The Leukaemia Foundation is on a mission to address the waning interest in its annual peer-to-peer fundraiser, The World’s Greatest Shave.

Now in its 25th year, the charity aims to overcome declining awareness and restore brand love for the initiative that funds blood cancer research and support.

The Leukaemia Foundation appointed agency and production company Jack Nimble to undertake a complete brand overhaul, signaling its first departure from the key visuals and long-standing chins-characters campaign, which it has run since 2007. 

Leukaemia Foundation general manager of fundraising and growth, Charlotte Webb, told Mediaweek that The World’s Greatest Shave had been experiencing “a suite of metrics that were in decline, not just one.”

Following two thorough market research and sentiment studies and a comprehensive product development phase as part of the brand revamp, Webb’s team landed on two pivotal insights that contributed to the fall in revenue and engagement.

Specifically, perceived barriers to entry, especially among female audiences, and the fact that the chin-characters had lost their resonance with audiences.

Said Webb, “In the world of mass-participation fundraising, and in particular, peer-to-peer campaigns worldwide… the vast majority of participation is female.

“Women drive a lot of fundraising action, and shaving their head is a very big barrier. 

“We got a really key insight there, in that by foregrounding shaving and ignoring the options to cut and colour, we were doing ourselves out of an audience.”

Webb continued, “The other insight that came through loud and clear was that whilst those that know the chins love the chins, they’re quite divisive. And actually, for a lot of people, they were no longer interesting. 

“People wanted to see a human element in that they wanted to see people that they could relate to.”

As she reflected on her prior work experience at Race for Life in the UK, Webb recalled her boss advising, “You have to strike a balance between the ‘boo hoo’ and ‘woo hoo.’’”

Said Webb, “What has happened with The Shave [campaign] is that the chins had gotten increasingly on the side of being a little bit silly.”

Jack Nimble co-founder and executive creative director Adam Wise, stated to Mediaweek that at the time Jack Nimble secured the Greatest Shave pitch, not only had the chin characters lost traction in the market, but in retrospect, they bore more significant pain points.

“You would see chins; you would know it’s for The World’s Greatest Shave, but people didn’t know it was for leukaemia. Some people don’t even know that leukaemia is a form of blood cancer.

“It didn’t really speak to the joy, fear and the connection and the solidarity of shaving and that kind of disconnected the activity from the cause.”

To overcome its brand challenges, The Leukaemia Foundation tasked Jack Nimble with a creative brief to fulfil the following:

“Keep the tone uplifting, not silly… They wanted a really unique visual style; they wanted a simple, memorable, human-centred creative.

“Then also to align the campaign under the Leukaemia Foundation brand.”

The new brand platform, ‘That’s Bloody Beautiful’, connects these missing dots. 

Wise characterised the campaign’s insight as meeting the sought-after “simple, human-centred creative” in a way that celebrates the beauty of doing something for others while capturing something that “feels very Australian.” 

“There’s a lot of emotion built into the campaign,” said Wise.

“It’s one of the proudest wins that I’ve experienced, and the team that works on are just so energised by and so close to it, and poured everything into it.” 

He continued, “I think hopefully you can see that in the work, even just down to our art director [Divya Abe] who worked on it. The splice green that’s part of the branding – that’s her favourite colour.”

The overhaul was officially announced earlier this week as Australia gears up for The World’s Greatest Shave events taking place over February and March. 

This first iteration of ‘That’s Bloody Beautiful’ includes an integrated campaign with a suite of TVCs, BVOD, out-of-home, social content, user-generated content, website, and fundraising merchandise.

Beyond the launch of ‘That’s Bloody Beautiful’ this year, Webb said, “it’s also one of my ambitions for this creative platform to achieve more than just shaping the greatest moments to come.”

She added, “The concept of being ‘Bloody Beautiful’ can transcend many different things.”

See also:
OMD Australia raises over $40,000 by hosting World’s Greatest Shave for Leukaemia Foundation
Sparro is acquired by British agency Brainlabs

The start of ratings survey 2024 is just over a week away, but OzTAM is changing the way it reports TV ratings from January 29.

After more than three years of lobbying and pushing by Seven, the free-to-air TV industry is finally about to change the way it reports audiences in the media and trade publications.

You want to know early Monday morning what people watched on Sunday night in Sydney and Melbourne and other metro markets? Forget about it. it is now all about national.

At this stage Mediaweek is not even sure if share data for how the channels performed will be made available. The challenge there is to find a way to measure national channel share.

Welcome, VOZ Total TV ratings

On Monday next week, the ratings reports you’ve seen for more than 20 years will be replaced by new daily VOZ audience reports, which media will not receive until 11.35am.

As we reported earlier this week, the new ranking metric for most popular shows will be reach. Average audience numbers will still be available, but no breakdown of who watched where. There will also be no list of subscription TV or multichannel hits.

OzTAM will finally be counting all people watching and combining it into one figure including metro, regional and BVOD.

Seven’s chief executive James Warburton has been leading the charge for change. He has managed to push through the national audience figure which will be important for Seven which performs strongly in regional Australia as well as metro markets.

In a memo to Seven West Media staff this week, Warburton said: “This is a big and important moment for the TV industry, as it means that – for the first time – we will be accurately reporting the true size of our audiences, including the reach of our content as well as average daily total TV audiences and most importantly they will be fully national measurement.”

OzTAM no longer releasing ‘the smallest audience numbers’

He explained how under the existing data releases, overnight audience numbers reflected the average audience number in thousands in metropolitan markets only.

“As an industry we encouraged people to focus on the smallest audience numbers and ignore catch-up and digital viewing. Not anymore.”

Media will only be given the new VOZ data from next Monday.

The Seven West Media chief executive then explained why there will be a new metric that is the focus of the reports:

“The new VOZ reports will rank programs by audience reach (they will also give average total TV audience numbers nationally). Reach is the key performance metric for advertisers, and reach-ranked viewership provides a more comparable metric to other media, in particular online.

“While other media have spruiked what seemed like higher reach numbers, television will now be directly comparable to demonstrate our size and scale. Importantly this VOZ data will go directly into the reach and frequency systems of the media buyers and is a crucial step in getting advertising revenue share back to our medium.”

Seven’s executive in the OzTAM boardroom

Warburton paid credit to the executive charged with arguing Seven’s case in the OzTAM boardroom. “To the credit of OzTAM and Nielsen as well as our hard-working Insights team – where the project has been led by Craig Johnson – Australia is the only market in the world to provide daily next-day overnight all-screen total TV viewing data. It’s worth noting that the VOZ database is massive: one day of VOZ processed data equals three years of broadcast-only data.”

Johnson, in his third year with Seven, is a 15-year Nielsen veteran and before that was research director at Nine.

The size of the task processing the data is being given as the reason the data will be released late in the morning each day.

Finishing off his note to staff, Warburton said: “VOZ data is the new ratings currency. Like all change there will be some noise and no doubt some challenges. This is an absolute game changer for Seven and we all need to get behind it.”

While it is a game changer for Seven, it will be interesting to see how it impacts the perception of the way Nine and 10 are performing over the first few weeks of survey.

Nine is fortunate it leads into survey 2024 with Married at First Sight which will cushion the impact of the national reach rankings.

James Warburton signed off his memo to staff with a rousing call to arms in his pre-survey address: “Let’s smash all comers in 2024!!”

See also: Seven succession plan – Warburton out, Jeff Howard in and Stokes remains

Advertising’s most-anticipated event is fast approaching, and with it comes a US football game. 

To get on board with the fun of this year’s Super Bowl and generate some interesting data points, Initiative has once again rolled out its Marketing Multi betting platform.

The Marketing Multi-betting platform, which was built by Initiative’s cultural analytics department, crowdsources predictions from industry experts across the world and combines it with generative AI to provide a multi-market with live odds updates every day.

“When you think about the Super Bowl, the ads are almost as much of a draw card as the game itself,” said Chris Colter, chief strategy and product officer of Initiative.

“What we think is a bit more interesting is translating that into putting your money where your mouth is. The Superbowl is such a good litmus test for the zeitgeist of things that are happening in culture. How do you take those trends and have a bit of fun with them and see how many of them you can get right and get the chance to take home a Super Bowl ring in the process.”

Participants can bet if an outcome will occur (yes or no) and how many times they predict the outcome occurring. Much like a real betting multi, scoring is based on probability, with the final odds from each day added to a punter’s daily score calculation. The person with the highest cumulative score earns the ‘Marketing-Multi Super Bowl Ring’.

“It looks, for all intents and purposes, like a Super Bowl ring but it’s the finest pewter with the best glass diamond that $24.99 On Temu can buy you,” said Colter.

The major change to the platform for 2024 is the new AI-powered ‘match insights’ to guide first-time betters. The generative AI tool will use historic Super Bowl advertising trends and live web results to enable people to better understand the likelihood of each outcome.

“It is always a really interesting insight into how in touch with culture as an industry we are. There are always some fascinating outliers. Then, equally, after the game, you always find these things that no AI or machine could have ever predicted.

“We’ve kind of put together what chat GPT recommends will happen and what the odds they would have put behind it, which means that this has been more informed than ever before, which is exciting for us.”

TV Ratings: How many people viewed the Super Bowl Last Year?

As the Super Bowl approaches, Initiative will update the market on what trends the Australian ad industry thinks will happen, which Colter says always produces some interesting data points.

“When the betting market closes, we can show what the Australian market thinks different ads are going to appear. For example, all these people think that it’s a sure bet that Taylor Swift isn’t going to appear in any ads this year. Or this many people put money behind Bluey appearing in an Outback Steakhouse ad. We go through the process of watching the game and telling the ads up and reporting back and then you get how many people got it right.”

When asked about previous Super Bowl campaigns that have stood out to him while Initiative has done the Marketing Multi, Colter pointed out one in particular that stands out.

“It’s always like the random ads like the QR ad, that was just a QR code on the screen bouncing around. No betting market would ever have that. Sometimes you think things are guaranteed, such as there’s going to be three brands that do big nostalgic ads, and that doesn’t happen and you’re like, wow. I almost thought I could bet the house on that because it’s such a trope of the Super Bowl. I remember back in the election year, we thought there were going to be so many more politicised commercials, and they just really weren’t.”

Speaking on the impact that Super Bowl ads have on the Australian media and advertising landscape, Colter said that there is a trickle-down effect of the trends established during these campaigns that make their way to Australia.

“To connect with culture, they’ve got to understand the culture, the current zeitgeist and what matters and what people want to see. I’ve always found it to be a really good trend-predictive tool that will trickle down to Australia. The QR code was a polarising execution because it wasn’t “creatively brilliant” although it was a highly creative bet for them to think of making it look like a screensaver. When they did that, it legitimised the fact that you can have performance in a brand-building environment. We started seeing more of that trickle down into the Australian landscape. I think there’s going to be a whole bunch of ads that are made by AI because that’s the latest hot thing in culture and I can pretty much guarantee that there’ll be some in Australia throughout the next 12 to 24 months.”

The Marketing Multi is available at www.marketingmulti.au and is open to all agencies, marketers, media owners, or anyone simply wanting to have a punt and have some fun.

Sparro, the independent digital media agency co-founded by brothers Morris and Cameron Bryant, has been acquired by British digital marketing agency Brainlabs.

The acquisition includes Jack Nimble, its social-first content and creative agency, which has been part of Sparro since November 2021.

Morris Bryant told Mediaweek the acquisition would keep his and his brother Cameron’s role in the company the same.

“We’re not going anywhere. We love what we’re doing. We’re so energised by this. We look forward to working with them and some ancillary functions, such as HR, finance, and IT. It allows us to return to what we do best, which is doing great work for clients.

Under the acquisition, the agency will now be known as Sparro by Brainlabs immediately.

“In time, we’ll likely transition to Brainlabs. The Jack Nimble branding, however, won’t change.”

“We think it’s important that that brand is consistent. It’s been quite a unique space, and we’ve been making incredible progress in integrating our clients and products. So we’re not doing anything to disrupt that.”

The brothers will lead the Australian business and report to the APAC CEO, Mark Fagan.

Morris said the acquisition was not a question of “why now” but about finding the right partner. He believes global independent agencies will eventually enter the Australian market and have partnered with Brainlabs to grow “bigger, better and faster.”

“Nothing in this transaction stops us from chasing that wave and pursuing more growth. It only enhances us.”

The acquisition may be a surprise as the independent agency sector grows in reputation. Bryant said there had been a noticeable shift to indies as a growing option for major clients.

“I think that’ll only continue, and that’s great for the market here, for clients and media in general agencies.”

Brainlabs Global CEO Daniel Gilbert was pleased to welcome Sparro into the fold as part of the British agency. He applauded the Bryant brothers for building the successful business, which handles AUD$200m of annual media spend for clients including Estée Lauder Companies, Catch, Temple & Webster, Petbarn, Webjet and Destination NSW.

Gilbert said the acquisition of Sparro marks a new era for media agencies in the Australian market.

“Like us, Sparro is fiercely independent and laser-focused on High-Performance media solutions, consistently delivering top and bottom-line gains for their clients. Our combined power of the smartest minds and tech and data-driven methodology is truly unbeatable.”

Cameron Bryant noted that other independent agencies have been scaling to levels of staff, service, and capabilities where Sparro have been able to challenge the traditional holding groups.

Bryant said that brands are seeking proactive, smart, hands-on marketing partners and want them to be operating to business-level objectives and not just digital KPIs.

“This acquisition plays perfectly into that. It extends Brainlabs’ significant international presence to further strengthen its appeal to global advertisers, and it enables us to offer clients international coverage, not to mention the incredible career opportunities for our people.
 
“We already know we’re the market leader in performance, and together, we can provide greater depth, services and technology that sets us even further apart,” he added.
 
Like Brainlabs, Sparro offers tech and data-driven strategies around marketing automation, conversion optimisation, search engine optimisation and programmatic media. Both companies also offer the full remit of digital marketing services from Search and Social through to Programmatic and Creative.

 
–
 
Top image left to right: Morris Bryant, Cameron Bryant, Daniel Gilbert, Stephen Allan

If you love drama you’ll be watching Rebecca Gibney in Prosper. Also the impressive casts at work in Boy Swallows Universe and Expats this month. (And if you can afford the streaming subscriptions.)

January 2024 has seen three impressive Australian dramas released on streaming services.

Importance of Aussie drama

Stan, Netflix and Prime all understand how to keep audiences happy and grow subscriptions. Premium Australian drama is key to their business models.

See also: Best streaming services 2024. What’s essential to watch the world’s finest TV

Nine’s streaming platform Stan has long been the leader in commissioning the best Australian drama and in the past few months it has hit a couple of home runs.

Its audience loved Scrublands and now they are consuming Prosper.

In a special TV Gold podcast episode this past week, James Manning and Andrew Mercado welcomed Prosper star Rebecca Gibney to the studio.

Here are some of the highlights from the episode.

Listen to the full 30-minute interview here.

Ewen Leslie and Ming-Zhu Hii in Prosper

Why Rececca Gibney said yes to Prosper

“I couldn’t say no. The last time I worked with Richard Roxburgh was in 1997. I was thrilled to be given the opportunity to work with him. I hadn’t read the scripts at that stage. I read one of them, I think, so I wasn’t sure about where the journey was going.

“I just knew we were in safe hands with Matt Cameron and Jason Stephens who created the show. Particularly because they reassured all of us that wasn’t isn’t a show having a go at faith. It’s not about the evil people running a mega empire. It’s a battle flawed family who are trying to keep the lid on secrets while managing this mega church. As they prepare to launch into the US they try and stop things unraveling.”

Is her character Abi bad?

Gibney: “I don’t think Abi is bad. I don’t even think she is icy. As the series goes on you will begin to understand her motivations. She has had to deal with situations that have put her in a really compromising position. It’s also put the church in a compromising position.

“It’s incredibly upsetting, particularly when she’s got a husband who was erratic and slightly out of control. We come into this series at a point where this is what she always seems to do. She seems to clean up after him. She’s just getting a bit fed up but fed even though she’s a woman who abides by the rules of the Bible. She deeply believes in her faith. She thinks this is what she has to do. It gets to a point in this series where she can’t do that anymore, and she’s going to have to start making some changes to save not only her family, but the church that they’ve created.”

See also: Stan Original Series Prosper explores the depths of Christianity without ridicule

Similarities between U Star and Waystar?

Rebecca Gibney addressed the point some have made that Prosper has similarities to Succession.

The actor liked the Wystar saga. “I adore Succession. I thought it was a wonderful show. I can see why there would be comparisons. I just I think the Quinn family has got a few more morals than the Roy’s. I’d like to think that!” [Laughs]

Rebecca Gibney in Stan’s Prosper

Religion: A global Australian export

“Matt Cameron and Jason Stephens have been very open about the fact that when they sat down to create a new show they asked what is it that Australia’s exports on a global scale? What is it that appeals internationally – they kept coming back to the mega church. Australians do mega church incredibly well. It was a fascinating topic for them and and I agree with them. This is in no way having a go at the church or the community of the church. I had to struggle with that when I decided to do the role because I was raised in a Christian family. My mother was Christian. I have a lot of Christian family members and I did have to discuss this with them. I was saying, as far as I know, this is not having a go at faith, it is not having a go at religion.”

Ramifications of making more shorter TV series

Asked about how actors felt about changing TV business models, Rebecca Gibney noted the way things used to work.

“When we were shooting Packed to the Rafters we were shooting 22 episodes at once. Then you might get four months off. That was great because you’d made enough money to survive for the next four to six months.

“Peoples’ attention spans are now a lot shorter because there is so much product out there and so much to watch. But you also don’t want to get over-exposed. I’m going to have to go away again for a little while now! Otherwise people will be going, ‘Oh. Not her again’.”

Does Rebecca Gibney look after her brand?

“I am aware of my brand. That doesn’t mean I’m not going play unlikable characters. If I do a series where the character is unlikable, I have to have motivations and I have to understand why she is doing all of these things and there has to be an element of humanity. Because I think even bad evil characters have got to have moments where you go, Oh, I understand that or I can see why I might not like them. I might not like their actions, but I’ve got to understand them otherwise, they’re just one dimensional.”

TV Gold podcast in 2024

• Don’t miss the episode where we review Netflix’s Boy Swallows Universe

• Listen to the episode where we review Stan’s Prosper
• TV Gold where we review Prime’s Expats
• The episode where TV Gold special guest is Rebecca Gibney

Nicole Kidman in Expats

Also use Spotify or Apple podcast. Follow TV Gold for automatic updates.

Interpublic Group has announced the departure of Mat Baxter from the group after 14 years in a variety of roles.

Most recently Baxter was CEO of creative consultancy Huge, a role he has held since 2021. During the past three years he oversaw Huge’s structural reorganization, productisation model and investments in AI.

Lisa De Bonis has been named the new CEO of Huge.

De Bonis is being promoted from her role as chief product officer, where she oversaw a key element of Huge’s transformation. She led the development of technological infrastructure and the deployment of a suite of new AI-powered products and tools, such as Huge LIVE and the Creative Capital Index.

Baxter’s IPG journey

In his 14 years with InterPublic, Baxter was CEO of UM Worldwide from 2010 to 2015, based in Sydney. He moved to New York in 2015 as global chief strategy & creative officer, IPG Mediabrands. A year later he took on the role of global CEO Initiative, moving on to be fulltime Initiative chairman until the end of 2021. He then spent the next two and a half years leading Huge.

Baxter said of his departure: “Lisa is the natural successor to continue the transformation of Huge in light of my decision to relocate back to Australia for family reasons.”

Baxter added: “Thank you to all the amazing people, brands and agencies I have worked alongside during my time at IPG. I wish you every success in the future.

“And a special thank you to the companies and teams I had the privilege to lead as CEO whilst in the group – UM Australia, Initiative Global and Huge Global.

“As I settle back home in Australia, I’m looking forward to starting a new and exciting chapter, and one where the work hours are in the Australian timezone!”

Baxter gave no clue as to what might be the next entry on his CV. Many of the 600+ well-wishers online were eargerly anticipating what he might do next.

IPG CEO Philippe Krakowsky said: “Mat has been an important part of IPG for over 14 years, leading a range of organisations, people and capabilities with a great strategic brain and a big heart, and we’re thankful for his contributions.”

Lisa De Bonis

Taking the reins at Huge

Prior to Huge, Baxter’s replacement De Bonis served as managing director at Accenture Interactive, operating in multiple leadership roles across the UK and Europe. IPG noted she drove double-digit growth across communications and technology clients, enabled the integration of key acquisitions and launched a new capability to scale experience-driven engagements.

A statement about her rise to CEO continued: “Since the start of her career in Paris and London, De Bonis has helped create and deliver impactful campaigns for international brands like Orange, Coca-Cola and SABMiller, before co-founding Work Club, which was subsequently acquired by Havas.”

Over the last year Huge has launched results-based work for global brands, including M&M’S, McDonald’s, Google, and more.

See also: Huge reveals the “10 Huge Moves for 2024” in volume two of its publication

Compiled by Tess Connery

Lifting the lid on the world os spies: Secrets We Keep season two

The first season of LiSTNR’s Secrets We Keep told the story of Amelia Oberhardt, who went through her whole life thinking she knew her mum… until she passed away.

The second season – Secrets We Keep: Nest of Traitors – launches on Thursday 1 February, and delves into ASIO and what they were up to during the Cold War.

Over seven episodes, investigative journalist Joey Watson navigates the murky world of espionage on his hunt for a double agent.

Podcast Week’s Tess Connery spoke with Watcson about digging into the actions of a very secretive group.

“For as long as I’ve been a journalist, I’ve been obsessed with spy stories,” Watson said. “That’s partly because I think that these are powerful, taxpayer-funded institutions that are worthy of public inquiry, but also because I think the world of spycraft is incredibly alluring, entertaining, and interesting.”

In his quest to find spy stories – particularly stories from the Cold War era – Watson befriended spies from all around the country. It was these friends that eventually led him to a rumour that had been circulating amongst Australia’s intelligence workers since the 1990s. 

“I had started to notice this pattern. So many spy operations in Australia, particularly during the Cold War, had ended in failure. When I probed for theories as to why, I started to be presented with this rumour – the Australian spy agency, ASIO, had at some stage during the Cold War been penetrated by a mole. An Australian spy had turned to work for the enemy spy agency of the Soviet Union, the KGB.

“I also learned that that spy had never been identified publicly, if they’d ever been found at all. I realised that this was the ultimate spy story, and so I set out to find them.”

By definition, the world of spies is incredibly secretive and full of deception. So where do you start when investigating a story like this?

“I was warned at the beginning of this story, that this is the kind of tale that sends journalists insane – I must admit that by the end of it, I can see why people were warning me of that. But I began with letter writing,” said Watson.

There were multiple reasons for writing letters, with a big one being that in a world of evolving tech, sometimes it’s the original methods that work best. 

“Once you get the names of just a few intelligence officers, particularly from the Cold War era, the best and most sensitive way to approach them is through letter writing. That’s partly because it’s sensitive, and it’s a nice way to give them something to hold and consider. 

“But it’s also because letter writing is a good way to securely communicate with people. You can get letters and you can wrap them up in sticky tape – I learned exactly how to do this in a way that would mean that if a letter had been intercepted, it would have been very, very obvious. It seems very old school with all of the technology that ASIO has available to itself today to surveil people. It’s funny how people think – and certainly some of the spies I was communicating with think – that letter writing is more secure.”

Joey Watson

Whilst the story Watson and the team investigated happened in the 1990s, the story is just as relevant now as it has ever been, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine bringing the historical tensions of the story to the forefront. 

“Contacting people in Russia became far more difficult as part of the war. Putin, who has been no fan of dissent in the past, cracked down even harder which meant that a lot of sources dried up. It also meant that intelligence in Australia became more sensitive and more secure. 

“The story of trying to do journalism on Russia and intelligence before and after the invasion of Ukraine is woven into this podcast.”

Ultimately, Watson hopes there are two main takeaways for listeners of the podcast.

“The first thing is, I hope they get a sense that the history of Australia resonates very, very strongly in the present. Cold War tensions justified certain actions to be taken by our intelligence agencies away from public scrutiny that would be considered questionable. I wonder if that scrutiny was applied to them now, now that they’ve been brought back to the forefront, would those same issues come to light?

“Secondly, I’d like people to be empowered by a sense of knowledge about what these incredibly powerful institutions do on our behalf as taxpayers, and to be sceptical about them.”

Secrets We Keep: Nest of Traitors launches Thursday, Feb 1 on LiSTNR

LiSTNR welcomes Happy Hour with Lucy & Nikki podcast

LiSTNR has kicked off 2024 by welcoming the podcast Happy Hour with Lucy & Nikki, to the network. The new season commences Monday 5 February with fresh episodes of the girls sharing their banter and stories.

Happy Hour with Lucy & Nikki invites listeners into the lives of Lucy Jackson and Nikki Westcott. Since launching their podcast in 2019, the pair has built a loyal audience with genuine conversations about relationships, business, party stories, and everything that’s on a 20-something’s mind.

Happy Hour with Lucy & Nikki

In further news, Lucy and Nikki will soon launch their radio careers and are currently developing a brand-new national radio show with the Hit Network. Debuting mid-February, the show will air on Saturday nights across Australia. Further details regarding the national radio show will be revealed shortly.

LiSTNR original podcasts head of entertainment and culture, Sam Cavanagh, said: “It took me two years of relentless pestering to get Lucy and Nikki to join the LiSTNR family, so we are thrilled to be working with them! They are two of the most exciting, unfiltered, and hilarious voices in entertainment and we can’t wait to help take their Happy Hour podcast to the next level.”

New episodes of Happy Hour with Lucy & Nikki launch on LiSTNR from Monday, Feb 5

AWGIE nomination for LiSTNR’s original audio drama You Don’t Know Me

Series Writer of LiSTNR’s new original audio drama podcast Gripped: You Don’t Know Me Jacklyn Bassanelli has been nominated for an AWGIE by the Australian Writers Guild in the Audio Fiction category. The two other nominees include Meegan May and Lauren Anderson’s queer sci-fi comedy Starship Q Star and The Missed by Sami Shah.

The 56th annual AWGIE Awards will be presented in Sydney on February 15 and recognise the outstanding achievements of Australian performance writers and their contribution to Australia’s cultural landscape. These prestigious awards are the only industry awards given by writers to writers judged exclusively on the basis of the writer’s vision, the script.

[Listen to You Don’t Know Me here]

It’s A Lot speaks with a man who underwent an exorcism 

In a new episode of It’s A Lot With Abbie Chatfield, Abbie is joined by historian Kim Kemmis to share his experience with Conversion Therapy in Australia in the 1970s.

Kim shared about his life growing up in the church, discovering his bisexuality, what it was like for him to undergo an exorcism, live in the fear of AIDS, and navigating his feelings towards men now that he is married to a man.

[Listen to It’s A Lot here]

Noah Kahan gets candid on Smallzy’s Surgery

On Nova’s Smallzy’s Surgery, Smallzy chatted to Noah Kahan who got particularly candid.

When asked “How’s the hemorrhoids, by the way?” Kahan laughed “Hemmies are today acting up. The hotel we’re at has a bidet, which is really nice… goes a long way. But these are just relentless. And I’ve been eating all the food down here. It’s all really good, but there’s a lot of salt in it. So I feel like that’s not helping me.

“My goal in life is to try to reduce as much stigma as possible and… part of that comes with normalising the fact that I eat a lot of shitty food and take really aggressive shits. And when I sit on airplanes and tour buses and venue seats all the time. And it affects unfortunately, it affects your butthole and that just is the reality that I’m living with. And many other Australians and Americans I’m sure suffer too just so you guys know you’re not alone. Yes. But please eat food with more fiber.”

[Listen to the Smallzy’s Surgery catch up podcast here]

By Jasmin Bedir, CEO, Innocean

I tried to disconnect from reading about anything marketing related over the holidays, as I’m sure most of us attempted to, but the latest ‘AI everything’ trend made it rather difficult.

Every tech platform seems to be shoehorning in some form of AI feature, and there are a myriad of new gadgets that are in one form or another AI-enabled. Returning to work my inbox is overflowing with SaaS vendors pushing varying tools that all promise me productivity growth –  it’s seemingly an opportune moment for tech sales. And I don’t blame them. The majority of decision makers in businesses are overwhelmed with the sheer scale and impact of AI entering our world and it’s easy to get completely lost in the woods.

Before blindly adding more tools and platforms, we should consider automation for the sake of automation and value creation versus destruction.

Technology to fix siloed operations has in my opinion, not worked ever. It’s never the panacea you think it will be. Yet, it’s tempting to jump on it, because this is how we simply get ahead of the game, no? And we can proudly announce that we’re utilising new AI tools that will make us look progressive and part of the future. Management no doubt will applaud.

I believe this has the risk to be a major organisational blindspot, as it can lead to IT/software bloat that will prove hard to rein in. And it takes the focus away from the bigger picture of what will have a long term and positive impact on productivity and success of the business – and that is an organisation-wide Large Language Model (LLM) that an organisation can own, because really what you use and apply from one AI-enabled third party platform stack is essentially locked up in someone else’s LLM and of no value to your own bottom-line.

Of course, this requires more internal resources both in human and technology form, and is not as quick as purchasing someone else’s platform, but this is the path we have decided to take.

While we’re on the topic of shiny new objects – Midjourney V6 has truly blown my mind. The pace of improvement is something else, really. No matter what your job title is in this industry, go and have a play instead of buying new third party tools. It’s more fun, too!

See Also: Jasmin Bedir: Limitations of AI in an advertising agency

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Top Image: Jasmin Bedir

New data from Netflix shows that in its second week of release, Boy Swallows Universe has climbed to #3 in the Global TV Top 10, and officially hit #1 in Australia.  

Adapted from the novel by Australian author Trent Dalton, Boy Swallows Universe has also hit #4 in the UK and #6 in the US, continuing to remain Netflix’s most popular Australian-made TV series on record. 

The limited drama series, jointly produced by Brouhaha Entertainment, Chapter One Pictures, and Anonymous Content, attracted 3.6 million views in the first week of its release on 11 January, with its second week bringing in an additional 4 million.

Boy Swallows Universe is the latest Australian story to feature in the Netflix Top 10 with Love Is In The Air recently landing at #2 in the global Top 10 and Surviving Summer Season 2 landing at #7. 

Other Australian productions recently featured in the Top 10 include hits Fisk, Run Rabbit Run, Wellmania, True Spirit, The Stranger and Heartbreak High. 

In a review, Mediaweek’s Andrew Mercado wrote that “Boy Swallows Universe (Netflix) is about alcoholism, drugs and poverty, yet somehow it becomes a thing of beauty. This is a show that will haunt you, and in a good way. I don’t think I will ever forget the brilliant sequence in which little Eli Bell breaks into prison to see his mum for Christmas.

“What a joy and a privilege to see Trent Dalton’s novel becoming such a luminous production.”

See Also: Mercado on TV: Memorable year already with Boy Swallows Universe, Prosper and Total Control

The production of Boy Swallows Universe is supported by the Queensland Government through Screen Queensland’s Production Attraction Strategy, and boasts an ensemble cast, including Travis Fimmel, Simon Baker, Bryan Brown, Sophie Wilde, Phoebe Tonkin, and Anthony LaPaglia, among others.

The cast and crew also featured in Netflix’s new YouTube featurette and blog, where they give viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the show’s filming.

Network 10 will launch a new national news bulletin on Monday, 29 January, hosted by Narelda Jacobs OAM. 10 News First: Afternoon will air each weekday at 3.30 pm on Channel 10 and 10 Play.

The broadcast will also be available to watch on 10 News First’s YouTube channel and shared across multiple social platforms.

The new multi-platform bulletin will add to 10’s current weekday news offering of 10 News First: Midday at 12pm and 10 News First at 5pm, along with a late night news bulletin coming soon.

Martin White, VP broadcast news, said: “News is a fast-moving, 24-hour business and 10 is committed to delivering the latest information to viewers as often as possible.”

Narelda Jacobs has been a journalist at Network 10 for over 20 years. She began her journalism career at 10 News First in Perth, where she presented the local news bulletin for over a decade, before moving to Sydney in 2020 to join Studio 10 and present News from Sydney. Narelda currently presents 10 News First: Midday.

10’s new afternoon line up, commencing from January 29, is as follows:

3.30pm – 4.00pm   10 News First: Afternoon 
4.00pm – 4.30pm   Neighbours
4.30pm – 5.00pm   The Bold and the Beautiful
5.00pm – 6.00pm   10 News First
6.00pm – 6.30pm   Deal or No Deal

10’s version of Deal or No Deal – the game show where contestants must beat The Banker to win a huge cash prize – is also set to launch on January 29th. The reboot will be fronted by Gold Logie winner, Grant Denyer.

Speaking to Mediaweek, Michelle Hartley, investment director at Half Dome, said Deal or No Deals‘ 6pm timeslot “may be problematic” in the long run. 

“Whilst they are likely to have initial success in retaining their news viewers, it will be difficult to entice current Seven and Nine viewers to switch over from one quiz show to another rather than watch the major news service of the evening.”

See Also: Battle of the game shows: Can Nine and 10 steal share from Seven with new shows?

Advertising agency Leo Burnett Australia has announced significant internal promotions, appointing Andy Fergusson as the new chief creative officer, Julia Sheehan as Melbourne general manager. Marijke Spain has been promoted from associate creative director to creative Director.

The shift comes as previous Melbourne GM, Kate Silver, announces on her departure after eight years in the role. Said Silver, “After almost eight fantastic years at Leo Burnett, I have decided to leave the business to spend more time with my family.

“I’m proud of what I’ve achieved, and while I feel ready for a new chapter, I’m also sad to say goodbye to a place that has given me so much.”

Michael Rebelo, chief executive officer of Publicis Groupe Australia and New Zealand, stated, “These strategic promotions underscore Leo Burnett’s commitment to innovation and client success. I look forward to seeing Julia’s leadership and Andy’s creative prowess set new benchmarks in the industry.”

Sheehan’s contributions to the Melbourne team, working with clients like HBF, Saputo, and Lifeblood, have played a pivotal role in the agency’s growth and client relationships.

Leo Burnett further lists that Fergusson, previously the national executive creative director, has been instrumental in the success of award-winning campaigns such as Suncorp’s Resilience brand platform and Diageo’s Bundy Mixer.

Dave Bowman, chief creative officer at Publicis Groupe, said: “I’m incredibly excited to see Andy take this well-deserved next step in his career. Under his leadership, Leo’s has established a reputation for category-defying creativity that has been recognised at the highest levels on the world stage. I can’t wait to see what he can achieve next with his amazing team.”

Bowman continued, “I’m equally delighted to see Marijke step into her new leadership role. Marijke has been instrumental in shaping the creative output at Leos, taking brands to new heights. And now, as creative director, she is perfectly placed to make an even more pronounced impact on the work and our clients’ businesses.”

Spain’s noteworthy contributions include leading some of Leo Burnett’s most-awarded work and fostering a strong client relationship with Suncorp.

See also: Aussie comedian Jimmy Rees fronts new campaign for Singapore Tourism

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Top Image: Marijke Spain, Andy Fergusson & Julia Sheehan (L to R)

Australian holiday park network, BIG4 Holiday Parks, has expanded its GO BIG brand platform through an extension launched via Pangea creative agency.

The campaign featuring the BIG4 Park Ranger and a collection of Top Tips videos, centred on the  often-overlooked yet distinctly Australian behaviours and traditions associated with the holiday park experience.

Tash Prendergast, head of marketing at BIG4, said, “We launched our GO BIG campaign with a focus on the pre-stay excitement that comes with booking a BIG4 holiday. The natural next step was to continue that GO BIG feeling beyond the booking moment. So we took the opportunity to shine a light on the unbeatable BIG4 in-park experience that so many Aussies know and love.”

Creative director at Pangea, Tommy McCubbin, added, “When the team wanted to extend the GO BIG platform, we worked with Park Owners to bring real stories from real Aussie holidaymakers to life. The outcome was a series of tips which practically wrote themselves, because they’re based on stories we can all relate to.”

The videos are complemented by an in-park treasure hunt challenging guests to locate all 10 Top Tips displayed on plaques throughout branded BIG4 parks this summer. Participants who find all 10 stand a chance to win various BIG4 prizes.

Prendergast added, “These videos are so much fun and hit all the right notes in our humble and human, cheeky and cheerful tone of voice.

 “But what makes this one truly special is that the campaign extension also lives and breathes as part of the holiday experience for thousands of guests staying in BIG4 Holiday Parks around the country this summer.”

The series of videos are currently airing on BVOD, YouTube, social media, and big4.com.au throughout the summer season.

See also: BIG4 Holiday Parks appoint Untangld and Pangea as strategy and creative partners

The 2024 Australian Open has generated more social media buzz this year compared to the previous year, Meltwater has revealed.
 
The hype took off in mid-January and was spiked by a 1108% rise in mentions and over 1.5 million mentions of the topic so far. Meanwhile, the analysis found daily average mentions of 63.3K mentions were up from 63.2K.
 
Meltwater analysed data from billions of social media conversations across X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, Twitch and Chinese social channels WeChat, Douyin and Red to identify the top influencers and most talked-about players in this year’s tennis tournament.

Among the most talked about subjects were the injuries suffered by Novak Djokovic’s wrist injury and Rafael Nadal’s hip surgery.
 
The platform saw increasing interest in the diversity of players such as Renata Zarazua, the first Mexican woman, and Sumit Nagal, the first Indian man, trending across social media channels, with the Australian Open’s tweet on Zarazua’s entry making history receiving 341K views.
 
Meltwater also tracked data through its Klear Influencer Marketing tool, which scores social profiles out of 100 based on the number of followers, engagement, true reach and audience quality, to analyse tennis stars social media profiles.

The tool found that while Carlos Alcaraz Garfia may not have the highest number of followers (5.3 million), he was ranked third behind Djokovic and Federer when it came to the top tennis influencers.
 
Djokovic was clearly out in front with 34 million followers and 319K mentions, as Alex de Minaur’s loyal Australian following also saw him receive 70.5K mentions during the Australian Open, with his exit from the tournament resulting in his highest performing post.
 
Out of the women’s players, Aryna Sabalenka with 1.3 million followers and Naomi Osaka with 4.9 million followers have both received the most mentions, with her Instagram post about her return to the Australian Open as a new mum being her followers’ most engaged content during the tournament.

Ross Candido, VP ANZ and SEA at Meltwater, said that with key sporting events like the Australian Open it is essential for brands to be equipped with the tools to effectively measure their brand building investments.

“This entails not only engaging with the right players through strategic influencer partnerships, but also keeping their finger on the pulse by monitoring trending topics and global engagement across diverse demographics.

“Tapping into data-driven insights will empower brands to achieve greater success and establish a stronger resonance with their target audience,” said he added.

Among the sponsors getting their brands and messages across are headline sponsor Kia with 15.4K mentions and a 73% share of voice (SOV) across the four major and associate sponsors.

Meanwhile, new entrant New Balance jumped ahead of Louis Vuitton with 872 mentions to Vuitton’s 455 thanks to its partnership with one of the key female players and influencers, Coco Gauff, according to the Meltwater data.

The Outdoor Media Association (OMA) have welcomed Revolution360 and Wrappr to the association.

Revolution360 is a national Out of Home media owner that specialises in street poster, wall mural and experiential advertising.

Josh Fitzgerald, Revolution360’s national sales director, said joining the OMA and MOVE, the audience measurement currency for OOH media, will give legitimacy to its assets and allow them to provide an ongoing, meaningful contribution to the industry.

Wrappr is a nationwide OOH advertising platform that offers advertising on private vehicles and driven by local brand advocates.

Co-CEO of Wrappr Jonte Shaw said the company was looking forward to being part of the association and the upcoming launch of MOVE2.

Elizabeth McIntyre, OMA CEO, welcomed the new member agencies and said that the upcoming launch of MOVE2 will “provide greater data granularity to our members, advertisers, and agencies, including seasonal changes and regional and place-based audiences.”

Last year, as part of Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023, McIntyre reflected on stepping into the CEO role of OMA, working with the Outdoor industry and truths about advertising.

Among the truths she shared was the importance of granularity in data and what MOVE2 will mean for OMA and the industry.

She wrote: “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,” the OMA CEO added.

• 491,000 tuned in to The Chase Australia on Seven.
• 195,000 watched the Big Bash post-match coverage.

Overnight Ratings

Wednesday night TV Ratings saw Nine win the primary channel and network share with 25.7% and 33.8% thanks to the Australian Open. The highest-rated multichannel was 7TWO with 4%.

Seven recorded a primary share of 22.8% and a network share of 33.4%.
The ABC recorded a primary share of 9.9% and a network share of 14.7%.
10 recorded a primary share of 5.8% and a network share of 11.1%.
SBS recorded a primary share of 3.1% and a network share of 7.4%.

On Nine, the Australian Open’s night eleven session saw Alexander Zverev beat World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, with Zverev clinching the fourth and deciding set 6-4. Zverev will now face Daniil Medvedev in one semi-final, while the other semi-final will see Novak Djokovic vs Jannik Sinner. 208,000 tuned in during the day while 469,000 tuned in during the night session to watch Qinwen Zheng defeat Anna Kalinskaya.

See Also: Andre Agassi trades iconic mullet for savings in Special’s latest Uber campaign

On Seven, 491,000 tuned in to The Chase Australia while 471,000 watched the Big Bash Final, with the Brisbane Heat taking the title, beating the Sydney Sixers by 54 runs. 195,000 tuned in to the post-match coverage.

ABC’s Hard Quiz repeat saw 228,000 viewers as host Tom Gleeson asked hard-hitting questions about My Fair Lady, the Qantas Flight 32 emergency, TikTok, and Ricky Ponting. 7:30 also aired, bringing in 398,000 viewers.