and digital first brand.

“While we have a beautiful print experience. We’ve been digital and video first for some time now because that’s where our largest audiences lie. Video is the audience that is growing and has been growing the fastest. It’s something we’ve taken seriously for five years now. We’ve got a good understanding of what works and what doesn’t and we review it constantly. If something’s not rating, or not being watched, or not being engaged with, we stop and start again. It’s constantly under review, it’s constantly evolving, and constantly developing and that’s probably why delicious. has the most engagement of any food brand. That’s tough for a premium brand to say that, but we do and I think our video and the quality of it is testament to that.”

Make it delicious. is created by the delicious. editorial team and produced by PDB Creative. 

The White House Correspondents’ Association has announced the winners of its 2022 journalism awards for work done in 2021.

Winning a key award for excellence was Australian reporter Jonathan Swan who covers Washington for digital news publisher Axios. Jonathan is the son of Australian medico/reporter/out-of-home executive Dr Norman Swan.

The winners for presidential news coverage include journalists from America’s ABC News, AFP, the Associated Press and Axios.

The award-winning work covered efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, violence at the US Capitol, Covid, and a meeting between President Joe Biden and Vladmir Putin.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, The Washington Post and an international consortium of other media partners was honoured for work exposing financial secrets of more than 330 current and former heads of state as well as the US role in the offshore system.

“Our panel of independent judges had a formidable task, reviewing dozens of worthy entries,” said WHCA president Steven Portnoy. “We are grateful for the panel’s efforts in identifying these winners, and we are excited to honour the recipients at our annual dinner.”

The awards will be presented at the WHCA Dinner on Saturday, April 30.

The Aldo Beckman Award for Overall Excellence in White House Coverage

Jonathan Swan, Axios

From the Judges:
The judges select Jonathan Swan for the Aldo Beckman award from a competitive list of entries that demonstrated the impact of White House policies and decisions on people’s lives. Swan’s riveting “Off The Rails” series describing the post-election turmoil in the White House illuminated, with speed and detail, the last-ditch efforts to overturn the election. The series also revealed President Trump’s ongoing attempts to put a loyalty stamp on the government’s national security apparatus. The stories, and their accompanying podcast, have been source material for the January 6 investigating committee and have remained relevant amid continued revelations about the events surrounding the assault on the Capitol.

See Swan’s award-winning work here.

The Australian will today host its second E-Commerce Summit, a virtual event that will explore the continued rise of e-commerce and the evolving digital retail landscape.

Editor Michelle Gunn said: “In the first year of the pandemic online retail grew 40 per cent in the month of December 2020 alone. It is a story of big numbers and extraordinary growth. 

“The competition for consumers’ attention has only become fiercer during the pandemic. With cities back open, customer relationships span the physical and the digital leaving retailers to rethink how bricks and clicks will interact. 

“Our Summit today features some of the brightest minds in e-commerce and will explore how new consumer behaviours will drive the next generation of e-commerce technology and how small and medium retailers can leverage that technology to compete with larger firms.”

In partnership with Australia Post, The Australian’s E-Commerce Summit will unlock the secrets to success in this fast-changing environment. It will investigate topics including emerging e-commerce models, inventory management in an uncertain world, sustainability and the connected consumer, and changing consumer behaviour and the rise of new technologies.

Australia Post chief executive officer and managing director Paul Graham said: “Since the onset of the global pandemic online shopping in Australia has almost doubled, with over a million more shoppers entering the market and online spend topping $62 billion for the 2021 calendar year.

“For Australia Post it has been a privilege to partner with our customers and help them to take advantage of the opportunities this accelerated e-commerce environment has presented, including supporting many small businesses to come online for the very first time.

“We’re thrilled to again partner with The Australian to deliver the E-Commerce Summit today and bring together some of the industry’s most prominent leaders to share the emerging trends and latest technologies that will undoubtedly shape the next phase of Australian retail.”

The full-day virtual summit will feature over 30 local and international speakers and panellists who will give valuable insights for business owners, entrepreneurs, consumers and policy-makers.

Headline speakers include The Hon Josh Frydenberg MP, Treasurer of Australia; Paul Graham, group chief executive officer of Australia Post; Harley Finkelstein, president, Shopify; Pip Edwards and Claire Tregoning, co-founders and creative directors, P.E NATION; Tim Brown, co-founder and chief executive officer, Allbirds; Jo Horgan, founder and co-CCEO, Mecca Brands; Richard Christiansen, founder, Chandelier Creative, Flamingo Estate & Owl Bureau; and Mike Schneider, managing director, Bunnings.

The speakers will be complemented with a series of panel discussions across the day, featuring industry leaders paving the way in the e-commerce space including, Sarah Hunter, CEO of Officeworks; Pejman Okhovat, managing director, BIG W; Amanda Bardwell, managing director, WooliesX; David Shafer, chief financial, chief operating officer and executive director, Kogan.com; Anthony Heraghty, group managing director and chief executive officer, Super Retail Group; Craig Fuller, director of operations, Amazon Australia; Aria Wigneswaran, general manager, Australia & New Zealand, Depop; Susie Sugden, chief executive officer, Love to Dream; and Brett Armstrong, global business solutions general manager, TikTok Australia.

Some of The Australian’s senior editorial staff including Ticky Fullerton, Eli Greenblat, Eric Johnston, Damon Kitney, Glenda Korporaal, David Meagher, Amber Plum, Milanda Rout, David Swan and Glynis Traill-Nash will discuss what the future of retail looks like as consumers continue to embrace new ways of buying in our ever-increasing digital world.

Are Media held its TRENDtalks: The Luxury Forecast virtual event which revealed the five states of luxury and the marketing inspiration for millennial and Gen Z audiences.

In conversation with Erica Stewart, general manager of Are Media’s Hard to Find, was Manuela Strippoli, global director, brand and communications for online luxury retailer YOOX, part of the NET-A-PORTER Group.

Strippoli shared that marketers need to be brave, authentic and humble, enabling consumers to engage with brands on their own terms.

She noted that millennial and Gen Z audiences need to be inspired, rather than being dictated to by social media conventions.

Strippoli said: “This new generation are tired of this over communication, oversharing, over digitalisation… therefore I would say it’s a matter of creating more than even a platform, but hubs where they can look for like-minded people, where they can feel a sense of belonging that overcomes the product itself.

“Community is at the centre, there are way less divisions between real life and digital experiences. I think that one of our main goals as brands, as well as shapers of the culture of the future, because at the end of the day fashion shapes culture, is to really offer them the freedom and offer them inspiration with no such rules… technology is evolving at the moment by bringing consumers together around meaning, around ideas and around likes.”

She added of YOOX’s marketing approach: “Social media is the main tool to really offer our consumers what they’re looking for as long as we as brands do not expect our communities to come to us. We need to be humble enough and to be brave enough to give them the power and follow their lead.

“Social media has a superpower that we need to learn how to use, versus learning just to take… if we try to impose our quantitative power to use social media as we were using magazines, then it’s going to be a big, big fail,” Strippoli said.

Rosanna Iacona – co-founder of The Growth Activists and associate strategy director and foresight analyst of The Future Laboratory, one of the UK’s most renowned futures consultancies – also spoke at the virtual event and revealed the five states of luxury.

Following two years of turbulence, the luxury sector is experiencing a renaissance, with the global spend on luxury goods and services expected to return to pre-pandemic levels and hit A$421 billion by early next year.

Quoting data from consultancy Bain and Company, Iacona said: “In 2020, the global luxury retail market continued to adapt amid ongoing store closures and an increasing demand for the elevated e-commerce experiences. In total, online sales accounted for A$86 billion of luxury retail in 2020 and that’s up from A$57 billion in 2019, with the share of purchases made online nearly doubling from 12% in 2019 to 23% and 2020.”

The five states of luxury is a framework designed to help organisations navigate their way through the social and economic impacts of the inter-covid luxury landscape and beyond.

State one: Acquisition and Value – Luxury is used to demonstrate wealth, define social positions, visibly separate the buyer from the mass market and identify others from the same group.

State two: Discernment and Worth – Luxury is about using wealth to purchase brands, products and services that enable the buyers to articulate higher levels of discernment and discrimination.

State three: Emotion and Experience – Concerned less with brand and value, luxury is instead measured according to the uniqueness of the experience and the emotional impact delivered.

State four: Responsibility and Awareness – Luxury is built around customers’ focus on a brand’s values as well as its financial or experiential value – with the ethical implications this infers.

State five: Intellectual and Poetic – Luxury is motivated by a pathological knowledge of a sector or a subject, and the finances, intellectual and spiritual capacity to indulge such passions.

GroupM has released AI-trend report – The Next 10: Artificial Intelligence – looking into technology and behaviours shaping the next decade of advertising

According to the report by Kate Scott-Dawkins and a number of contributors across their group, AI-enabled marketing already accounts for more than $370 billion of global advertising revenue or roughly 45% of all advertising.

The growth will only continue and by 2032, AI-enabled advertising is likely to account for $1.3 trillion in advertising revenue, more than 90% of the total.

The company’s report also revealed some major implications including the declining reach of linear TV and less tolerance of irrelevant, interruptive ad pods.

It also noted the growth of audio-first devices with digital assistants (i.e., earbuds and smart home speakers) means that voice search will overtake text-based search

Additional implication is that data will most often be managed on-device and will be increasingly unclear or anonymised by AI and privacy services.

“Humans must remain in-the-loop as the architects and supervisors of these campaigns as we work to answer certain vital questions on the future use of AI in advertising,” the company’s report noted.

It also noted additional key takeaways in a number of several categories. Advances in AI and evolving media channels could result in marketers increasingly tying together products, consumer experiences and advertising experiences:

• Automotive: the use of generative AI and digital twins will enable greater personalisation of advertising in the sector—i.e.: a custom colour model shown driving in the buyer’s own city.

• CPG: machine learning paired with genomic sequencing will make personalised nutrition and personal care products increasingly possible.

• Apparel: computer vision, machine learning algorithms and generative AI could disrupt the apparel and retail industry by creating a vast grey market of copycat goods or user generated designs competing for image searches.

• Entertainment: personalised storytelling could become a reality as ads and IP are customised based on audience data and/or selections.

The GroupM report concluded: “Before long, we will likely need to overcome our fear of riding in an autonomous vehicle. Similarly, we should not let fear of AI augmentation paralyze our progress toward offering better advertising experiences for consumers and advertisers alike. AI is already here, and it’s not slowing down.

“Our human effort can best be applied imagining what we want the future to look like, designing the right goals and guardrails, and learning to put AI to use in service of those.”

The Outdoor Media Association (OMA) has revealed the Out of Home (OOH) industry has had an increase of 25.5% on net media revenue for Q1 2022, reporting $228.1 million, up from $181.7 million for the same quarter in 2021.

Digital OOH (DOOH) revenue accounts for 60.8 per cent of total net media revenue year-to-date, an increase over the recorded 57.0% for the same period last year.

Charmaine Moldrich, OMA CEO, said: “The industry continues to rebound in the first three months of the year, with revenue down only slightly, by 2.9 per cent on pre-pandemic 2019. There are many signs that we are back on track and that 2022 will see us achieve or even exceed pre-pandemic annual revenue.

“Our commitment to transparency, accuracy and credibility in our audience measurement platform MOVE 1.5 and adoption of industry-wide standards to make it easier to plan and buy, have helped with our recovery.

“We have built tools and introduced processes that specifically fill the needs of our clients, and we are now starting to see the positive results.”

She added: “As travel increases with the easing of testing requirements, we expect to see even more confidence in our channel’s ability to deliver reach and impact.”

The OMA added two new members in March 2022: Helio, an online advertising marketplace, and Civic Outdoor, an independently owned and operated Outdoor operator also joining MOVE.

Civic Outdoor is an independently owned and operated Outdoor operator with a network of signs ranging from large format billboards in Melbourne, Adelaide and Regional Victoria to small format sites across Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, ACT and Tasmania.

Helio is an online advertising marketplace connecting buyers and sellers, making it easy for small, medium and large businesses alike to buy advertising. Helio has been carefully designed, based on years of media experience, to simplify the workflows unique to advertising such as campaign building and creative delivery.

According to figures released by Zenith, Australian advertising spend is expected to grow 5% in 2022, off the back of 18% growth in 2021.

JCDecaux will remain the exclusive street furniture provider for North Sydney Council after winning an expanded tender that significantly increases its digital presence in one of Sydney’s most affluent locations.

The contract begins immediately for a term of nine years.

Steve O’Connor, CEO of JCDecaux, said: “Retaining the North Sydney contract is another triumphant win for JCDecaux following our recent successes with the Sydney Trains and Adelaide Railway Station contracts.

“We have ambitious plans to enhance the presence, scale and utility of the network. This contract represents a powerful opportunity for brands to connect with affluent professionals, Lower North Shore residents and tourists alike with a range of creative opportunities, while also strengthening our programmatic offering for clients,” he added.

The new contract includes street furniture, large format screens and community information panels including interactive touch screens.

This will see JCDecaux grow its network from four to 60 digital panels across Sydney’s second largest business district and throughout the affluent Lower North Shore including residential suburbs spanning from Cremorne to St Leonards.

As part of the expansion and upgrade, the out-of-Home media company will deliver more than 35 new state-of-the-art digital street furniture screens and 19 new digital community information panels, which are reserved for community messaging such as maps, transport information and other messaging to enable connectivity.  

As well as retaining the street furniture network, JCDecaux has won the North Sydney Large Format contract, to develop high-quality, sustainable digital screens on the Greenwood Bridge.

These sustainable screens are currently in development and have been designed by award-winning architect Tzannes to ensure they complement the existing bridge design and enhance the surrounding area. Positioned in the heart of North Sydney, these highly visible sites impact traffic travelling along the Pacific Highway. 

O’Connor continued: “We’re in a fantastic position going into 2022; demand for Out-of-Home advertising is accelerating and audience mobility is bouncing back rapidly from last year. We have an incredibly strong portfolio to offer advertisers wanting to reconnect with Sydney-siders across our Large Format, Street Furniture, Airport, Rail and Transit network.”

Snap has released the 2022 edition of its Gen Z report in partnership with Crowd DNA, shedding light on generation-specific emerging audience behaviours, trends and their impact on society.

In its second edition, the report highlights the digitally native Snapchat Generation, worth $95 billion in Australia, is expecting more from brands, technology and themselves post-pandemic.

Conducted across 16 countries including 1,000 Australians, the research commissioned by the global camera company uncovers what’s at the heart of the Snapchat Generation and their attitude towards culture, brands, technology and community. 

1) Visual communication lies at the heart of digital interaction

Gen Z is redefining communication, expressing themselves in more creative and immersive ways to deepen connections with others. The report found the majority (89%) of Gen Z have used some form of visual communication when messaging friends. As the real-life and digital worlds continue to coalesce, communicating visually through the camera lies at the heart of Gen Z and the way they communicate online. 

2) Brand connection key to online success 

After years of limited social interaction, Gen Z is craving connection – from their peers, and from the brands they love. Almost half (43%) of Gen Z feel it’s more important for brands to build connections with them post-pandemic. Over half (54%) say using AR lenses/filters helps them feel more connected to brands. The research suggests brands who can create a personal connection online are those who will win the hearts and minds of Gen Z. 

3) AR shopping is here to stay 

Gen Z is trailblazing when it comes to using AR for shopping, and this trend will continue post-pandemic. The findings reveal 88% of Gen Z are interested in using AR to shop, and 79% are interested in using AR to try on makeup and clothes. Gen Z is driving a shift toward more immersive and social shopping experiences made possible by AR, and nearly two thirds (59%) say AR is going to make life easier.

4) Positive reins supreme 

Gen Z is actively seeking out and building positive spaces to escape from the pressures of expectation. In fact, two thirds (64%) say they focus on using apps that feel like positive environments. Brands should focus on how to complement the spaces Gen Z are creating spaces of positivity and individuality.

Kathryn Carter, Snap’s general manager for APAC, said: “Gen Z is an interesting and evolving cohort, with distinct characteristics and the ability to influence how we communicate, connect, and consume. A digitally native generation, the camera is an extremely important tool for Gen Z to express their identity, shop, and build connections with friends as well as with brands and the rest of the world.

“The Australian Snapchat Generation is a growing force to be reckoned with and we are confident that brands will see an opportunity in investing in this community, and forging connections with them.

“By embracing less formal communication, exploring different identities, and putting the camera first, brands can empower playful expression and connect with this increasingly powerful generation,” she added.

The Walt Disney Company and Football Australia has announced a new Australian-commissioned Disney+ Original which will tell the story of the Australian women’s national football team, the Commonwealth Bank Matildas, as they prepare for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 on home soil alongside co-host New Zealand.

The six-part docu-series – yet to have its title revealed – will go behind-the-scenes of the Matildas, and track the rise of women’s sport through immersive storytelling. It will chronicle the highs and lows as well as teamwork, trust, and spirit – as the squad looks to create history and leave a legacy for the sport in Australia and abroad.

Off the field, the series will highlight how the Matildas are pioneering change, as well as covering their experiences during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup. The series will also explore the influence of head coach Tony Gustavsson, and the special connection the Matildas have with their fans. Overall, it will capture how the Matildas are able to unite Australians in the lead up to the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023.

Production of the series is underway, led by executive producers, Steve Bibb (Inside the Sydney Opera House, Shipwreck Hunters Australia) and Christopher G. Cowen (Decades Series, College Football 150, State of Play) with Katie Bender Wynn (The Will To Fly) as director. Fremantle and Boardwalk Pictures will lend services on this global production.

The series will launch on Disney+ locally in 2023 and be available on Disney+ globally at a later date.

The Walt Disney Company will reveal its 2022/23 scripted and unscripted Disney+ Australian commissions in the coming weeks, adding to the Matildas series.

Kylie Watson-Wheeler, senior vice president and managing director of The Walt Disney Company in Australia and New Zealand said, “The Matildas are gamechangers for women’s sport in Australia and around the world. This Australian narrative details the impressive skill, determination, commitment, and stamina it takes in the lead up to the World Cup in 2023. The series transcends football and celebrates the true Australian spirit of the Matildas.”

James Johnson, chief executive officer of Football Australia said, “The Commonwealth Bank Matildas represent Australia on the world stage as global ambassadors and are an inspiration to many, both young and old. This docu-series is an incredible opportunity to share their story not just locally, but globally, and at a time of rapid evolution in women’s football, we are proud to be working with the world’s best story-telling company to bring the Matildas spirit to life.

“In partnering with The Walt Disney Company, Football Australia has chosen a partner that focuses on stories with inspirational and aspirational themes. Together, we hope that this docu-series will inspire the next generation of footballers, girls and boys, around the world, and our players are excited by that challenge.”

Multi award-winning architect Peter Maddison is back for a 10th season of the 2021 AACTA Award winning series for Best Lifestyle program, Grand Designs Australia, premiering Thursday, May 5 on LifeStyle and On Demand on Foxtel.

See More: Wendy Moore on how Foxtel’s Lifestyle is reaping the rewards of hard work

This season is all about risk and reward, following the extraordinary lengths some brave souls will go in their quest to build some of Australia’s most remarkable homes. 

Travelling from the breath-taking Snowy Mountains of NSW to Tasmania’s Chain of Lagoons; the rolling green hills of Nimbin to the hustle and bustle of inner-city Melbourne, Peter Maddison meets with passionate and creative homeowners who have found unique and clever ways to create one of a kind, high performing homes in a time of soaring property prices, environmental extremes, and even personal tragedy. 

Whether it’s a spectacular Mediterranean castle, a repurposed dairy shed, a spaceship-like domed house with the world’s best view, or a Mid Century glass box, this season of Grand Designs Australia is the most daring yet.

Grand Designs Australia is produced by Fremantle Australia exclusively for Foxtel.

Grand Designs premieres on Thursday, May 5 at 8.30pm AEST. Available to watch on LifeStyle and On Demand on Foxtel

Total TV Ratings: March 30

A week after the Shane Warne Memorial Service, Seven’s coverage has lifted 9% to bring it to a total audience of 1,268,000. Nine’s coverage lifted 7% for a total of 558,000.

Also on Nine, Travel Guides lifted 38% bringing in a total audience of 732,000.

Jumping 63%, the ABC’s coverage of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala had 429,000 tune in, while Annabel Crabb’s Tomorrow Tonight lifted 22% for 463,000.

Overnight TV Ratings: April 6

Primetime News
Seven News 948,000/889,000
Nine News 839,000/816,000
ABC News 559,000
10 News First 248,000 (5:00pm)/ 194,000 (6:00pm)
SBS World News 153,000 (6:30pm)/121,000 (7:00pm)

Daily current affairs
A Current Affair 650,000
7.30 556,000
The Project 253,000 (6:30pm)/ 382,000 (7:00pm)
The Drum 186,000

Breakfast TV
Sunrise 259,000
Today 234,000
News Breakfast 131,000

Nine have won the night with a primary share of 21.6% and a network share of 30.6%

On A Current Affair 650,000 watched as the show investigated a self-proclaimed Shaman and answered questions about the flu jab ahead of winter. Then on Travel Guides, the guides continued their USA road trip heading into the deep south to visit Louisiana. 727,000 tuned in, making it the top non-news program of the night.

On Seven, Home and Away was watched by 499,000 before Double Fault: The Novak Djokovic Saga gave 298,000 viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the immigration saga surrounding Djokovic’s attempts to enter Australia to compete in the Australian Open.

The Front Bar had 278,000 watch as the team tackled their most South Australian show ever.

On 10, The Project had interviewed Michael Towke following his accusations of racism against Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and spoke to the Harlem Globetrotters. Afterward, the channel aired back-to-back episodes of Ambulance Australia, with the first episode drawing a crowd of 324,000, and 317,000 for the second episode.

On the ABC, 556,000 tuned in to 7:30 before the Wednesday night comedy lineup kicked in. 569,000 watched Tom Gleeson give away the big brass mug on Hard Quiz, with 510,000 sticking around to see Shaun Micallef get Mad As Hell. Tom Gleeson was back on the screen at 9pm as one of the guests in the second episode of Tomorrow Tonight, which asked 335,000 viewers what they’d do if Australia brought in a social credit system.

On SBS, the top non-news program was Tony Robinson’s Coast to Coast with 147,000 tuning in.