To wrap up 2023, Mediaweek is looking at the biggest trends, events, platforms, and brands of the year. Welcome to Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023 … and beyond.

By Scott Cleaver, chief innovation officer at No Standing

As the digital dawn of 2023 breaks, Australia stands at the forefront of an AI renaissance, an evolution that has seen the nation transition from a global AI apprentice to a maestro of innovation—especially within the marketing sector.

Investment and Integration

With Australian enterprises boosting their AI and ML investments by 65% in 2023, the AI landscape is not just a fleeting trend but the bedrock of a new operational norm. This surge in funding is driving a paradigm shift, with AI becoming an indispensable asset in deciphering consumer behaviour and streamlining marketing effectiveness.

A Year of AI Ascendancy

The inauguration of Australia’s first “AI Month”, a month dedicated to the achievements and possibilities of AI, is a celebration of its capability and potential. It’s an initiative that has placed Australia on the global stage, illuminating its commitment to AI’s advancement. This national focus on AI aligns with a broader revolution in data and analytics promises to redefine consumer engagement, marketing strategies and implementation across industries.

AI Startups: Pioneers of the New Age

The rise of AI startups in Australia paints a picture of a country that’s rapidly becoming an incubator for technological innovation. These emerging leaders are not only addressing today’s challenges but are also shaping tomorrow’s solutions—particularly in creating more resonant and dynamic marketing campaigns.

Looking Forward to 2024

As we venture into 2024, the trajectory of AI in marketing points towards a landscape rich with personalisation and engagement:

1. Hyper-Personalised Advertising: The proficiency of AI in analysing complex datasets will enable marketers to tailor campaigns with unparalleled precision, especially within the data-rich terrains of sports and gaming.
2. Creative AI: The content creation sphere, especially in entertainment and fashion, is ripe for disruption. AI will facilitate a new creative frontier, generating innovative content at an unprecedented pace and revolutionising market responsiveness.
3. Augmented Experiences: In gaming and sports, AI will further blur the lines between virtual and physical, crafting advertising experiences that are not just immersive but also intuitively interactive, thanks to the synergies of AR and VR technologies.
4. The Ethical Imperative: As AI’s prominence grows, so does the need for ethical stewardship. The imperative for transparency and responsible AI utilisation will become crucial in sustaining consumer trust, particularly in industries sensitive to data privacy.

The year 2023 will be chronicled as a landmark era for AI in Australia—a year that laid the groundwork for a new chapter in marketing where personalisation, creativity, and immersive experiences are not just aspirations but expectations.

See Also: More prompts, more problems: Taking a Midjourney down memory lane

To wrap up 2023, Mediaweek is looking at the biggest trends, events, platforms, and brands of the year. Welcome to Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023 … and beyond.

By Nick Brignell, GM GroupM Nexus Solutions

It was a massive year of announcements in the BVOD and VOD sphere, from new measurement solutions, heavy investments in content to differentiated advertising models. Having just come through the Upfronts season, we’re certainly seeing 2024 gear up for the streaming wars.

Amazon Prime is set to be the latest to introduce an ad-supported tier, and all eyes are on how new ad-tiers from Paramount, Netflix and Amazon Prime will fare. For now, Nine remains resolute that it won’t be following suit to introduce advertising on Stan, keeping it as a subscriber only, ad-free platform. But, it wasn’t so long ago that Netflix founder and CEO Reed Hastings was just as steadfast. Does this economy provide the right context for audiences to happily opt in to ad-supported tiers in the value exchange for premium streaming services and content rather than reducing their subscriptions?

Alongside ad models, we saw a real shake up in the video measurement space, driven by several announcements from Foxtel that will shape the future of measurement across Total Video in Australia. Firstly, a partnership with Kantar to deliver a new audience measurement service ingesting data from Foxtel’s set top boxes using return path data. Secondly, a measurement partnership with global technology company VideoAmp, which was touted as a long-term play to address Total TV measurement gaps with the current measurement solutions in the Australian market such as OzTam. Complex? Yes. Controversial? Yes. But, it will accelerate much needed innovation in this space.

Foxtel, Seven West Media and Paramount all announced a slew of amazing data and tech partnerships, but the one that piqued my interest was Nine’s announcement of its powerful data lake – Nine Tribes. Bringing in new audience enrichment capabilities from Stan and Domain, along with extending the activation capabilities across BVOD, Publishing and Audio, make it a truly Omni-channel solution.

But while there is a lot of exciting innovation on the horizon in the VOD and the TV landscape it’s hard to look at the future of one medium, one channel, without looking at it in the context of the wider media ecosystem. TV and VOD don’t exist in a vacuum – which is why this Omni-channel move from Nine got my attention.

Omni-channel is not exactly new, but it’s evolved and we are going to hear more and more of this hyphenated word in 2024. Whether it be Omni-channel planning, Omni-channel activation, Omni-channel personalisation, Omni-channel environments or my favourite: Omni-channel solutions, 2024 will be the year brands will need to look at the gaps in their planning and consider what they will do in this space to drive effectiveness.

But what does Omni-channel really mean? Omni-channel is all channels, all creative formats, all buying models, with the ability to flex budget in-flight to maximise impact. Simple, yeah?

But let’s throw into the mix a few other factors for the year ahead. Omni-channel media buying starts to look a lot harder as 2024 is set to be a watershed moment with anticipated privacy and regulatory changes, including cookie deprecation and the ACCC’s focus on walled gardens.

What we will see next year is a case of ‘Back to the Future’ media buying (minus the Nike Mags). Context and Geo – two targeting metrics that dominated a decade ago in the Year of Mobile, will come roaring back to the fore – with added sophistication and better data.

Cohort-based marketing fuelled by location intel will form the basis of targeting in 2024, but addressable creative can be built and aligned with all a brands’ individual audiences, talking directly to their known interests and place in their consumer journey. Having this level of consideration and relevancy within the creative results in campaign uplifts, a brand uplift, and a higher relevancy in the message they are delivering to potential consumers.

Coupled with these targeting strategies, brands will have to look around this new media complexity and start to add more nuanced approach to creative, and adopt addressable, to better target consumers with relevant content. We’re accelerating readiness for the planned third-party cookie deprecation with a global GroupM partnership with Google Chrome, as come Jan 1, brands need to start building out what their cookie-less advertising strategies and performance, awareness and consideration campaigns will look like in the future. Brands will need to start to look at changing their campaign dynamics and utilize more rounded targeting such as: Product availability, Business location, Localised consumer insights.

In April, Google will start its first round of deprecating cookies. Utilizing Omni-channel planning tools can allow brands to test and learn what their contextual, geo and cookie-less strategy could look like right now. Brands who have dipped their toes in to omni-channel cookie-less targeting channels like DOOH, BVOD, Audio, and Commerce, coupled with utilizing addressable creative, will be on sure-footing for the year ahead.

So knowing all this and gazing into my crystal ball – the trends impacting the TV and VOD space are just one part of the consideration for marketers. The future’s bright – but it has to be Omnichannel.

See Also: Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023: A is for AI

To wrap up 2023, Mediaweek is looking at the biggest trends, events, platforms, and brands of the year. Welcome to Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023 … and beyond.

By Guy Burbidge, Managing Director, Val Morgan 

This year in cinema has been unlike any other. Records have been broken both locally and globally. We witnessed a resurgence in genre filmmaking which saw the box office driven by one of the most diverse slates from studios and distributors spanning action, family, comedy, horror, and even concert films resulting in the top ten films of the year so far comprising of five different genres.

The year started strong with some big moments. Avatar: The Way of Water captivated cinemagoers across the world, smashing records to achieve the third highest-grossing film of all time both worldwide and in Australia. At Easter, we saw The Super Mario Bros Movie the number one animated film of all time in Australia, beating out a 20-year record held by Shrek 2. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and John Wick 4 both overdelivered significantly on their prior films and then the most monumental cinematic cultural moment of the year, Barbie, turned the world pink.

The film’s success – aside from the incredible marketing machine behind the film – lay in its broad multi-generational appeal, resonating and connecting with both young females and an older demographic. It quickly became a cultural phenomenon. With $1.4 billion at the global box office, Barbie has become the number one comedy film of all time and broke into Australia’s top four films of all time.

Barbie

Then there was Barbenheimer, the showdown of Barbie and Oppenheimer releasing on the same day which created a social trend that swept the internet, and no doubt helped drive Oppenheimer to become the second highest-grossing drama in Australia, ever.

Thrillers have also had a successful year at the box office. 2023 was the year of fear with titles like The Nun II, Scream VI, M3GAN, and Talk To Me all appealing to the next generation of horror enthusiasts and Five Nights at Freddy’s crept its way to the fourth-highest grossing horror film ever in Australia.

The demand for culturally and linguistically diverse films in Australia also reached an all-time high, with Pathaan becoming Australia’s biggest Bollywood movie ever early in the year, and Jawan which was released in September sitting firmly behind in second place.

Fascinatingly, it’s the first time since 2017 that a superhero film won’t be in the top three movies of the year, indicating audiences shifting towards a more diverse content slate.

Cinema experiences have hit new strengths. Not only have we seen the return of some of Australia’s most loved outdoor cinema experiences like Moonlight Cinema, but we’ve also seen the introduction of new innovative concepts, like Mov’in Bed Barangaroo Beach Club Cinema which officially kicks off next month, and Dendy Powerhouse Outdoor Cinema; a 350-seater outdoor cinema with lounge chairs, and wireless headphones, all of which provide audiences with the premium experiences they’re actively seeking.

One of the strongest indicators of the state of the industry is brand-new cinema complexes opening across the country. Palace Penny Lane, Reading Angelka and Reading Busselton have all opened this year, as well as the new IMAX in Sydney’s Darling Harbour. This cutting-edge cinema combines state-of-the-art Laser by IMAX technology for an experience like no other. Since opening in October, the Sydney IMAX has become the highest-grossing IMAX location globally outside the United States and the United Kingdom.

Not only are new cinemas opening up, major operators and independent exhibitors alike are investing in the refurbishment of cinemas across the industry and continuing to improve the customer experience from quality of the in-cinema experience through to F&B and amenities.

Brands have also capitalised on another strong year, with Cinema outperforming the market with the latest SMI data (Jan – Sept) reporting a 4.5% uplift in ad spend, the second highest YOY channel increase after Outdoor.

Australians love cinema. Incredible content paired with the cinemagoing experience is why 2023 saw cinema continue to hold its place at the forefront of culture, and why it’s considered an affordable luxury; one that despite challenging economic conditions Australians still spend on, with CBA reporting that spending on cinema tickets alone was up 31 per cent in the last quarter.

Looking ahead, 2024 is set to be a strong year for Cinema. With the SAG AFTRS strike now officially over, audiences can expect more. More quality content, a more diverse slate of films including movies that were meant to release in 2023 like Dune Part Two and Force of Nature: The Dry 2 as well as other highly anticipated titles like Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Furiosa, Deadpool 3, Mufasa: The Lion King, Joker: Folie à Deux, and Wicked Part One, all set to release in the new year.

See Also: Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023: B is for BVOD

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Top Image: Guy Burbidge

To wrap up 2023, Mediaweek is looking at the biggest trends, events, platforms, and brands of the year. Welcome to Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023 … and beyond.

By Jonas Jaanimagi, technology lead of IAB

Making sense of measurement

Potential signal loss, both ongoing and forthcoming, continues to dominate the thinking for all parts of the industry, along with an increased focus on responsible addressability. These critical topics, which will continue into 2024, are impacting how publishers are strategically investing in their future products and capabilities and how marketers look to plan, activate, measure, and manage their digital campaigns.

The industry remains very focused on the deprecation of the 3^rd party cookies as an identifier, but we’ve already seen restrictions on cookies in Apple’s Safari and Mozilla’s Firefox browsers as well limitations on Apple’s iOS device identifier. We also know that changes are coming in both Google Chrome and ultimately the Android device identifier, GAID. IAB has for some time been providing education and awareness around the various ID solutions and their related identifiers available here locally and we are committed to refreshing this guidance in early 2024.

From a measurement perspective, recent IAB Australia industry research showed an increased usage of more resilient measurement techniques such as experimental lift studies and MMM (Market Mix Modelling) to evaluate the success of digital advertising. Concurrently, the adoption of 3rd party cookie reliant methods such as MTA (Multi-Touch Attribution) have declined, supported by research such as was presented by Analytic Partners at our MeasureUp conference this year which clearly demonstrated the issues buyers will face if they continue to solely rely upon traditional direct response attribution techniques.

Responsible approaches to data collaboration in digital advertising have come forth this year, including Data Clean Rooms. Clean Rooms are gaining traction and are a good example of a PET (Privacy Enhancing Technology) as they are privacy preserving yet can still provide the capabilities for multiple organisations to come together to quantify the effectiveness of campaigns without exposing or directly manipulating any data shared or transferred between different parties.

PETs as a maturing category of innovation are also now assisting the resurgence for MMM leveraging advanced machine learning for even faster and deeper insights by surfacing more granular evaluation, prediction, and optimisation recommendations that are both meaningful but also actionable. There will be more examples of PETs in 2024 with solutions such as k-anonymity, trusted servers and synthetic data gradually coming to the fore and we’re looking forward to some related initial guidelines from the US-based IAB Tech Lab in the new year.
 
Industry collaboration will also be critical in CTV measurement (which remains an important area of growing spend) as we’ll soon see the delivery of best in class cross-media measurement here in Australia with a world first integration of CTV currency data from both OzTam and IAB endorsed Ipsos iris. This will provide de-duplicated total audience planning data for all buyers – across CTV, smartphones, tablets, and computers.
 
We’ll also be working hard to keep industry updated on the Attorney-General’s Department final decisions on privacy legislation amendments expected next year. Regardless we’ll be providing some guidance on managing consent from a technical perspective, highlighting the current requirements in both Europe and California as examples of what is possible and how the frameworks for both these markets work in practice. We also recommend regularly checking Google’s 2024 timelines for the final phase out of third-party cookies and evolving privacy-preserving APIs in both in-app environments (Android) and web (Chrome). It’s also been interesting to recently see a resurgence in actively testing between Mozilla and Meta of the Interoperable Private Attribution (IPA) proposal. IPA leverages another PET called Secure Multiparty Computation (MPC) and is quite forward thinking it it’s approach for both cross-device privacy but also conversion attribution.
 
It’s important for marketers to be aware of and better understand how technology and regulatory changes will impact their digital advertising and measurement capabilities in 2024 and to have a plan in place prior to the implementation of these changes next year. Importantly industry must be ready to competently and thoroughly test whilst 3^rd party cookies are still functioning and in prevalent usage for a full comparison.
 
With new privacy legislation coming, the final step in retirement of 3rd party cookies in Chrome imminent, the adoption of strategies to decarbonise digital advertising increasing and the continued expansion of digital channels and formats, the industry will once again have to come together collaboratively in 2024 to make a difference. This is at the heart of how we function as an industry body, so we expect to be busier than ever next year. Ultimately it will require a portfolio approach to campaign activation, management, and measurement post 3^rd party cookie deprecation and IAB Australia will continue to work hard to support industry through these changes via the various outputs from dedicated councils and working groups and at our various events through 2024.
 
See also: Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023: C is for Cinema

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Top image: Jonas Jaanimagi

To wrap up 2023, Mediaweek is looking at the biggest trends, events, platforms, and brands of the year. Welcome to Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023 … and beyond.

By Jon Bird, executive director, VMLY&R Commerce

The stats are undeniably impressive. In 2023, global retail e-commerce sales were expected to top USD$6.3 trillion, up 10.4% on last year. By 2026, that figure will have climbed to $8.1 trillion. This year, over 20% of purchases will be made online, rising to 24% by 2026. E-commerce has created retail behemoths, with 37.8% of all e-comm sales in the US taking place on Amazon, and over 50% of online purchases in China happening on Alibaba.

And that’s before you get to “digital-influenced retail sales” – the total of purchases made online, with those that are researched on the internet and then bought in a physical store. Forrester forecasts that in the US, digital-influenced retail sales’ share of total turnover will grow to 70% by 2027.

E-commerce is History

For all that, “e-commerce” itself is a redundant term. Short for “electronic commerce”, the word was conceived in 1984, and conjures up the idea of transactions made on websites via desktop computers. That’s all well and good, but it excludes the myriad of commerce possibilities available today and is blind to the holistic concept of commerce that can take place anywhere at any time in the consumer journey. Indeed, if we were to keep “e-commerce” today, it should be redefined as “everywhere-commerce”, or “expansive-commerce”.

As Beth Ann Kaminkow, global CEO of VMLY&R Commerce said back in 2021, “It’s time to drop the ‘e’ in e-commerce fast…increasingly, purchases are made through a combination of digital and real-world activity and the lines that once separated the two have blurred.”

What’s Next?

So, if it’s time to retire e-commerce on its 40^th anniversary next year, what comes next? Plain and simple, we should embrace the word “commerce” on its own, but we need to have a much richer understanding of the components of commerce, and its creative potential.

Let’s focus on the two biggest trends for 2024 – Livestreaming Commerce and Social Commerce – and the most important application, Creative Commerce.

China Shows The Way

If you want to see where commerce is headed, you need to look East. In China, commerce is mobile-first, with over half of all online sales made on smartphones.

In excess of 25% of those sales are via livestreaming commerce, which will total close to USD$100 billion this year with about 750 million livestreaming users across the country, or more than half the population. Think of livestreaming commerce as a kind of interactive modern version of QVC or the Home Shopping Network – influencers host their own shows or channels where they spruik their favourite products, and the audience can comment and purchase live. The format has created celebrities who sold billions of dollars of products, and led to a rush of everyday influencers keen to cash in.

Livestreaming commerce ladders up to Social Commerce, which is ubiquitous in China – last year, around 84% of Chinese consumers shopped on social media platforms. The big players are Douyin (China’s TikTok) and Pinduoduo, which is a group buying model with a motto of “Together More Savings More Fun”.

The tidal wave of livestreaming and social commerce is washing up on Western shores. “TikTok Shop” has launched in the US and UK with many more markets to come. Amazon has built its own TikTok-like shopping feed, called “Amazon Inspire” which is now US-only, but will no doubt make its way to other markets.

The Unifying Factor – Creative Commerce

The hallmarks of commerce in China – and where it’s headed in the West – is that it must be immersive, interactive, and entertaining. As Beth Ann Kaminkow told Little Black Book, “Commerce is opening up and is this incredible canvas of creativity…it’s disrupting marketing as we know it, and in a really inspiring, incredible way.”

So, in 2024, drop the “e” in “e-commerce”, be open to livestreaming, social and all the amazing new kinds of commerce available, and think holistically and creatively. The potential and the payoff are both massive. 

See also: Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023: F is for Free TV

Top image: Jon Bird

To wrap up 2023, Mediaweek is looking at the biggest trends, events, platforms, and brands of the year. Welcome to Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023 … and beyond.

By Bridget Fair, Chief Executive Officer, Free TV

There’s no doubt the media sector is changing rapidly but one thing that hasn’t changed is Australians turning to free-to-air TV for the big stories and the big moments. The Matilda’s semifinal defeat to the Lionesses in the Women’s World Cup averaged 7.13 million viewers nationally and reached 11.15 million in total, the biggest audience ever for any event broadcast on Australian TV.  The AFL and NRL Grand Finals turned in similarly impressive figures, with more than 4 million Australians tuning in to watch the Magpies and the Panthers triumph. 

Audiences continued to transition from linear terrestrial broadcast to live streaming for their free television services.  The proportion of the sports audience watching on BVOD has more than tripled in the past three years.  About 15-20% of people now access their free TV services using BVOD apps and this number continues to grow.  There have been close to a million new homes built in Australia over the past five years, and the Federal Government is promising a million more in the next five.

Almost none of these new homes will have an aerial, meaning that an increasing number of Australians will no longer have the option to access terrestrial broadcast services. Combined with those viewers now choosing to access content over the internet, it is no surprise that some broadcasters have forecast that up to 50% of their viewing will occur using BVOD apps by the end of the decade.  This has important implications for the industry and in particular for media regulation.

2023 has been a big year for media regulation and this looks likely to continue into 2024. There is a growing appetite for more rules in a range of areas, particularly advertising, which played out with the Online Gambling inquiry’s recommendation to ban wagering advertising across TV and other platforms. This is one trend that most certainly looks likely to continue into 2024, with cross-benchers calling for further regulation of other categories such as fast food, alcohol and fossil fuels. The light has gone on in Canberra that there is a direct relationship between the evolving viewing behaviour of audiences and the achievement of broader public policy objectives that rely on the sustainability of local TV services.

The shift from broadcast to online viewing has placed pressure on the Government to act on the issue of prominence.  TV manufacturers and platform providers are acting as gate-keepers, self-preferencing paid subscription content, pushing free TV apps off the home screen and making them harder to install on smart TVs, eroding consumer choice and posing a major threat to broadcasters’ ability to continue to fund trusted local news, original local entertainment and live and free sport.

The Amazon ICC Cricket World Cup deal announced in early December made it abundantly clear that subscription streaming services with deep pockets are coming for the iconic sporting events Australians love, just like they have with the NFL in the US and Premier League in the UK.  Without updates to our anti-siphoning rules to bring them into the streaming age, there is a real risk we could lose the free broadcast of big events like the Matildas, so we can expect this debate to continue well into 2024.

See Also: Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023: B is for BVOD 

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Top Image: Bridget Fair

To wrap up 2023, Mediaweek is looking at the biggest trends, events, platforms, and brands of the year. Welcome to Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023 … and beyond.

By Gareth Leeding, Chief Strategy Officer, Livewire

Before we look forward to ‘24 it’s important to glance back at ‘23

‘23 was the year that gaming drove culture en masse. The NPC meme was one of the biggest on social media, The Last of Us was the breakout TV series, Super Mario was one of the year’s highest-grossing films, Eminem landed in Fortnite, Cannes launched a gaming category and EA killed FIFA. 

And brands, well… At a glance, there were all kinds of activations. Whether it’s in-game, around game or purpose-driven initiatives for the love of the game, they all made an impact in their own way. Nike launched the Airphoria experience in Fortnite with collectibles, Uber Eats partnered with Starfield to deliver items from Space and Maybelline called out toxic gamers.

Uber Eats X Starfield

What will 2024 look like in the world of gaming marketing for brands?

Gaming is the next big opportunity for brands with 3.38 billion gamers globally, playing for at least 8.9 hours per week. Gen Z is spending more time on Roblox than most major social platforms and Fortnite had 44m players on one day in November.

2024 will be the year that we see brands recognise the audience opportunity, treating gaming as one of the first lines on a media plan, with multi-year gaming strategies built on deep audience insights not broad brush strokes. There will be deeper investment and strategy in the sector. Think about it – brands wouldn’t launch an Instagram channel, drop one campaign and forget about it, so why do you see brands doing it in gaming? Just like Spotify, Porsche and Pizza Hut, we will see more brands commit to the space by developing long-form strategies with highlight beats throughout the year.

2024 will be the year that Fortnite and Roblox explode into mass consciousness. They’ll go from toy to tool, providing more than play. A shift from engaging games to providing utility. We’re already beginning to see it with educational experiences on Fortnite and calling on Roblox. The brand safety measures, age-gating and age-rating measures will give brands confidence to meet the mass migrations of audiences from social to gaming.

2024 will be the year that marketers recognise gamers aren’t gamers. Way back in 2015, Pew Research stated that only 15% of men and 6% of women identify as gamers, yet most marketeers don’t seem to be listening. Once brands step away from using catch all terms to recognise a 3 billion plus audience we will see highly impactful, targeted campaigns that players love because they’re meaningful, add value and entertain. There’s genuinely an audience in gaming for every brand, you just need to do the research to find them, understand them and provide value.

2024 will be the year we see gaming-native CMO’s rise through the ranks. Breaking down the barriers of their play-it-safe predecessors. As measurement of gaming campaigns mature, brand safety measures on Roblox and Fortnite evolve and the opportunity for limitless creativity is realised we will begin to spread their wings. What’s heartening is the more that brands play, the more positive sentiment increases and game enthusiasts are found to have more positive brand attitudes than non-game enthusiasts.

It’s for all of these reasons why 2024 will be gaming’s breakout year in a marketing context. It will be the year that brands go from being watchable to playable. Brands will evolve from trying to take traditional broadcast advertising approaches and shift into creating playable experiences that add value and unlock fandom.

See also: Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023: F is for Free TV

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Top Image: Gareth Leeding

To wrap up 2023, Mediaweek is looking at the biggest trends, events, platforms, and brands of the year. Welcome to Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023 … and beyond.

By Darren Woolley, global CEO of TrinityP3, marketing/agency editor at large at Mediaweek

There was a time when the holiday retail sales were Christmas, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, EOFY Stocktake and Boxing Day. These can be categorised into two groups – the gift giving event, driven by gift ideas and inspiration. These holiday sales are best classified by the first four on the list and are often represented with creative promotion that goes to the sentimental meaning of the event, without a price point or BYGOF to be seen. 

This year, we can see this approach with retailers like Myer, Big W, Aldi, Woolworths, Coles, Michael Hill Jewellers and even Telstra all joining in the advertising celebration.

The other sales events are the clearance sales with a “stack ‘em high and watch ‘em fly out the door” delivering a retail revenue driver. The creative approach here is the hurry, hurry, for the crazy, crazy prices, tapping into customer FOMO. 

Boxing Day is a particular special example of this retail event with media coverage of shoppers lined up, outside the store doors on Boxing Day morning, waiting for the start of the mad rush to get the limited discounts inside.

The creative approach is loud, repetitive, and filled with discounts and price off savings, delivered with the urgency that is a cross between the circus and a zombie apocalypse.

But it appears these pillars of retail events have been superseded by a relative newcomer to the holiday sales in Australia – Black Friday and Cyber Monday. While technically not a holiday here, Black Friday and it’s younger sibling, Cyber Monday have their genesis as a long shopping weekend following the US Thanksgiving Day, traditionally on fourth Thursday in November. 

Back in 2014, Apple introduced the concept to the Australian market, and very quickly it has been embraced by retailers and shoppers alike. This year, Australian shoppers spent more than $8.7 billion on Black Friday sales, up 22% on 2022, according to NAB transaction data. And not just online, with brick and mortar increasing store-traffic and a significant share of the spend.

With shoppers increasingly using the Black Friday to do their Christmas shopping and pick up a bargain, it will be interesting to see how much impact this year’s record Black Friday spend will have on the Boxing Day Sales results, reported last year to be $23.5 billion according to Australian Retailer Association. Time will tell if we have managed to train our customers to wait for the almost endless opportunities to shop at a discount. 

With up to 50% off and more in the offering, financially savvy Australian shoppers are increasingly delaying gratification for that shopping windfall. While many in business look longingly at the revenue growth, marketers should be focused on the profit, because while sales are often measured against volume and top-line growth, marketing and brand building is also about building and maintaining margins. After all, any fool can sell to break-even or worse, but it takes skill to create and maintain a healthy margin. Particularly when the economy is struggling.

See also: Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023: G is for Gaming

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Top Image: Darren Woolley

To wrap up 2023, Mediaweek is looking at the biggest trends, events, platforms, and brands of the year.

Welcome to Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023 … and beyond.

Josh Faulks

By Josh Faulks, CEO of AANA

It has been a challenging year for our industry across a number of fronts.
 
The biggest run of interest rate hikes in the shortest period in over 40 years has squeezed disposal income and consumer spending is volatile. The ongoing cost of living crisis and stubbornly high inflation has shattered consumer confidence. This means that business revenues are under immense strain.
 
At the same time, the cost of doing business has increased dramatically leading to cost cutting across the board as businesses strive to not pass on those costs which would put further pressure on inflation and perpetuate the cycle.
 
In this cost cutting environment, 2023 was as year of pressure on marketing budgets and pressure to demonstrate the return on investment (ROI) in marketing.
 
In that context, it’s no surprise that I am consistently told that marketing effectiveness and ROI have dominated the thinking of advertisers and marketers this year.
 
At the same time, we saw increased criticism and regulatory pressure from governments across the country, in particular, around advertising bans, environment claims and privacy.
 
The year that has been demonstrates that now, more the ever, the industry needs a strong united voice defending and promoting the value of the industry to the media, governments and business leaders.
 
I think we will see the economic and regulatory pressure on our industry intensify in 2024. The focus of governments and business will rightly be on growth and the cost of living. We know that advertising and marketing drives growth and brings prices down through competition and innovation. The opportunity for our industry is to prove our value to the Australian economy and broader community by better marketing ourselves (ironically!).
 
I suspect there will continue to be a big focus on marketing effectiveness and ROI in 2024. As part of that, cross media measurement will play an increasingly important role.
 
On regulatory issues, we will need to come together to defend our industry, and protect and promote our world class regulatory system. Gambling reforms will come through from the Federal Government and pressure will build on the banning of advertising of unhealthy food and drinks – a disaster for our industry and the broader economy. We will need to build consumer confidence in environmental claims, and the proposed privacy reforms will start to slowly weave their way through the Australian Parliament.
 
Despite the economic headwinds and regulatory challenges, I am optimistic about what 2024 will bring for our industry. I am constantly impressed by the industry’s ability to thrive and innovate in tough economic times. This is what we are all about – helping businesses and the economy grow.

Tony Hale

By Tony Hale, CEO of ACA

Reflecting on the advertising and media landscape as we come to the end of the year, the journey towards a sustainable and socially conscious advertising industry continues, with the industry poised to lead by example in the years ahead.

Just over three years ago, the UK’s Advertising Association launched Ad Net Zero, a commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2030. As soon as they decided to roll the program out globally, Advertising Council Australia swiftly threw its support behind the initiative.

Ad Net Zero’s five-step framework involving auditing operations, production, media plan footprint, awards and events, and influence of public behaviour will provide a roadmap for industry-wide sustainability.
 
Governance and self-regulation have become focal points in elevating industry standards. While we believe the media and advertising industry is largely responsible, it doesn’t necessarily look so from an external perspective, especially when compared to other professional service industries.
 
So when we launched accreditation, it was essential to tighten our own governance through member rules, a code of conduct, and a code of ethics. This provides a framework to set the standards we expect from members and foster continuous improvement. Looking forward, we anticipate tiered accreditation levels as well as additional certification for excellence in specific markets, fostering healthy competition and encouraging agencies to surpass minimum standards.
 
Formal training and education within the advertising industry is undergoing scrutiny. Despite some commendable efforts, there’s still room for improvement in formalised certification and standardised career progression pathways. Encouraging businesses to invest in education enhances skills and contributes to long-term industry sustainability.
 
As we navigate these complexities into the next year and beyond, representative bodies like Advertising Council Australia remain committed to global initiatives, advocating for responsible practices and providing frameworks for our industry to thrive.

By Gai Le Roy, CEO of IAB Australia

2024 summed up: innovation seeking and efficiency.

2024 is set to be a significant year for the digital advertising industry. Once again it will be underpinned by changes. The changes in data availability and usage will result in marketers and brand seeking new ways to protect consumer data signals, tailor campaign targeting and development advertising measurement. Apple’s previous changes to tracking and Chrome’s retirement of 3rd party cookies is scheduled for late 2024, and importantly we will have details from the Australian Government in relation to the next steps for local privacy reform. Although new information will be received for the details of the new privacy legislation, none of these topics should come as a surprise for marketers, agencies or publishers who have, hopefully, been preparing for changes for a number of years. But 2024 will be a year of reviewing, testing, and reconfiguring in earnest.

Measuring and reducing carbon emissions generated by our industry will increasingly become a priority and 2024 will see the industry working on ways to help the whole advertising ecosystem align on initiatives, standards, and education. Fortunately, many of the ways we can reduce emissions in relation to media activity are aligned with changes that will improve the overall efficiency of activity in our industry.

Perhaps the best way to sum up what lies ahead in 2024 are the words innovation seeking and efficiency.  Given the economic outlook for late 2023 and early 2024 is quite subdued, it’s not surprising that organisations are either looking for ways to save or they are being conservative around long-term investments. However, developments in AI, alongside new efficient ways of working and a range of industry innovations will offer our people the opportunity to learn new skills and find new ways of working. Meanwhile brands will be challenging their marketing teams to find new methods of growth which will mean marketers will be looking for media opportunities and marketing technology that can clearly demonstrate effectiveness.

It’s going to be a very busy year for us all.

Sam Buchanan

By Sam Buchanan, CEO of IMAA

Despite the overuse of the whole concept of AI and how our industry will use it to its best effect, it is still the most exciting disruption to come in 2024. I believe that AI has the ability to continue to level the playing field if it is harnessed properly rather than just being a play thing.

Speaking of AI, 2024 will see the Federal Government’s new data and consumer privacy laws have a significant impact on how brands are marketed to consumers. With the ability to sue for serious breaches of privacy, opting out of targeted advertising and, most importantly, the right to be forgotten, consumers have the upper hand.

The demand for a more sustainable advertising supply chain will grow and impact commercial decisions as clients will demand it to achieve their overarching ESG goals and media owners and agencies will need to step up. More than half (55%) of the IMAA’s members said it will soon influence their buying decisions.

While 2023 has been an interesting ride, the indie media agency sector is still in robust health. Our latest IMAA Indie Census found that 60% of indies expect to grow but that growth will be determined by consumer and client confidence. Despite this, indies have had a cracking year of growth and 2024 is set to be another big one in the era of the indies!

By Sophie Madden, CEO of MFA

We often talk about collaboration as an important goal to strive towards, and for good reason. Collaboration is how we make things happen – impactful work for clients, industry-advancing projects and change-making initiatives.

And in 2023, collaboration was front and centre in the media and advertising industry. Among many examples was the update Advertising Pays report, which quantified advertising’s economic impact as $53 billion, or 2.1% of the GDP, an important proof point of the value of our industry. Commissioned by the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA), Advertising Council of Australia (ACA) and Media Federation of Australia (MFA), the report also had the backing of the CRA, IAB, Free TV, OMA and ThinkTV. 

We also worked together with our industry partners to align on major initiatives on privacy, sustainability and contractual equity, and to enhance trust and transparency in out-of-home through the development of improved metrics.

In 2024, as I’m sure all outlook commentary is mentioning, we expect challenging economic conditions, with high inflation and waning consumer confidence impacting the first half of the year. Consequently, the role of agencies will be increasingly relevant in helping marketers navigate these treacherous waters.

Work in the diversity, equity and inclusion space will continue to be a priority, not just in our industry but across all sectors, as ongoing conflict and instability around the world further fracture society and our communities. Our goal should always be to ensure everyone feels included, supported and safe in the workplace, and we aim to achieve just that through the creation of an Industry Psychosocial Safety action plan in the new year.

In addition, with the much-needed refresh of Australia’s Privacy Act coming into effect next year, the impact of tech and increased regulation will occupy the thoughts and actions of marketers, agencies and media owners alike.

Finally, sustainability is another focus area for 2024. At the MFA, we’ll bring this to the fore through our collaboration with the AANA, IAB and other industry partners to help transition the industry into a more sustainable economy. This is an important aspect of the MFA’s ambition to lead a sustainable, respected, inclusive and future-proofed industry.

As always, we will continue to empower and inspire our members to create positive change in our industry and the broader community, because We Are The Changers.

–

Top image, left to right: Josh Faulks, Tony Hale, Gai Le Roy, Sam Buchanan and Sophie Madden

While Seven West Media chief executive James Warburton has announced his departure, he plans to be in the role until the end of FY24 – June 30, 2024.

This means he will make his final results presentation next February for the six months ending December 31, 2023 with incumbent chief executive Jeff Howard presenting the FY24 12 months result in August 2024.

The only thing that could trigger a change in that plan would be either the board or Howard deciding they no longer want Warburton around the place.

That’s only likely to happen if Warburton revealed the unlikely scenario where he was considering a possible job offer from a competitor to Seven West Media.

Seven chief executive officer James Warburton and chief financial officer Jeff Howard

Although Warburton’s decision to stand down triggered the search for a successor, the outgoing CEO was not directly involved. The Seven West Media board is believed to have had some time to line up that role under the leadership of executive chairman Kerry Stokes.

When Warburton was appointed in mid-2019 the Seven executive chairman thought the business wasn’t in great shape with clouds hanging over ratings, revenue, and a debt pile. The company still owned Pacific Magazines and transition to digital at 7plus was in its infancy.

When asked about his time at Seven, where Warburton is into his fifth year as CEO, he told Mediaweek yesterday simply: “It was time given the five years.

“The plan is for an orderly handover. It’s been a busy time guiding the ship, driving the digital strategy, and getting us to the point where we are now. We have a great team in place and the next six months is about transitioning through.

“It will be a big year with programs to launch, anti-siphoning to negotiate…there’s still much to do.”

James Warburton pitching Seven at his final Upfront in October

James Warburton’s career path

We have broken down his career since 1988 into three sections.

Advertising: McCann Erickson, DDB Needham, Universal McCann, APN Outdoor
Motor vehicles: Hyundai, V8 Supercars
Media: Seven (twice), Network 10

Covid, debt, and sports rights worth paying for

The Warburton Seven years included negotiating Covid. Most media companies managed to make it to the other side in good shape. But Seven managed to also pay down $490m of debt across that time.

An overhaul of the business model too was underway and now sees 50% of earnings digital-based and 7plus has grown dramatically and claims to be winning in VOD with help from digital rights and its NBCU content. With AFL and cricket streaming minutes Seven could be hard to topple from a total television perspective. “We have a great team in place and we are all very proud of where we are now,” said Warburton.

Seven Upfront: Star power

Regarding the outlook for Seven, Warburton noted the media sector is currently midway through an ad cycle. “The Seven business is in great shape and when the ad market comes back Seven will absolutely fly. We are already performing very well, we are just not getting the reward for it yet in revenue terms or share market appreciation.”

As to the model for FTA TV, Warburton has no doubts about Seven’s future success. “All the VOZ data which will be rolled out next year will be critical and it will show what it means to have the two best sports rights – AFL and cricket.”

Seven’s stake in radio indicates it is not shy in looking at consolidation.

Seven has purchased enough shares in the ambitious radio broadcaster ARN to make it the largest shareholder. The company doesn’t have a seat on the board, yet, but that should be a formality in 2024. ARN has had its hands full in the past few weeks without having time to consider a board reshuffle.

The fact that Jeff Howard comes from ARN where he was CFO for over seven years makes Seven’s radio play all the more interesting.

See also: Seven’s James Warburton on avoiding bad deals

James Warburton: Where to next?

Warburton wouldn’t be drawn when Mediaweek asked about where to next. He noted that he hasn’t yet canvassed any offers that might be around, presumably something he might do now that his departure is public knowledge.

He has been focused on the transition and how the second half of FY24 will perform. There is speculation Warburton is looking outside of the media, but it is believed he is not interested in leaving Australia.

Seven West Media: CEO candidates

There were a number of key executives on the Seven West Media management team who could have handled the job as chief executive. But there’s one key reason why the board perhaps passed over them in favour of the CFO: They are all more important in their existing roles than facing the distractions that come with running an ASX-listed business.

Kurt Burnette

Kurt Burnette: Chief revenue officer of the long-time all-people ratings champ. He’s been with the business for 25 years and with national sales director Natalie Harvey a recent departure, Burnette has his hands full. On the other hand, Seven has had amazing success with other sales chiefs who made their way to the top job via sales including David Leckie and Warburton himself.

Lewis Martin: The managing director Seven Melbourne and head of network sport celebrates 20 years with the broadcaster in 2024. He looks after the rights to the AFL and the cricket, so don’t mess with that. He also looks after the significant racing rights, so why doesn’t Seven snaffle the Melbourne Cup Carnival? Because it’s not about to overpay for anything. [See also Seven’s exit from the Olympic rights negotiations.]

Angus Ross: The chief content officer for entertainment programming may not be an obvious choice. But Tim Worner came from a similar background and he had good years leading the business after acquiring and making popular content. Kerry Stokes wants to keep Seven #1 so why move out the person leading the charge in primetime every night when the news wraps?

The talent-heavy management team also has several other potential candidates for the top job:

Maryna Fewster: The chief executive officer of SWM WA looks after the media business in the executive chairman’s home state.

Craig McPherson: Director of news and public affairs has a successful career in newspapers and television over 30 years. It is hard to imagine he might give up the rough and tumble of the fiercely competitive news business for the executive suite and spending long days with analysts, investors and the bean counters.

Bruce McWilliam: The commercial director has been a director of Seven for 20 years and has a rich background bursting with TV experience which includes time at BSkyB and News International (News Corp’s UK arm). Legal skills and contract negotiation mean he’s better where he is.

Warburton with Gereurd Roberts

Gereurd Roberts: The chief digital officer was previously chief executive of Pacific Magazines and somehow managed, with the help of Bruce McWilliam, to get more for the company than Bauer got for their portfolio of brands when the two publishing groups were traded.

To wrap up 2023, Mediaweek is looking at the biggest trends, events, platforms, and brands of the year.

Welcome to Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023 … and beyond.

Kyle and Jackie O launching their breakfast show into Melbourne in 2024 has dominated chatter about radio at the end of 2023. Although it may not be the biggest story in radio next year. That honour might go to the ARN and Anchorage Capital takeover offer for SCA and how it plays out.

The other ambitious play from ARN, to network Kyle and Jackie O into Melbourne on KIIS 101.1, will be right up there though.

Last time Kyle and Jackie O turned up on a new metro station (KIIS 106.5) there were ads on air at their new home the day they vacated their old station (2Day FM). The airwaves at KIIS Melbourne are still silent about the next breakfast show.

Kyle and Jackie celebrate recent ARN contract extension

Kyle and Jackie O: When will they launch down south?

This time ARN are carefully planning how they will introduce the show to the Melbourne market. KIIS 101.1 summer breakfast is in the very capable hands of Byron Cooke. In the meantime, the former KIIS 101.1 breakfast show, Jase and Lauren, has been wiped from the KIIS website.

The only presence of Kyle and Jackie O on the website at present is for the daily 6pm Hour of Power and a plug for their podcast. Those two products give only a taste for what the new program will offer. Melbourne listeners who start tuning in at 6am daily next year just might be in for a very wild ride.

The only thing yet confirmed by ARN about the arrival of the new show in Melbourne is that the company has set aside an additional $2m for each of the next 2-3 years to promote the show in the Victorian capital.

Jackie at the Mediaweek 100 where K&J again topped the Star Power rankings

Kyle and Jackie O: Stateless

The mantra for a successful breakfast radio show has been that it needs to be ultra-local. K&J broke those rules and built a Sydney show that hardly mentions or exploits the delights of their city. In other words, it’s tailor-made for syndication. (Where to see the best Christmas lights in Sydney was a recent rare exception!)

That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a guaranteed hit format in Melbourne. ARN has the data though that indicates there is a receptive audience waiting for them. Those numbers come from the daily Hour of Power, the live streaming via iHeartRadio and other radio apps plus the K&J podcast audience.

The bonus is that Jase and Lauren have gifted K&J a cume audience over 1m when the show starts in Melbourne, presumably in January. Just maybe when Australian Idol launches on Seven with K. Sandilands one of the judges.

The whole K&J team feeling good about their 2024 challenge

Will K&J change their formula?

Not likely. Winding back their in-your-face (or in some cases on-your-face!) content might make sense. That could be a double-edged sword – they would disenfranchise their loyal Sydney audience and it may be a product that wouldn’t fly in Melbourne either.

Keeping it simple

The one thing that listeners can bank on is that the show starts bang on 6am daily. It’s a simple, but clever tactic. Kyle and Jackie and newsreader Brooklyn Ross are deep into their first discussion while all other FM breakfast shows are running news bulletins that are often followed by the first song.

Kyle and Jackie O can run as long as 30 minutes for their opening without any music, and ads, but plenty of entertaining, often filth-ridden, chatter.

Working overtime

At the other end of every Kyle and Jackie O breakfast show is the variable finish time. On the last show of 2023 on KIIS 106.5 the duo was still on air at 11am before they wrapped up for the summer break.

While all other FM shows are off-air at 9am, the KIIS 106.5 breakfast show is still in full flight, usually winding up at 10am or later daily. During this extra airtime KIIS is presumably charging breakfast show rates for spots during what is elsewhere a music morning shift.

Show me the money

There’s been much hype about the reported doubling of the breakfast salaries with Kyle Sandilands and Jackie Henderson in line for $10m each annually. There is a pot of money at the end of the radio rainbow, but there are hurdles before the hosts get to dip in.

Contract length: The new contract doesn’t kick in until the start of 2025 and then runs for a decade until the end of 2034.

Dollars: The base salary for both hosts has increased. However, because of no Jase and Lauren show, the net total increase in ARN costs is around $2-3m annually. ARN said the new fees are not subject to CPI or any further fixed increases over the term of the contracts.

Managers: Jackie with Gemma Fordham and Kyle with Bruno Bouchet

Bonuses: Many radio hosts get a bonus when they hit performance targets set out in their contracts. The new K&J deal means they lose those bonus payments. In return, they get a revenue share linked to any rise in ad revenue. This explains the Why too. The hosts and ARN are hoping for increased KIIS 101.1 ad revenue, the revenue halo effect that comes with being #1 FM, or, and watch out 3AW, being #1 overall.

Show me the shares: As part of the signing-on deal, K&J plus Christian O’Connell have been given a total $7m shares in ARN that are not able to be sold until the end of the contract period.

See also: ARN radio boss Ciaran Davis on Kyle, Jackie and Christian: Contracts, competition, networking, and risk

Moving cities: Radio case studies

Christian O’Connell

Our first case study shows how one announcer moved not just cities, but countries half a world away. In 2018, British broadcaster Christian O’Connell signed off from his award-winning high-rating breakfast show on Absolute Radio after 12 years. He packed up the family, sorted visas for Australia, and arrived at Gold 104.3.

Many wondered if it would work, including O’Connell. At the time he told Mediaweek: “The audience is trying to get used to me, getting used to the accent. Is it too much hearing a Pommy on the radio? That is challenging but at the same time really, really exciting.”

It didn’t take long for the Melbourne audience to engage with O’Connell. Did they love him? Did they ever. The show has been a solid gold ratings winner. The program has been Melbourne’s #1 FM breakfast show for 27 of the last 28 radio ratings surveys.

See also: Can Melbourne cope with hearing a Pom on the radio? Welcome to The Christian O’Connell Breakfast Show

Christian O’Connell

Ben, Liam and Belle

The Nova trio remains a work in progress after Ben and Liam moved from Adelaide to Melbourne, joined on air by their Adelaide producer Belle. The duo originally moved from a national Triple J program to Adelaide Nova with great success.

The move to Melbourne has been more challenging, but it’s still relatively early days.

The hosts recently shared some revealing market research which shows the job ahead of them. Listeners were asked who they thought woke them up on Nova 100 each morning.

The answers included: “I don’t know!”, “Chrissie, Sam & Brownie”, “Liam, Yom & Belle”, “I can’t remember their names sorry”, “Ben, Liam & Bella” (close), “Tim, Liam & Belle”, “Chrissie, Ben, Liam, Belle, Ricki, Tim & Joel” and “Chrissie, Bronwyn & Sammy”.

The final year of the Chrissie, Sam and Browny show on Nova 100 had an average share of 8.5%. So far in 2023, Ben, Liam and Belle are averaging 6.7%.

See also: New city, new show – Ben, Liam & Belle on making the move to Melbourne

Ben, Liam, and Belle

To wrap up 2023, Mediaweek is looking at the biggest trends, events, platforms, and brands of the year.

Welcome to Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023 … and beyond.

By Tim Burrowes, publisher of media industry newsletter Unmade

Tim Burrowes

It was the year of Succession, and succession.

In May, the global media community was addicted to the final episodes of HBO’s acclaimed Succession, bringing to a conclusion the family war for leadership of Logan Roy’s sprawling media empire.

If there was a more ridiculous sight during 2023 than Peter Van Onselen wearing a Waystar Royco hoodie under a blazer on the ABC’s Insiders, then I didn’t see it. 

In September came the real deal. Nearly 71 years after taking the helm of the family business, Rupert Murdoch announced he was going to step down as boss of both News Corp and Fox Corp, becoming Chairman Emeritus.

Unlike the rise of spineless son-in-law Tom Wambsgans, there was no such surprise at News Corp. Lachlan Murdoch is the successor. Nine years after returning to the family business, he officially stepped up at last month’s company AGM.

Lachlan will lead both News Corp and Fox Corp.

In Australia, News Corp is the more significant of the two businesses. The company’s news operations – including The Australian, The Courier Mail, the Herald Sun, The Telegraph, Sky News Australia and news.com.au – sit inside News Corp. So do the company’s majority holdings of subscription TV player Foxtel Group and property business REA Group. Ditto its commercial content arm, including Medium Rare, Storyation, Suddenly and Visual Domain.

There’s plenty more internationally too, with the increasingly profitable Dow Jones information division, along with newspapers in the US and UK, and book publisher HarperCollins.

So what will be on Lachlan’s plate in 2024 and beyond?

1. Trying again with a merger? Before handing over the reins, Rupert attempted to bring the two arms of the empire back together. The shareholders didn’t want it, but that doesn’t mean Lachlan won’t try again.

2. Deciding what to do with Foxtel. The transition from satellite broadcaster to streamer saw a decline in profits, but Foxtel Group has found itself a foothold, albeit with a heavy debt load. Something will have to give.

3. Selling the real estate arm? On the deal making front, the company is also under pressure to let go of its stake in REA which the market believes is undervalued. That would be tough as Lachlan gets most of the credit for this lucrative investment originally.

4. Dealing with the shrinking profitability of news. In the last quarter, the news media division reported a profit of just US$14m. That’s a fraction of the US$122m contribution the real estate operation makes. As the Meta money dries up, can the News Media Bargaining Code shakedown be repeated on the AI players?

5. What happens when Rupert is really gone. Rupert Murdoch’s move to Chairman Emeritus is the end of a chapter but not the story. The real succession battle will only be decided after he passes. Rupert Murdoch still ultimately controls the business with four votes in the family trust. Offspring Lachlan, James, Elisabeth and Prudence get one vote each. Lachlan, whose conservative politics are closer to his father than his siblings, is unlikely to get their support when the time comes.

Lachlan’s real succession battle is yet to come.

–

Top Image: Lachlan Murdoch

To wrap up 2023, Mediaweek is looking at the biggest trends, events, platforms, and brands of the year.

Welcome to Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023 … and beyond.

By Taz Papoulis, head of media strategy and investment, at Murmur Group

The evolution and revolution of magazine publishing in 2024

I’ve been in the media game so long that I was selling full page ads in the Yellow Pages to plumbers, before Yellow Pages online even existed.

Fast track almost 20 years and I have seen many publications come and go, some of which I launched including Time Out Sydney Magazine, The Good Pub Guide by Fairfax and many niche publications.

I have also seen the demise of many publications, some of which have shrunk like The Yellow Page or Sydney Morning Herald broadsheet; some of which have completely disappeared and others that have transitioned online such as The Gadget Guy, GQ, Australian Playboy and Rugby League Weekly.

You will see the big press players old and new be completely staunch about print and tell you it keeps the lights on – that’s faith but it’s not quite true.

Media reps are pushed hard with print budgets and often value bundle print and digital to keep a publication’s circulation going. But the reality is the majority of the population gets the exact same information from online, TV and radio.

How many times have you seen the same pieces of content replicated to digital, print, TV and radio – heck, most of the time radio hosts are speaking about a front-page news article.

Granted it may be in the papers first but those media rights carry across online.

Magazines and niche publications are a completely different ball game. When it comes to art, architecture, prestige motor cars, health and wellbeing, even FMCG specials, there is not only a nostalgic element (being able to keep, collect or go back to that important piece of content one day); but an aesthetic element or “feel” to the publication. Be it an ALDI weekly specials catalogue or the best of Grand Designs Home we like to visually see the magazine in our hands, touch the page, wet our finger and turn a corner over.

The problem is print as a whole is in decline and will be for many years; conversely niche publications are steady and many are in growth.

Have you seen just how many business and fishing magazines are at your local newsagent? I still have my last BRW!

Editors and publishers replicate content across web portals from blogs to socials, Reddit threads and EDMs – this reduces the reason to buy print versions due to ease of access. Another prime example? E-magazines and e-catalogues.

This has also happened in the book world with silicon-valley launching apps such as Blinkist (which I highly recommend) which allows you to listen to the highlights of a 300-page business book in 30min and obviously e-books and podcasts. Perfect for the time-poor worker of today.

Granted, the majority of people read a book for the journey in their leisure time but for those looking for the one to two key nuggets or take-outs, the shortest way to that point is preferable.

Industry wide do I see print in decline? 100% it is and it’s proven in publicly available financials for the big players. Category and type wise – it varies. As an example, Better Homes & Gardens, Australian Woman’s Weekly and The Daily Telegraph are still going strong albeit with fluctuations and this comes down to who their audience is.

Older demographics prefer print and with Australia’s aging population and slower birth rates in play, I would argue that print will continue to be key for specific markets for a while. 

But fast forward 30 to 40 years when Boomers are almost non-existent, I can’t see a huge demand for print and can probably guarantee 80% plus of all print that is in production now will no longer exist (the physical item not necessarily the brand).

As always when it comes to the question “should I place an advertisement in this particular print vertical”, it comes down to ensuring you have an Audience first approach. 

After all, brands need to be where their customers are – always.

See also: Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023: L is for Lachlan Murdoch

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Top Image: Taz Papoulis

To wrap up 2023, Mediaweek is looking at the biggest trends, events, platforms, and brands of the year.

Welcome to Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023 … and beyond.

By Abbie Dubin-Rhodin, senior strategy director at Special Australia

2023 has been…something. The hottest year on record. The year the RBA raised interest rates 5 times. And HECS debt grew by $5.3B. And to buy a house in Sydney, you would need an annual income of $270,000–in a city where the average income is $80k.

Not to mention the ever expanding, seemingly self-propelling series of systemic catastrophes cropping up daily, many of which pose deeply existential threats to our survival. 

As we watch the world around us crash and burn live on TikTok, it’s understandable why we’ve all gotten so thirsty for the past.

And our collective nostalgia is fueling its own economy–from the (low)rise of early noughties fashion to an exponential growth in cassette sales. 

You don’t even have to have lived through these eras to crave their comparative simplicity and buy the brands that say they’ll offer you a bit of rose-coloured comfort. You just need to feel like life must have been simpler, and by virtue better, back then.

And where culture goes, brands follow, making nostalgia one of their most popular and prolific creative strategies of 2023. 

Legacy brands dove into their archives and emerged with mirrors into our childhoods

Nostalgia is extremely hard, if not impossible, to manufacture. It’s why legacy brands have an upper hand in creating it, because their products are genuine artefacts of our formative years. 

It’s why Barbie–both the ad blitz and the movie–leant so heavily on generations of (mostly) girls’ experiences with their own Barbie dolls. And why the decision to sell a limited edition Weird Barbie after the film’s release remains a particular highlight of this nostalgia marketing masterclass.

It’s why McDonald’s has spent the last year unearthing long-forgotten brand characters from the 80s and 90s, like Grimace and the McNugget Buddies. We loved them when we were kids, and while cost of living keeps most childhood collectibles out of reach, a Grimace shake or a DJ Kirwen Frost designed adult Happy Meal (with collectible McNugget Buddy) is actually doable. 

Video games recreated their own early days to reconnect with and reward fans 

In industries where the business model depends on annual/semi-annual releases–like fashion or entertainment–artefacts of early or specific seasons can take on a cult-like status, particularly if they’re difficult to find or discontinued.

Two leaders in gaming, Fortnite and FIFA, tapped into that reality to reinvigorate their fan bases and create massive hype for themselves. 

In November, Fortnite re-released its OG island map and announced ‘Fortnite Season OG’ to allow players to rediscover fan-favourite locations and weapons, resulting in the game having its biggest day ever, with 44.7 million players logging in on launch day.

FIFA knows its soundtracks generate a ton of buzz and almost universal love–even among their haters. So this year surprised fans by restoring their favourite songs from the last 25 years as part of the World Cup Update to FIFA 23, 

Nostalgia isn’t a silver bullet for brands looking to emotionally placate people strung out by the polycrisis into shopping more. But for the brands that can find the right cues and right rewards for the right audience – consider this my official plea for a brand to release The Secret Garden themed anything – it’s a timeless strategy with the potential to grow and evolve as new generations age and find comfort in their version of better times back then.

See also: Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023: M is for Magazine Publishing

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Top image: Abigail Dubin-Rhodin

To wrap up 2023, Mediaweek is looking at the biggest trends, events, platforms, and brands of the year. Welcome to Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023 … and beyond.

By Elizabeth McIntyre, CEO OMA and MOVE

Reflecting on this year and all that I have learned in my first nine months working with the Outdoor industry leads me to some truths about advertising.

In an era where every dollar spent demands accountability, where ease of planning and buying defines success, and where granularity in data shapes flexibility, the landscape of Outdoor advertising in 2024 is poised for significant evolution.

Financial Accountability

We know that marketing budgets are scrutinised more than ever, and advertisers are compelled to reconcile every dollar spent. We are on the front foot of transparency and the OMA and our Members will be providing even more evidence of our channel’s effectiveness next year. This will take a variety of shapes from case studies to original research, on multi-format campaigns and well as multi-channel. Understanding the impact of every dollar spent will not only be a strategic advantage but a necessity for those looking to maximize their ROI.

Simplicity in Planning and Buying

The Outdoor industry’s path to standardise started some time ago and it continues with the launch of an automated Insertion Order platform, OASIS, this year. I predict that advertising as a whole will become more user-friendly and all media channels will continue to streamline processes that make planning and buying ad spaces more accessible than ever before.

Included in this is the programmatic revolution which allows digital Out of Home (OOH) to be booked and fulfilled with a mouse click. The ability to seamlessly integrate Outdoor advertising into overall marketing strategies will become a key differentiator in the competitive landscape.

Data Granularity

The third truth revolves around the importance of granularity in data. The revolution that will be MOVE2 will fill the gaps that MOVE didn’t have the capacity for, including seasonal changes and regional and place-based audiences. And we’re seizing this opportunity to provide greater granularity— which means a lot of data.

We’re working hard to put systems into place to ensure an amazing user experience, and this is spinning us into some truly innovative work. Our focus on better measurement and data-driven insights will present new opportunities for advertisers.

As we move forward into 2024, the Outdoor industry is not just facing the future but actively shaping it to be outstanding. Together, with a shared vision for a thriving and dynamic landscape, we step into a year of possibilities, challenges, and uncharted territories, reaffirming that the journey has only just begun.

See also: Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023: 

Top image: Elizabeth McIntyre

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To wrap up 2023, Mediaweek is looking at the biggest trends, events, platforms, and brands of the year.

Welcome to Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023 … and beyond.

By Grant Tothill, executive head, LiSTNR Podcasts

Podcasts’ ability to tap into the Zeitgeist reached new heights in 2023, as Australia eclipsed the US in monthly podcast listening for the first time.

18 million Australians, or 81% percent of the population aged 12+, listen to digital audio monthly, up from 78% in 2022. And 43% of Australians listen to a podcast, or up to five podcasts, per month, with Australia’s no.1 podcast, Hamish & Andy, attracting almost one million monthly listeners. That is more than several other media channels could claim and demonstrates that a large swathe of our population does not need to rely solely on screens for their entertainment needs.

The beauty of podcasts is they’re personal – they are a lean in personal experience that’s completely your choice anywhere, anytime. Whether you want to escape, be informed, learn something new or just be entertained there’s a whole world of podcasts to choose from.

In 2024, there will be some interesting trends for podcasting, emanating from several areas including tech and content innovation.

The Podcasting in 2023 LiSTNR study of Australian monthly podcast listeners found that podcasts are an increasingly trusted advertising medium among Gen Z in particular, with one in four saying they believe podcast advertising is the best way for brands to reach them.

Audiences also trust podcasts, due to their authenticity and real people discussing their lives or recounting real life events. The study found that 67% listen to podcasts to be entertained, 58% to learn something new and 53% to be informed.

Gen Ys are the biggest consumers of podcasts and blue-collar workers are heavy podcast listeners spending almost two hours a day with podcasts, which is 25% higher than the average podcast listener.

These are the trends we see emerging next year.

Like many industries, podcasts will continue on the road to digital transformation and optimisation. There will be advances in audience data and ad tech along with the growth of podcast listening which will drive improved commercialisation of podcasts by creating improved data insights on audiences and greater accountability and attribution.

There are an estimated five million plus podcasts available globally, which creates a paradox of choice, and only the most impactful and relevant podcasts will capture the attention of a more discerning podcast audience next year.

As the Australian podcast market starts to mature, well established chat-based podcasts, such as It’s A Lot with Abbie Chatfield, will continue to drive audiences. New titles will struggle to find audiences against the backdrop of more established podcasts with strong fan bases.

In addition, audio journalism and long form storytelling will continue to attract audiences and grow in popularity due to the ever-decreasing trust factor audiences are developing with other mediums along with the current cycle of “sound grab” based short form news.

New podcast formats like audio drama and documentary-based formats will be limited due to the lack of investment by Australian podcast companies. Those that do invest, however, will drive new audiences and opportunity as podcast consumption continues to grow and audiences seek more fiction or non-fiction-based storytelling that interests them.

Radio show podcasts have really proven their popularity this year, growing at 83% weekly listening year on year. The secret to their success is formatting and creating bespoke content for podcast audiences. Radio podcasts will continue to grow in 2024 as pressure increases for media companies to gain greater opportunity to maximise their investment in talent and new streams of commercialisation.

Overall, the podcast industry will undergo some rationalisation throughout 2024 as media and podcast companies look to improve their commissioning processes to maximise audience growth and monetisation and look to have profitable podcast business units.

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Top Image: Grant Tothill

To wrap up 2023, Mediaweek is looking at the biggest trends, events, platforms, and brands of the year.

Welcome to Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023 … and beyond.

By Robyn Sefiani, president ANZ & reputation counsel, Sefiani Communications

In 2023, a trend that emerged in corporate reputation management and crisis communications in Australia was the pivotal role of the CEO. While this in itself is not unusual, it was how the CEOs responded or didn’t respond to the crises in which their companies were embroiled that was notable.

Good reputations take years to build and can be destroyed in days or weeks if a crisis is mishandled and public trust is lost. Trust, once lost, is hard but not impossible to regain.

Optus experienced two crises in the past year or so, both sudden shocks. The first was a significant cyber-attack in September 2022, and the second was a significant national service outage. In both cases, the lack of fast and accurate information to impacted customers from Optus and its CEO became part of the crisis. This ultimately led to mounting pressure on the CEO and her decision to resign.

For PwC and Qantas, both had unfolding crises over many months, as one revelation after another fuelled anger among stakeholders, eroding brand trust and brand value. PwC’s “tax scandal” in Australia was the crisis of the year, reported on globally and talked about in bewildered tones in boardrooms and bars around the country. It was triggered by the AFR’s revelation that a PwC tax partner had breached the confidentiality of the firm’s client, the Australian Tax Office, and used information for commercial gain. Through ongoing AFR revelations and interrogation by senators at parliamentary inquiries, the full extent of PwC’s unconscionable behaviour excruciatingly emerged. PwC’s CEO, who had previously enjoyed arguably the highest profile of the Big Four firms in Australia and was typically known to be on the front foot in communication on problematic issues, appeared reluctant to address the full unfolding scenario and resigned. So damaged was the tax division of PwC that private equity firm Allegro purchased it for $1, took its 1500 staff and relaunched it with a
new corporate structure as Scyne Advisory.

On the other hand, Qantas’ CEO was riding high in the opinion of government and shareholders when he led the impressive rebuild and return to profitability of the national airline after Covid. However, the public saw that success in a completely different light when service levels failed to meet expectations. A catalyst was needed. The CEO announced he would depart two months prior to his planned resignation date and hand over to the new CEO.

So, can these companies regain their reputations?

I don’t have a crystal ball but my best guess is that Optus will recover quickly. The company will have learnt an important lesson about being crisis-ready with its communications for when another crisis incident hits – because it inevitably will, and Optus can’t get it wrong a third time.

Qantas, as the once-loved national airline brand, will recover if it can return service levels to that expected by the travelling public. On the plus side, Qantas is now starting to take delivery of a whole new fleet of aircraft, including the Airbus A350s, which will fly non-stop from Sydney to London and New York. There will no doubt be excitement as these take to the sky.

For PwC the jury is still out. Its reputation has taken a devastating blow. Can the firm rebuild trust to have a viable future under new leadership in Australia? Only time will tell.

(Disclosure: Airbus is a client of Sefiani)

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To wrap up 2023, Mediaweek is looking at the biggest trends, events, platforms, and brands of the year.

Welcome to Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023 … and beyond.

By Mike Tyquin, managing director, Cartology

2023 has been another significant year of growth for retail media as more brands look to unlock access and engagement of highly valuable customer audiences of leading retailers. Significantly retailers are evolving to provide “customer media” anchored in the retail context and rich customer insights.

As our approach and retail media evolves, we work with both clients and agencies who are advanced in their retail media journeys and those who are at the very start of their journeys. Building understanding among and alignment with brand stakeholders on the role retail media can play in brand growth is still crucial at this stage in our growth. We are seeing a growing level of sophistication in the approach to planning and execution by brands while at the same time an incredible appetite to continue to test and learn.

Over the last 12-18 months, the most significant and interesting thematic we have seen is the rising cost of living impact for customers and the responses of brands seeking to underpin customer retention and growth. The importance of communicating value (the #1 driver of decisions by customers) to key customer segments is matched by the interest of brands to ensure campaign performance and in both these dimensions, customer-led media has emerged as a compelling proposition.

The other key theme has been the relationship between eCommerce and digital. While eCommerce (in grocery and everyday needs) continues to grow steadily, customers are increasingly engaging with Digital platforms beyond transactions. In the case of the Woolworths Group, we now have more digital than physical visits with customers online seeking discovery, inspiration (food or gift ideas) or value (Everyday Rewards offers) and digital plays a key role not just in online shopping but in store as well. Connecting the digital and physical experience for customers remains a significant opportunity for brands.

As we look forward, in a few words, 2024 will be about; contextualisation, privacy and value.

As customers continue to look for convenience and personalised ways to shop, brands and retailers are increasingly relying on a robust understanding of customers through first-party data to provide a contextually relevant and tailored experience for customers.

While the retail landscape continues to evolve, brands and retailers that are able to effectively use first-party data will be well-positioned to succeed. By understanding their customers on a deeper level, brands and retailers can deliver more personalised and relevant experiences that engage customers and meet their needs.

Consumer and regulatory focus on privacy reforms continues to gain momentum and will progress early in the year with tangible impacts to the media sector. This is a crucial step in recognising the importance of strong privacy practices and the integrity and care in which retailers should be handling personal information of customers. The implications for brands of a more constrained approach by publishers to data have been extensively discussed across the media industry and a thoughtful, customer-first approach to help brands reach their customers is accessible through Retail Media.

Finally, households will remain under financial pressure. The impact of interest rate rises will offset headline CPI falls and consumer confidence remains below the same time last year. Value will remain key for customers, but it’s not all about the dollars and cents. Customers will look to retailers and brands for value through product quality, loyalty offerings and more.

Retail Media will continue to evolve and be an opportunity for brands to drive real customer impact.

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Top Image: Mike Tyquin

To wrap up 2023, Mediaweek is looking at the biggest trends, events, platforms, and brands of the year.

Welcome to Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023… and beyond.

By June Cheung, Head of JAPAC at Scope3

This time last year it was less common for every request-for-proposal (RFP) from brands and agencies to include questions about sustainability. Today, I’d estimate it is almost all. Media agencies and brands have turned awareness into action.

So what’s driven this acceleration?

Firstly, impending regulation worldwide, (and specifically in Europe, California, France and Australia) means adherence to sustainability practices are inevitable so there’s a pragmatism about getting ahead of the curve. Here, The Treasury released two consultations that indicate mandatory sustainability reporting will be introduced in phases from as early as 2024-25. Agencies are playing a key role as it becomes a new domain of expertise and, in some cases, differentiation.

Then, there’s money. Or at least a share price (or bonus).  Mandatory or not, most organisations now have sustainability targets and reporting requirements; there’s a realisation that operational practices that are bad for the environment are increasingly bad for business. CMOs now have tools that offer the data and measurement to deliver immediate results. So, if you are looking to decarbonise your business, media and advertising is a good place to start.
 
Next, comes efficacy. Once marketers and their agencies understand the ease in which campaigns can be amended to significantly reduce carbon emissions without impacting on performance then the genie is out of the bottle.  For example at this year’s upfronts, Foxtel revealed that Scope3 data helped them reduce display inventory emissions across Foxtel Media by -63% and they’re not alone. Encouragingly, the annual World Federation of Advertisers and Ebiquity survey into 2024 Media Budgets noted that 75% of marketers have or will attempt to measure and reduce emissions in 2024.
 
Lastly, it’s because there is more understanding within the media industry that reducing carbon emissions is both the necessary and right thing to do. This time last year the focus was centered around carbon neutrality and offsetting. Now meaningful reduction is front and center. For example, JCDecaux recently announced it was resetting its climate strategy to prioritise becoming net-zero by 2050 and that it would no longer aim for carbon neutrality as it pushes for more ambitious reductions.
 
Of course, encouraging as the year has been, there’s still a huge job to be done by everyone.
 
My biggest concern for 2024 remains analysis paralysis. The media landscape is a complex enough one for large brands to navigate, but for those with less resources it can be tempting to kick action down the curb.
 
Yet there are initial steps to take. For example, we opened up access to our data to offer a transparent view into sustainability information across the digital media supply chain.  Brands can see the emissions figures for the sites and apps where they are investing, and use it as they build strategies to meet their sustainability commitments. Changing the industry will require collaboration between agencies, brands, tech providers, boards, data providers and more. Reducing our emissions and saving the planet is not a solo endeavor: we all have to be in it together.
 
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Top image: June Cheung 

To wrap up 2023, Mediaweek is looking at the biggest trends, events, platforms, and brands of the year. Welcome to Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023 … and beyond.

By Lucy Formosa Morgan, managing director, Magna.

Hits & Misses of TV Measurement this year:

VOZ… it’s so close yet still so far.

Whereas in previous years when we’ve seen linear TV audiences decline, demand has tended to stay relatively strong; this year however spend started migrating away to alternative channels, platforms, devices at scale. Without a measurement solution readily available that factors in both linear and BVOD from a TV network perspective, spend has shifted out.

2023 has been a real turning point for the TV networks.

We’ve spoken about VOZ for years now and this year was touted to be the year it finally launched, but it hasn’t properly.  The longer it takes for VOZ Streaming to come to market and the planning tools to be gold standard certified, the greater the impact on the networks spend as advertisers and agencies look to alternative channels and alternative measurement solutions.

The delays have also allowed the playing field to evolve and move on. Total TV isn’t just about linear TV, BVOD and YouTube anymore. There are now so many other content options available to consumers such as SVOD with ad tiers (with more launching over the coming months) and FAST channels – all which are looking to attract spend away from BVOD and linear. What we need is measurement take encompasses the full ecosystem. 

VOZ will still play an important role when it does finally launch properly to the market but it won’t be the standalone option or saviour that the networks and agencies were originally hoping it would be.

New innovations: 

Although linear TV will always have a place on schedules, with the increasing number of Connected TVs, the focus and share of TV spend will naturally migrate more to CTV over the coming years. With linear TV taking a lesser role, that means alternative cross platform measurement tools can start to come to the fore.  As we settle into 2024, I’d expect a number of measurement players to test the water and kick off conversations in Australia.  

If you look at the US for example, the networks recently granted conditional certification for audience-measurement tech players VideoAmp, iSpot & Comscore.  All are looking to challenge Nielsen’s status as the industry’s primary audience measurement provider and effectively create multiple players and multiple currencies in that market.  

In Australia our challenge is as an industry, we need to collectively come together, similar to the US, to work through methodologies, currencies, data, processes, testing, etc. of alternative players. It’s not going to be an overnight evolution (much as I’d love that), but we need to accept that change is coming and lean in.

See also: Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023: S is for Sustainability

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Top Image: Lucy Formosa Morgan

To wrap up 2023, Mediaweek is looking at the biggest trends, events, platforms, and brands of the year. Welcome to Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023 … and beyond.

By Leanne Glamuzina, Boomtown

Goodbye metro cities, hello Boomtown – the nationwide tree and sea change is on, and there’s no sign of it slowing down.

The era of regional living has been dawning since the pandemic, when many Aussies seized the opportunity to trade city life for (literal) greener pastures.

New data shows increased regional migration was not simply a response to COVID-19, but a lasting change, with Aussies continuing to head to regional for its affordable housing, cheaper cost-of-living, less traffic congestion and stronger community connections.

Regional Australia is also experiencing full employment, offering diverse job prospects across multiple sectors. Last quarter, over 91,000 job opportunities were advertised in regional areas, demonstrating a pronounced demand for skilled workers.

Regional Australia is now home to 9.6 million residents, representing 36% of the overall population. It’s a huge percentage of the nation, presenting an equally huge advertising opportunity for brands.

Promoting the power of regional advertising has been the mission of the Boomtown collective since its launch in 2019. Its vision has been to drive regional advertising spend, in a market where a disproportionate amount of ad dollars have long been invested in metro areas.

Fast forward to 2023, and many brands have now bought into the success of regional advertising, helping to almost double media spend in Boomtown in just four years, now sitting at 17% .

And it makes sense, the regional market is diverse, growing and ready to spend. Regional Aussies have more disposable income than their metro counterparts, due to lower housing prices and cost-of-living pressures, and they’re keen to hear from brands who understand their needs and, importantly, target them accordingly.

Several businesses have already had great success with Boomtown campaigns, notching up record market share and brand awareness. Brands like Arnott’s, Tinder, Suncorp and Belong used regional advertising to great success in 2023 and saw brand sentiment strengthen and sales increase and, in Tinder’s case, delivering the best-ever brand perception results.

The results demonstrate that regional advertising works because of the market conditions. We know Boomtown is one of the largest and fastest-growing markets nationally. It already comprises nearly 40% of the overall population, representing a large share of the nation’s customers. By including regional areas, marketers have the chance to tap into a relatively uncrowded market for deeper cut-through, gaining a competitive advantage and increasing sales.

Additionally, they’re able to maximise their spend – a welcome outcome as many buyers face tighter budgets. In 2024, brands will need to look at cost-effective advertising options, and for many, that will be regional Australia, where there’s greater exposure, a highly engaged audience and a track record for delivering higher ROI.

Success will lie in buying audiences – regardless of where they live. The distinction between metro and regional will become largely redundant and brands will yield results in Boomtown by investing their dollars strategically to unlock opportunities. Tap into the specific wants and needs of regional Australians, target large regional areas like the Gold Coast, Geelong and Newcastle as a starting point, and utliise campaign creative that directly speaks to Boomtown residents.

Next year is set to be a year of opportunity for brands looking to leverage the regional market, particularly given the economic climate and the rapid population migration to Boomtown. Advertisers have a unique chance to harness the regional market and its ability to deliver increased reach and brand growth.

We know regional audiences are ready and waiting to hear from brands – so what are you waiting for?

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Top Image: Leanne Glamuzina

To wrap up 2023, Mediaweek is looking at the biggest trends, events, platforms, and brands of the year. Welcome to Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023 … and beyond.

By Kate Steven, Director of Customer Success ANZ at LiveRamp 

As 2023 draws to a close, it’s important to look back on the year that has been. It has been yet another year filled with new innovations and challenging market conditions. One lesson I’ve learned is the power of data collaboration, and how it can be used to elevate CTV strategies for advertisers. 

2023 in a nutshell 

Australia’s advertising industry underwent significant transformations in the past year, continuing to reshape the video advertising market. Notably, the landscape witnessed a surge in cord-cutting, with reports suggesting a 7.9% decline in the TV advertising market in 2023, signalling a further departure from traditional TV.

The adoption of Connected TV (CTV) adds a new layer to the data landscape, as does the rapid ascension of ad-supported streaming services, like Netflix’s ad tier, as well as competitive offerings from other streamers. This trend is twofold – while these new services and tiers give marketers new, highly-targeted means to reach their consumers, they also lead to a fragmentation – not just of platforms, but within each platform, also of viewing habits, across set-top, app, mobile, and more.

What we can expect from 2024 

In 2024, we will see this fragmentation sustain, and perhaps even accelerate: in order to find your audience via not just CTV, but TV as well, you need to understand their content preferences – that is, what streamers and channels they use – but also, their viewing habits, in order to create an omnichannel view of the touchpoints you have with consumers, to better target, understand, and measure them and your brand’s interaction with them. For marketers, data collaboration offers the data and deep insights needed to win here, enabling them to better collaborate across their datasets and publishers’ datasets and understand their audiences.  At the same time, data collaboration across multiple publishers offers marketers the opportunity to follow their audiences across whatever channels and platforms they may be using. Within data collaboration, and data clean rooms, interoperability will be key, as marketers will need to be able to move nimbly across the ecosystem to prioritise where their audiences are.

In particular, CTV dovetails with the key trend of the rise of first-party data. As publishers and marketers alike prioritise building deep, engaging relationships with consumers that will endure beyond third-party signal loss, and gleaning actionable insights to better personalise each relationship, and specifically, each touchpoint with consumers, CTV offers a valuable, and customisable way for marketers to engage consumers using these deep stores of data. Furthermore, with the rise of premium, authenticated CTV – that is, CTV tied to authenticated, logged-in consumers using their real information – marketers have another means by which to engage real people and action valuable marketing use cases like end-to-end measurement. 

Takeaway for advertisers  

In the new year, advertisers find themselves at the juncture of a shifting video advertising landscape. On one hand there will be an opportunity to tap into the wealth of data from multiple sources, and on the other hand there will be a challenge to manage this data effectively and efficiently to gain a more accurate and granular view of their consumer. 

Success in the coming year hinges on strategic adaptation. By navigating market fragmentation, embracing data collaboration, and leveraging emerging trends, advertisers will be able to set themselves up for success in 2024. 

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Top Image: Kate Steven

To wrap up 2023, Mediaweek is looking at the biggest trends, events, platforms, and brands of the year.

Welcome to Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023 … and beyond.

By Eliza Sorman Nilsson, Editor-in-Chief, Mamamia 

If three examples of something is a trend, 2023 was the year it became official: Women are moving economic mountains more than we’ve ever seen in history.

The 1-2-3 punch of Barbie, the Matildas and Taylor Swift demonstrated how women can move global culture across all demographics. Smashing records, opening wallets, generating billions of dollars, and reversing downward financial trends. 2023 was the year women made their economic strength known, loud and clear and pink and green and gold.

From Taylor’s record-breaking Eras tour, which is on track to become the highest-grossing tour in history, Barbie’s record-breaking achievements – including highest grossing film of 2023 and first $1 billion movie by a solo female director – and the Matilda’s record-breaking viewing audience for its semi-final clash with England – 11.15 million Australians, which is more than 43 per cent of the population. 

The connection here is the phenomenal women who powered the moments that entertained, united, and inspired us. Yes, they showed generations of girls and boys that women can run the world. However, they also showed businesses, investors and, most importantly in our industry, advertisers that the days of overlooking women-led ventures should be well and truly over. 

Obviously, here at Mamamia, we’ve always known women have the power to do this. (They’ve literally been powering everything we do for 15 years now.) Our research has confirmed that women are overwhelmingly and consistently the decision-makers. From beauty to home entertainment to telco to auto to pretty much everything, women are the ones making ‘all or most purchase decisions.’ Put simply: Women are a tsunami of purchasing power. As wallets tighten, women are the ones calling the shots and managing the household budget.

While the financial squeeze is very real right now, there are still key areas where women intend to spend more money, not less, in the new year. Putting aside the things she has no choice about (rent, mortgage, groceries) women want to spend more on health and fitness and travel and holidays in the next 12 months. 

Women are done living a small, timid life where she’s at the bottom of her list of priorities. 

No more burnt chops for her. She’s levelling up. She’s in doing-mode. She wants to grab experiences, to travel and maximise time with the people she loves. She’s had a tough few years of life being on hold, and she’s re-evaluated what’s important. She wants to invest in herself. Beauty, entertainment, health and fitness are about self-care. It’s about mental health, physical strength, freedom, and a life well lived. 

The conversations are shifting, too. Women are talking candidly and openly about what it means to be a woman. The conversations are frank, sometimes uncomfortable, but always crucial in moving the dialogue forward. From 2023’s Australian of the Year Taryn Brumfit and her campaign to help women and children embrace their bodies, to Imogen Crump announcing she was having a peri-menopausal hot flush live on-air, and media powerhouse Jackie O’s candid conversation about divorce and dating again at 47. 

Women dominated popular culture in 2023 and the marketers who are not already paying attention should listen up. 

See also: Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023: V is for Video Advertising

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To wrap up 2023, Mediaweek is looking at the biggest trends, events, platforms, and brands of the year.

Welcome to Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023 … and beyond.

By Matt Morgan, managing director, lowercase

Wow, what a year for Elon Musk. I’m sure, like me, you have enjoyed strapping in for the rollercoaster ride that saw the Musk brand metamorphose from the ‘Genius’ behind SpaceX and Tesla to a ‘disruptor’ at the helm of X (formerly Twitter). Watching from the sidelines, his actions and decisions at X not only confused me but also seemed to bamboozle most other commentators, sparking widespread debate about both Musk and the platform’s future. So, let’s ride the rollercoaster once more as I take you through some of my highlights of Elon’s lowlights in 2023.

The Forced Purchase

From the very start, Musk’s acquisition of Twitter was compelling viewing, marked by legal battles and last-minute decisions. Initially, Musk seemed reluctant to finalise the purchase, citing concerns over inflated user numbers and bot presence. However, facing a potential legal defeat, he proceeded with the acquisition at an eye-watering $44 billion.

The Workforce Overhaul

Musk’s first order of business was a sweeping reduction of Twitter’s workforce, mercilessly cutting engineers, content moderators, and senior executives, with tech giants like Meta and Google following suit. In his quest for ‘freedom of speech,’ Musk reinstated controversial figures like Donald Trump and right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, sparking outrage.

The Rebrand

With advertisers retreating in response to reduced moderation and increased extremist content, Musk sought innovation as a revenue driver. Attempts to monetise features like the blue tick, however, fell short in compensating for the lost ad revenue. Then came the abrupt rebrand of Twitter to X, which, according to Scott Galloway (check out my podcast recommendation of the year, Pivot), eroded $10 billion in brand equity.

Advertiser Exodus

Musk’s outspoken nature on the platform has kept me watching, but it hasn’t been good for business. His recent promotion of an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory led to a mass exodus of major advertisers like Disney, Apple, and Walmart, severely impacting X’s financial health. Musk’s unapologetic stance, exemplified by his startling ‘Go fck yourself’ TV outburst against advertisers, again had me scratching my head in confusion.

The Future of X

So far, the power of Musk’s financial backing is keeping X afloat despite the $75m drop in advertising revenue. Whilst the gap between X and advertising needs to be closed, it is the widening gap between X and its user base that I think will ultimately be its downfall.

I’ve not been active on X/Twitter in a long time. I find the platform outdated, dull and lacking in innovation. I looked up when Meta released Threads; for me, the format is worn out and no longer resonates with users. This is Elon’s biggest challenge with X – even above the fact that Yaccarino is still allowing him to post (tweet?!).

Part of me is still expecting Elon to pull off a miraculous transformation of X by turning it into the West’s answer to WeChat, but there has been little concrete evidence to support this ambition in 2023. If Musk fails to meaningfully drive innovation on X, even if he somehow tempers his outbursts, I predict X’s slide towards bankruptcy will become inevitable in 2024.

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To wrap up 2023, Mediaweek is looking at the biggest trends, events, platforms, and brands of the year.

Welcome to Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023 … and beyond.

By Richard Knott, general manager of Australia and New Zealand at InfoSum

As the saying goes, ‘the only constant in life is change’, and this is certainly true when it comes to consumer data.

We’ve known changes to the regulatory privacy landscape have been coming to Australia for some time, with the wheels set in motion five years ago with the GDPR in Europe. We kicked off the year with the Privacy Act’s 116 recommendations, which set off ripples of applause, consternation, or schadenfreude depending on where people sat in the industry. This was swiftly followed by the ACCC announcing it would investigate ‘data brokers’, to better understand their practices. Then the Australian Government published its response to the Privacy Act recommendations, accepting 38 of the 116 recommendations and accepting “in-principle” (meaning more discussion needed) a further 68, and “noting” (that is, rejecting) 10.

We will soon see the details of how these Privacy Act amendments will play out, but either way, it’s clear we are in the midst of a profound paradigm shift within data and identity. Tightened regulations and the deprecation of the third-party cookie (surely it will happen this year!) mean we’re moving to a new world of first and second-party data collaboration; a world with control and privacy at its core.

Data collaboration is a process of bringing together data from various internal and external sources to unlock combined data intelligence. These valuable insights can be used to create new products and services, power richer customer experiences, and deliver better business outcomes.
 
Brands looking to access insights and opportunities beyond those provided by their own first-party data can utilise data clean rooms like InfoSum to build second- and third-party private networks. These collaborations enable brands to deepen their understanding of current customers and unlock scale through affinity and propensity modelling; it’s a powerful way to discover new information that can inform the customer experience.
 
Similarly, we’ll see the continued rise of retail media networks as they can augment and expand a brand’s own data capabilities in a privacy-first manner. A retail media network unlocks the power of first-party data by fostering collaboration among brands, data providers, media owners, and retailers. They typically offer exceptional on-network (owned) and off-network media buying opportunities, all measured with their own point-of-sale transactional data to close the loop. This can deliver benefits to everyone in the exchange. The consumer receives discounts and rewards for their data, the media owners within the Retail Media Networks will receive higher CPMs for their inventory as it will be supercharged by first-party data, and advertisers will see greater sales, all measured by the strongest form of attribution, point-of-sale data.
 
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Top image: Richard Knott

To wrap up 2023, Mediaweek is looking at the biggest trends, events, platforms, and brands of the year.

Welcome to Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023 … and beyond.

By Howard Parry-Husbands, CEO, Pollinate

The last letter of the alphabet may fittingly signal the end of the road for much that came before: Gen Z is looking like the generation that will challenge convention so extensively that they may not only break the rules, they may re-write them entirely.

Gen Z has only ever known catastrophe. Their entire lives have been framed by climate change that has seen them experience a “record-breaking” year of drought, floods, bushfires, or other natural disasters not just once but for every year they have been alive.

Boomers lived through post-war prosperity and man on the moon. Gen X enjoyed the spoils of record-breaking years of economic growth. Millennials were digital pioneers. Previous generations all believed in hard work and a fair go in the hope of a brighter future. When they were young, Boomers and Gen X both defined themselves as hard-working and hopeful in their characteristics.

But Gen Z does not share that hope. Most of Gen Z doesn’t even hope to own the house their parents have. Gen Z is the first Australian generation that does not characterise itself as hard-working, while hope ranks 10th in their list of how they define themselves.

Because why should they work hard when there is so little to hope for?

When Pollinate researched youth 10 years ago, we discovered that they expected to have completed their first career – in tech, digital or social media – by their thirties. Then they were going to leverage their wealth and switch to a passion project to spend time with their family. Today, the youth value creativity above all else and are seeking change, while Boomers and Gen X want security and stability above all else.

What’s most telling, however, is that young people are more likely to list indigenous culture as one of the best things about Australia, while Boomers are more likely to rate Indigenous culture among the worst things about Australia. Similarly, Gen Z are more likely to state climate and weather are one of the worst things about Australia (for them, it’s further evidence that climate change is a very real, very present danger) and, in stark contrast,

Boomers are more likely to rate the weather and climate as one of the best things about Australia. Generational differences are normal; they’re to be expected, but the increasing generational polarisation as older wealthy people seek greater security and reject change while younger people seek change and challenge convention is new. It is a fundamental values schism emerging across Australian society.

It is quite possible that Gen Z rejects the values of older Australians because they see them as morally indefensible. Seventy-nine per cent of Gen Z believe Australia is still the ‘Lucky Country’, higher than all other generations (Only 64% of Gen X agree). But the orientation has shifted: Gen Z sees the fragility of Australia’s natural environment and the need to transform the system, whereas older generations see Australia’s natural resources as a bounty to exploit and don’t acknowledge the implications.

Gen Z sees the importance of environmental sustainability and also understands that it’s not sustainable for society to carry on as it is. If brands and businesses do not create opportunities for Gen Z and champion the change they want to see, then why should Gen Z support them in the future?

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• A repeat of Grand Designs gains audience for ABC
• 522K tune in to Great Getaways in Total TV

Overnight TV Ratings, December 21

Share summary

Nine won Thursday night with a primary share of 19.0% and a network share of 29.1%.

9Gem has won multi-channels with a 4.5% share.

Seven received a primary share of 18.9% and a network share of 28.8%.

10 took a 8% primary share and a network share of 14.9%.

Nine

544,000 watched Nine’s A Current Affair which explored how the Supreme Court has delivered a resounding victory for George Sckaff, whose brother was trying to evict him from his home.

Then, 333,000 watched Great Getaways. This week, the team looked at the best of the Mediterranean plus a great day out at Jamberoo Action Park.

231,000 also watched a repeat of RPA as Amy, a 44-year-old mother from Orange, was confronted with a life-changing diagnosis of a rare abdominal cancer.

Finally, 171,000 tuned in to an encore of Children’s Hospital.

Seven

275,000 sat down with Seven’s Big Bash. The Renegades took on the Heat at Marvel Stadium. The Heat won finishing 8-162 with six wickets in hand and 11 balls remaining.

94,000 also saw The Spin.

ABC

324,000 watched the final of ABC’s 7.30 for 2023 as Laura Tingle interviewed Anthony Albanese and looked at how Australia’s largest neighbour will go to the polls in less than two months.

214,000 then watched Project Wild. Nature nerd, Dr Ann Jones travelled through the Indo-Pacific region to find the dedicated people bringing our planet’s amazing animals, plants and ecosystems back from the brink. 

A repeat of Grand Designs followed for 238,000.

139,000 also caught a repeat of Lucy Worsley on the Mystery Queen.

10

On 10, viewers tuned in to The Project (136,000 6.30 pm / 179,000 7.00 pm) as the panel welcomed The Bachelors’ Luke and Ellie to the desk. Plus the program looked at how a new waddle of penguin chicks at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo will be given a very special honour of being named after the Matildas. So cute!

Jamie’s Christmas Shortcuts then followed for 162,000. Jamie Oliver turned to the period between Christmas and New Year, transforming leftovers into delicious dishes. 

138,000 also watched a repeat episode of Law and Order: SVU.

SBS

Over on SBS, 101,000 tuned in to see The Secret World of... Christmas cookies! Jo Brand narrated the nostalgic battles between our favourite Christmas chocolate brands. 

Then, Megabridges: Spanning The Void reached 77,000.

Total TV Ratings, December 14

522,000 watched Nine’s Great Getaways, up 7%.

413,000 caught ABC’s Grand Designs, up 10%.