Procurement departments that don’t properly value the power of creativity are behind the rise of in-house creative agencies in Australia, according to Paul Bradbury, president and regional CEO of TBWA Australia and New Zealand. 

Bradbury tells Mediaweek, “the rise of procurement people who perhaps don’t value and understand creativity quite as much” is helping to fuel the increase of in-housing, with 78% of Australian marketers now working with an in-house agency in some capacity. 

The findings from the 2023 In-House Agency Landscape Report, produced by the In-House Agency Council (IHAC) and Kantar Australia, revealed a 15% surge in marketers using in-house services, up from 63% in 2021. It points to a broader global trend: Australia has surpassed mainland Europe in terms of the percentage of businesses with an in-house agency offering, sitting only behind the United States.

The debate between external versus in-house agencies tends to also be a debate on creativity versus efficiency. According to Bradbury, “pure creativity” is the greatest shortfall of the in-house model.

“I certainly understand the motivation for many of those in-house models,” he says. “A lot of them are about efficiency, first and foremost. It is about cost efficiencies; it’s about operational efficiency so they can get to market faster… There’s also an element of control; brand owners feel they have a bit more control over their agency.

“There isn’t the duplication that a lot of large clients have with an agency village model where you’ve got a bunch of specialist agencies, and you may even have a couple of similar creative agencies in the mix.

“We think the right model for bespoke agencies is creative first, and we invest a lot of time in defining what the creative culture is going to be.”

TBWA has bespoke models set up for clients including Media Arts Lab for Apple, Nissan United for Nissan, and, most recently, +61 for Telstra.

+61 brings together independent creative studio Bear Meets Eagle On Fire, the integrated capabilities of TBWA, and Telstra’s existing media agency – TBWA’s Omnicom stablemate OMD. The first work from the shop is slated for April.

See also: Telstra announces new agency partnerships with +61, Bear Meets Eagle On Fire and TBWA

All three “have been built for creativity first,” Bradbury says. And all three unite creative and media. Interestingly, the creative agency boss says the bundling of media and creative is key.

“I think you’ve got to get media back into creative. All the best CMOs are insisting that these bespoke models are creative and media back together. I think that’s the most important thing, and that’s true of all our models.”

Bradbury says that Media Arts Lab, which has been Apple’s bespoke agency since 1998, is proof that bespoke models can work alongside an in-house agency – Apple has one of those too.

“But they really value the outside perspective, particularly the one Media Arts Lab gives them, [and] the fact that we do have honest conversations.”

That’s because good agencies and good clients challenge each other, in a way that may not occur if you’re only working from people within your business.

“The very best agencies, the agencies that are confident in who they are, will challenge clients.” 

Likewise, “the very best clients want to be challenged; they pay good agencies to challenge them… They want outside thinking because if you’re only getting points of view from people inside an organisation, you’re not going to get honesty, and you’re not going to get truth.” 

In-house agencies have historically found it challenging to attract great strategic and creative talent, Bradbury continues, “they’ve found it hard to build enduring creative cultures.”

“Agencies have been doing this for a long time, and I think we’re better at building cultures that attract great creative people.”

Surprisingly, Tim Hernandi, general manager of marketing at Sportsbet, one of the early pioneers of the in-house agency model, echoes some of Bradbury’s criticisms.  He acknowledges that despite operating with a highly efficient production-based model, “the hardest thing with in-house agencies is managing your creative.”

“We have an internal creative team here who are highly skilled and capable, but it’s really hard to land the idea every single time,” he says.

Hernardi believes a hybrid model is the most effective method for the online wagering company‘s bold, quick-to-market, omnichannel creative work.

“We’ve worked with external creative agencies, but we’ve also leveraged our internal creative and production resources as well,” says Hernandi.  “We’ve found the model to evolve as the maturity of our agency and the capability has evolved.”

“What we’ll do, from time to time, is work with external agencies to help bolster ideation,” he explains, expressing his confidence that the hybrid model is already on its way to becoming the future for advertisers. 

“A lot of advertisers will probably have a model that has set-up an external agency to run point on creative,” he says. 

“The trend is probably moving more towards outsourcing or bringing production in-house or controlled production in-house. I think that’s where the growth in the trend, certainly in this country, is moving towards.”

Chris Maxwell, executive chair of the In-House Agency Council, says its report reveals that marketers turn to in-housing to achieve cost savings, improved brand knowledge, dedicated staff, and quicker integration processes. 

With CMOs facing mounting pressure to create more content for more channels and one-to-one comms with less budget and time, the collapse of the traditional agency model was inevitable, he says. 

“It’s just too slow to react to the way customers and consumers expect brands to be able to react today. Not only is it too slow, but there’s layers of hands touching that piece of work that all cost money.”

“Trust came up as a big one,” adds Maxwell. “People saying ‘I trust the people that I’m in the building with working with, they’ve got the same incentives that I do, [and] that we’re all pulling in the same direction.’”

It is not necessarily a case of having to choose an in-house agency or an external agency, though. Maxwell notes that a hybrid model deploys both, with specialist work and day-to-day work handled by different teams.

“I think there’s a reason that agencies exist and will continue to exist,” says Maxwell. “That’s why we talk a lot about what we call a hybrid model, which is having the best of both worlds: having external agencies for the things that they’re the best at, which often are things that are specialist skills, or things that you don’t need every day.”

As models shift and morph, so too might the way agencies charge for their work.

Speaking from his experience at TBWA, the trademarked Disruption agency, Bradbury explains: “We’ve been moving for some time away from head-hour relationships, to more value-based pricing. That enables us to ensure that we’ve got the right amount of people and talent working on a project, so we’re not burning people out.”

See also: Apple’s outstanding accessibility ad The Greatest wins primetime Emmy

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Top Image: Paul Bradbury

Foxtel Media has revealed the foundation of a new media industry think tank: the Video Futures Collective, to spark conversation, solve issues, and shine a spotlight on the Australian digital video and streaming landscape.

The think tank will explore a range of ideas related to video advertising in a consultative and transparent manner with the wider media industry. The Video Future Collective is envisaged as an open platform for discussion and cooperation on industry issues rather than a formalised body or organisation.

Initial members include Foxtel Media, YouTube, Samsung Ads, Disney Advertising and SBS. 

Foxtel Media CEO, Mark Frain said, “Over the last 10 years the media industry has gone through rapid change and we now operate in an environment complicated by the fragmentation of video platforms – making it increasingly challenging for advertisers to capture a holistic view of the market. In parallel, streaming has now reached a tipping point of scale and influence, creating more opportunities for brands to engage and connect with audiences.

“We believe open and transparent industry discussion between streamers, broadcasters, publishers, and advertisers is necessary to influence industry best practice. To that end, we are delighted to announce the launch of the Video Futures Collective – an inclusive think tank driven by shared principles.”

The Video Futures Collective will explore three priority areas in the short, medium, and long term including:

• First priority areas: Building consensus on streaming video basics such as naming conventions, definitions and best practice; and supporting training and education.

• Second priority areas: Collaboration on industry-wide case studies and exploration of innovation across measurement models. 

• Third priority areas: Investigating closer integration with agencies around planning and buying. 

Adam Sadler, SBS’s director of media sales said: “SBS has long had an audience-first approach which has seen us put SBS On Demand at the forefront of our strategy. We are pleased to join this think tank which will bring together many of the key players in the fast-moving streaming market. We see this move as complementary to our ongoing support of existing industry currency.”

Caroline Oates, head of YouTube ads and programmatic, said: “Despite years of convergence between digital and linear video, there is still yet to be a single place where video streaming providers align to discuss the issues and opportunities facing the industry. While we are competitors, a transparent and collaborative think tank that identifies issues that require industry buy-in and collaboration can play an important role in driving the entire industry forward.”

Accenture Song’s acquisition of The Lumery is the culmination of a three-year-long “courtship” with the Melbourne-based martech consultancy, Mark Green tells Mediaweek.

It’s a pivotal time for the agency to strengthen its marketing technology offering in Australia, Accenture Song’s AUNZ lead says, because the client demand is there: “Within Song, we just had too many clients asking and not enough people to actually deliver in the way that we wanted to.”

The acquisition comes as global spend on martech is predicted to surge by 64% to $216 billion by 2027. Meanwhile, Accenture’s own research shows that over half of global customers have expressed a desire for companies to respond faster to their changing needs and expectations.

Green says that the move was a timely and opportune evolution for the tech-powered creative consultancy Accenture Song, which has been growing to deliver end-to-end customer transformation.

The partnership will see Lumery’s team of 80 across offices in Melbourne and Sydney in Australia and Bengaluru in India merge with Accenture Song’s marketing practice.

“We believe in a world where a brand is influenced by marketing, at both an awareness, but also at a personal level,” says Green. 

“There’s no reason why the quality of that relationship can’t be truly great – as good at a brand level as it can be at an acquisition and personal level. We felt like we were stronger in one part versus the other.”

See also: Tara Ford takes on chief creative officer role at Accenture Song for APAC and LATAM

According to co-founder and CEO of The Lumery, Rajan Kumar, Australian marketers face unique challenges, including wielding the same martech as their global counterparts, yet needing to work harder for conversions simply due to the smaller population.

As a result, Kumar believes Australian marketers are particularly forward-thinking in their desire to test and learn in order to remain competitive. “Because we have to,” he says.

“It might be easier to work in a global market where you’ve got 100 million consumers that you can talk to. That doesn’t happen here.”

Kumar describes martech as a “critical component” in the modern marketing mix.

“We interact with brands largely now through digital channels through connected channels. If a brand wants to deliver this ideal experience through all the various mediums it has access to, and ultimately where we, as consumers, are interacting with them, then you have to wrangle data and tech.

“You’ve got to be really thoughtful about how you talk to your consumers, how you leverage data, how you leverage things like personalisation. That’s all ultimately going to deliver those small, incremental wins across the experience.”

Green echoes the need to provide strong martech consultancy capabilities in the Australian advertising industry, citing the vital role martech will play as a mechanism in shaping the future of its businesses – from improving customer relationships to driving acquisitions.

“It’s one thing to have the technology. It’s another to actually know how to use it effectively,” he adds.

“That’s the question that we’re coming across more often than not, and clients are really looking for answers … That’s why we got very keen to bring Raj and his team to the table. It brings a bigger firepower to our clients who need it.”

See also: Australian agencies win big at the 2023 ONE Asia Creative Awards

Since its inception in 2017, The Lumery has positioned itself as a provider of complementary martech ecosystem relationships, helping its clients achieve transformation through technology for scale and mass customisation.

“If I think about why we started The Lumery in the first place, it was answering that question,” says Kumar.

“There’s no shortage of desire, there’s no shortage of ambition. Everyone’s bought into the idea of customer experience at scale, and leveraging better technology to fuel that. But how do you do that tactically, day in, day out? How do you connect, at times, what is a very disparate and fragmented ecosystem? 

“That’s the place The Lumery has been operating for nearly seven years, and we’ve been really successful.”

In Green’s view, The Lumery marks a key differentiator for Accenture Song, one that reinforces the company’s identity as a unique blend of creative consulting and technology.

“We’re confident that we’re on to something really interesting with the Accenture Song model,” he says.

“I think a lot of agencies [with consultancies] have left that technology piece alone. Now it’s informing such a major part of the connection with the customer that it can’t be ignored.”

Green continues: “That’s why we sold our business to Accenture Interactive back in the day: we saw that opportunity. 

“Thankfully, it’s materialised, because we’re doing more influential work because of it.”

See also: The Monkeys launches first major work for DoorDash

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Top Image: Mark Green and Rajan Kumar

Julie Scarff has announced her departure from Volkswagen after 11 years with the automative brand. 

Scarff told Mediaweek she made the decision to “look for something new and different to focus on for this year, moving forward.”

“I just decided 11 years was a really long time that I’d been there, and I was looking for a change,” she said.

Scarff was most recently Volkswagen Australia’s marketing communications manager, a position she held for two years from November 2021, until her resignation in December last year.

In terms of the implications of her departure for the marketing team, Scarff said, “I’m not sure what they’re doing with the role. I’m not sure whether they’re replacing or restructuring.”

Mediaweek reached out to Volkswagen Australia to determine whether the brand is looking to replace the position, with no definitive response.

“Our company has no interest in commenting,” stated Paul Pottinger, general manager corporate communications.

Before becoming marketing communications manager, Scarff was brand and retail communications manager, brand communications specialist, and retail marketing specialist. She joined VW in 2012.

On LinkedIn, Scarff said she is “currently exploring new opportunities in marketing on a full-time or consultancy basis.”

“If you’re looking for someone with energy and fresh ideas for a full-time role, or if you have a project that could benefit from a new perspective, I’m here to help. I can offer strategic insights, problem-solving expertise, and actionable recommendations to support your business or organisation.”

She told Mediaweek that the delayed announcement to market was thanks to a summer break.

“I obviously had long service to take, which was nice over the summer, to take a nice break, to refresh and rejuvenate. That was really the only reason,” said Scarff.

“I finished up in December and then obviously had Christmas off… come March I thought I’d better put something out there.”

See also: “Longevity is the hope”: DDB’s mission to restore Australia’s love for Volkswagen

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Top Image: Julie Scarff

There was a time when an advertiser could be confident that their advertising would appear in a reputable environment, with publishers and media proprietors taking their legal and social responsibilities seriously. Then the internet came along.

Long before the internet, H. L. Menchen, the American author and social commentator first coined the phrase, “Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people”. Yet, looking at what passes as the bulk of advertising today, mostly in social media platforms and across the internet, appears to align to one underlying philosophy: that the customer is stupid.

The consequence of this is many marketers and their agencies are missing a significant opportunity to engage an audience beyond an immediate transaction, to longer-term mutual benefit.

If you don’t believe that advertising has fallen to the lowest common denominator, simply spend some time looking at the advertising on some of the digital channels, where an increasing number of marketers are investing their media budget. Here, brands you may never have heard of are spruiking products at up to 50% off as if reducing their normal price by half represents value? Or even worse, proving how clever they are by remarketing to me with advertising for the same product I bought from a competitor last week, having completed my online research.

This short-term, sales-focused approach is understandable as a way of demonstrating how marketing contributes directly to growth. We see increasingly more of the advertising investment moved from building desirability and consideration, to closing the sale. Even if this approach means offering discounts at the expense of profit. In that context, it is questionable as to why they call it performance marketing? Almost anyone can sell a product or service at a discount, but it takes real marketing skills to sell and maintain a healthy margin.

A significant portion of the blame lay at the feet of the new media barons – the social media barons. They don’t agree with this term because they don’t produce the content, they simply enable others to share their content and then sell advertising to the audience it attracts. The more attractive the content, the larger the audience and the more money they make in advertising, without the cost of either creating the content or ensuring that it is not misleading, deceptive, or even slanderous. No, those responsibilities lay with the content creator – all care and no responsibility.

Enter behavioural psychology into marketing. Understanding human behavioural patterns and thinking processes led to identifying a significant number of what are commonly terms ‘biases’ which can be used to influence those decision-making processes. Bandwagon effect, confirmation bias, anchoring, availability bias and many more are not just used in marketing, they are used in the mysterious algorithms that promote content to get greater engagement from the audience, thereby leading to greater advertising revenue, without having to be concerned with the ethical, moral or legal implications of publishing that content. All that matters is the audience comes and stays to create more opportunities to see your ad.

By Dennis Flad

In the meantime, we have seen bad actors weaponize these social media platforms to undermine trust in society and undermine social structures including representative democracy, law and order and the capitalist economy.

But back in 1955, David Ogilvy quaintly reminded us that, “The customer is not a moron. She’s your wife”. Ogilvy was responding to the typical advertising practices of the day, which featured loud, authoritarian voices and blatant exaggeration. (Sound familiar?). He believed advertising should treat the customer as intelligent and capable of seeing through hype.

But in 2024, your ‘wife’ is typically contributing significantly to the household income, or the sole salary earner in a single-parent family, (and still being paid 21.7% less than men according to the latest WGEA figures). But what has not changed is she is also the person who makes 85% of all purchase decisions according to the Australian Centre for Business Growth at the University of South Australia.

So, perhaps before we all keep dumbing down the way we communicate with our customers, it could be time to consider that while David Ogilvy never posted a tweet on X or recorded and shared a TikTok video, he did perhaps know something about human beings. And that is, we are not morons. And we don’t like clever or tricky for the sake of proving how clever you are. But we do appreciate someone who entertains, informs, surprises, delights, shocks, and moves us in a way we can relate to and enjoy.

See Also: Woolley Marketing: Does DE&I matter or not?

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Darren Woolley is Global CEO of TrinityP3, Australia’s largest and most influential independent marketing / pitch consultancy and is well known to the advertising industry. Founded more than 20 years ago TrinityP3 has a significant presence in Australia where it leads the pitch process for many of the country’s leading advertising accounts as well as having offices in London, New York and Zurich.

Dennis Flad is responsible for Trinity P3 EMEA and founder of t’charta, a management consultancy boutique for strategic product management, pricing and go-to-market based in Zurich, Switzerland. Dennis worked his entire life in marketing and advertising, which allows him to infuse his whimsical drawings with a realistic understanding of management practices and behaviours.

Meta’s decision to exit the News Media Bargaining Code has wreaked havoc among news publishers and the government. But does the tech giant’s decision also have implications for the brands that advertise on the platform?

Darren Woolley, global CEO of TrinityP3, told Mediaweek the most significant impact would be small to medium-sized businesses that use Meta’s platforms – Facebook and Instagram – “almost exclusively.”

“If Facebook pulled out of Australia, for instance – worst case scenario – that would leave a huge hole for small to medium-sized businesses that do lots of social media selling or paid social advertising.

“For brands themselves, the question they’d have to ask themselves is, do they want to keep supporting Meta?”

Darren Woolley

Woolley noted the backlash from the public against Facebook on its decision to turn against news publishers and the government.

“Brands need to consider whether continuing to support Facebook in this dispute is in their best interests short or long term. If you take news from platforms like Facebook and Instagram, what’s left to attract people there? Is there still credibility in it?

“Facebook has a huge problem with a reputation for allowing a lot of misleading and deceptive advertising to appear on that platform. It’s not a reputable environment for marketers to put their brands.”

Brands have previously pulled advertising spend from social media platforms in response to controversy. Last year, Apple, IBM, Disney, and Sony removed their ads from X (formerly Twitter) due to concerns about antisemitism and hate speech on the Elon Musk-owned social media platform.

Could brands do the same after Meta’s decision to exit the Australian media deals in protest? Woolley said there could be a protest to start, but it boils down to what the audience thinks.

“Ultimately, the only reason brands are advertising is to reach an audience. Advertisers will probably withhold their advertising if there’s audience backlash until there’s no longer that sort of backlash.”

Ben Shepherd

Meanwhile, Ben Shepherd, outgoing chief investment officer at Dentsu’s media agencies and incoming CEO at publisher Schwartz, shared a different point of view. He told Mediaweek that Meta’s decision might not be an issue that impacts brands directly.

“The potential impacts of the Meta move reverberate across news and journalism entities, not marketing departments,” he said.

Shepherd said that while brands decide on their position as corporate citizens, “ultimately, no one can tell brands how they should react to events that impact Australian society.”

“History would suggest no, as Meta has been in the constant spotlight for the past decade on user missteps and trust breaches, and at the same time, it has been the fastest growing advertising business during that period.”

Shepherd said that it wasn’t likely brands acting in response to Meta’s decision could impact the discussions between and the government.

“The power imbalance between Meta and everyone else is too large for any private entity or collection of private entities to have any leverage over the decisions they make.”

From an industry body perspective, Josh Faulks, CEO of the AANA, told Mediaweek: “This is a matter for Meta, the media owners and the government to resolve. It is up to each brand to decide how they respond to Meta’s decision.”

On Friday, Meta confirmed it will stop paying publishers for news content and not re-negotiate new Media Code deals once the current deals expire.

The digital giant’s announcement follows months of speculation as Meta had expressed concerns with the deals and questioned the value to its business. 

“Meta doesn’t want this trend that Australia started. The Australian government was a leader with the news media bargaining code, then it went to other countries such as Canada. What Meta didn’t want is that process to roll out globally. They’re trying to stop it because it reduces their profit,” Woolley added.

“It makes life so much easier for them because I don’t have to deal with all the media publishers. They can get on with it and make money using the algorithms to suck us into clickbait and sell attention to the highest bidder.”

Michael Miller

Meta’s decision has been met with opposition from media publishers. In an opinion piece published in the Australian Financial Review, News Corp Australia’s executive chairman, Michael Miller, said the move by Meta shows “the company’s brazen indifference to regulations and the content creators that feed their platform.”

Seven West Media CEO James Warburton said: “Meta needs to be designated. The case has not only been made but proven and we welcome Ministers Jones and Rowland’s commitment to the News Media Bargaining Code. We will work constructively with the ACCC and Treasury to ensure their designation.”

Nine CEO Mike Sneesby added: “Meta’s decision does not recognise the significant and increasing value of Nine’s journalism, unique content and brands to its platforms. We believe the News Media Bargaining Code provides an appropriate framework for a fair value exchange between companies.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also hit out Meta’s decision not to renew its deals to pay Australian news publishers for content. He said: “We will always stand up as a government for Australian media interest and media diversity.”

Constantine Frantzeskos

However, Constantine Frantzeskos, chief growth and innovation officer at GrowthOps, told Mediaweek that it was “astonishing” that despite being a massive driver in traffic to news sites, Meta was being compelled to subsidy these outlets.

“It has largely been the failure of media publishers to effectively monetise their businesses and build robust business models.”

Frantzeskos called out media publishers for the negative response to Meta’s decision, slamming the companies that “run to Canberra for a solution rather than innovating themselves.”

“This idea that they would seek intervention over innovation is, I think, a real shame,” the digital expert said.

See also: Digital expert slams publishers for seeking “intervention over innovation” after Meta pulls out of media deals
See also: Meta pulls the pin on news media deals with publishers and axes news tab

BBC Studios revealed recently it had taken control of its streaming JV with ITV outside of the UK, BritBox International.

BBC Studios is the BBC’s commercial content studio and media & streaming business.

For ITV’s 50% share of BritBox International, BBC Studios is paying £255m (close to $500m).

The deal doesn’t impact BritBox UK which remains a premium tier on ITV’s UK streaming service ITVX.

The service was first launched by BBC Studios and ITV in 2017.

BritBox is Top 10 streaming service

BritBox has been ranked by Mediaweek in the top 10 streaming services in Australia. In our latest market review, BritBox was ranked at #8.

It is one of just two services in the top 10 not yet available on Hubbl’s streaming management platform. The other one is AMC+.

When asked recently about missing services, Hubbl CEO Patrick Delany told Mediaweek negotiations were ongoing with future potential partners.

Obituary is a British Original coming to Britbox Australia in March

ITV content still coming to BritBox International

As part of the new transaction, BBC Studios has extended its licensing agreements with ITV ensuring that programming for BritBox International will continue to represent a wide range of British content.

Tom Fussell, BBC Studios CEO, said: “This is an important acquisition for us. We are taking full ownership of a successful, growing service we know well and that fits with our stated ambition to double the size of our business.

“Britbox International has British content at its heart and it generates and satisfies demand for British shows outside the UK. We will continue to make significant investments in the future to deliver long-term value to the BBC.”

Carolyn McCall, ITV CEO, said: “The sale of 50% of BritBox International means ITV is focused on its core strategic goals of continuing to build on ITVX’s success and growing ITV Studios.”

BritBox International will become part of BBC Studios’ global media and streaming division.

Its portfolio of digital and direct-to-consumer services also includes BBC.com, BBC Select, the BBC’s premium ad-free documentary streaming service in North America and BBC Podcast Premium, an audio service available in more than 160 countries.

Rebecca Glashow, BBC Studios global media & streaming CEO said: “I am thrilled to further our involvement in BritBox International – it’s a profitable business and a winning proposition. We see tremendous opportunity to grow this unique service and take it to even greater heights for its subscribers, with the full power of the BBC behind it.”

The acquisition by BBC Studios sees BritBox International global CEO Reemah Sakaan is stepping down.

BritBox International is available in eight countries – USA, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.

In Australia consumers pay $9.99 a month or $99.99 for 12 months.

TV Gold podcast reviews UK originals

Listen to reviews of the best new British dramas coming to BritBox on the weekly Mediaweek podcast TV Gold with James Manning and Andrew Mercado.
Episodes are available on all major podcast platforms including Apple and Spotify.

See also from 2020: BBC and ITV streaming service BritBox finally launches in Australia

Chattr, Australia’s fastest-growing entertainment news website, attracted 440,000 users in February this year. The growth amounts to a 310% increase over January and a 9100% surge year-on-year.

The publication, which is part of the Mediaweek Group, was launched in 2023 to provide exclusive and original entertainment news to consumers.  It has grown users from 10,000 to 440,000 in 13 months.

In a bid to further propel the growth, Chattr has appointed Anita Anabel as editor. Anabel, who was previously the head of entertainment across Chattr and Mediaweek, will now assume the Chattr position full-time with a remit to continue to bolster the site’s original content as it grows its commercial opportunities.

Anabel will continue to work with the Chattr team which includes journalist Danica Baker, group managing editor Danielle Long and publisher Trent Thomas. Commercial opportunities will be managed by chief revenue officer, Andrew Mulready, and chief growth officer, Ricky Chanana. 

Trent Thomas, publisher and managing director of Chattr and Mediaweek, said, “The results that the team has achieved so far have been phenomenal, but it is only the beginning. As we continue to invest in Chattr we expect it will continue to grow stronger and maintain its current growth trajectory.” 

Optus has paid a $1,501,500 in penalties after media watchdog the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found the telecomm company in large-scale beach of public safety rules between January 2021 and September 2023.

The investigation found that during those dates Optus left close to 200,000 mobile customers (supplied under the Coles Mobile and Catch Connect brands) at risk by failing to upload required customer information to the Integrated Public Number Database (IPND).

The IPND serves as a crucial tool for emergency services, including the Emergency Alert service, which notifies Australians of disasters such as floods and bushfires, and Triple Zero, which provides vital location information to emergency responders.

ACMA’s action against Optus is part of a broader crackdown on IPND breaches within the telecommunications industry. Over the past 18 months, the ACMA has taken enforcement actions against five telcos for similar violations, resulting in total financial penalties exceeding $2 million.

In February, the ACMA cracked down on five telcos – Message4U (operating as Sinch MessageMedia), SMS Broadcast, DirectSMS, Esendex Australia, and MessageBird – that allowed millions of SMSs to be sent using text-based sender IDs (such as abbreviated business names) without sufficient measures to check against potential scams.

See also: ACMA’s anti-scam crackdown continues as Telnyx hit with $106K fineACMA member Samantha Yorke said that ACMA started its investigation after compliance audit revealed Optus’ failure to upload data through its contracted supplier, Prvidr Pty Ltd.

“When emergency services are hindered there can be very serious consequences for the safety of Australians,” said Yorke

“While we are not aware of anyone being directly harmed due to the non-compliance in this case, it’s alarming that Optus placed so many customers in this position for so long.

“Optus cannot outsource its obligations, even if part of the process is being undertaken by a third party.

“All telcos need to have systems in place that ensure they are meeting their obligations, including having robust oversight and assurance processes for third-party suppliers.”

In response to the investigation findings, Optus has agreed to a court-enforceable undertaking that includes an independent review of its IPND compliance when utilising third-party data providers. Furthermore, Optus is required to implement any improvements recommended by the review and adhere to the IPND industry code.

Failure to comply with the direction or the enforceable undertaking may result in legal action from the ACMA, potentially leading to penalties of up to $10 million per breach or other court orders.

See also: ACMA finds Sportsbet, Ladbrokes, Neds and bet365 breached in-play betting regulations

Much like the revitalised magazine sector,  Mediaweek has dusted off the Magazine Rack column – the once-regular feature that covers a new launch or a magazine milestone. 

We’ve neglected a few launches in recent years and maybe even more milestones. It’s time to right the wrong, and we start off with this ambitious relaunch from Are Media.

Title: Elle Australia
Cover price: $12.99
Edition: March 2024, 246 pages
Value: It feels good to hold, is heavy, and is very glossy.
Editor: Grace O’Neill
Publisher: Are Media. CEO: Jane Huxley.
GM Fashion & Beauty: Nicky Briger
National Brand Manager: Melanie Savvidis

Ad pages: 38 – maybe. Didn’t count the house ad. Counted each gatefold page separately. Some pages are hard to tell if it’s editorial or advertisement. No page rate online at Are Media.
Ahead of the issue’s launch, Briger told Mediaweek that the pages were printed on “really extraordinary paper stock, which we’ve sourced from Germany.”
See Also: Are magazines back? The ELLE Australia relaunch team on the global magazine revival

Cover: Sophie Wilde on cover plus 13 (!) pages inside.
Photos: Jordan Malane.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Cover lines: 10. Best – “We’re back, baby!”
Questions posed inside we answered immediately: Do you need an authenticity coach? Are influencers the new public intellectuals?
Editor’s letter: Medium length (500 words) with interesting tale about how O’Neill was at a Paris fashion show when she first head about the planned Elle re-launch. O’Neill also met Sophie Wilde that day and thought she would be the first cover if she got the editor’s job.

Giveaways: No major reader competition we could find. This stuff costs too much to give it away. Items on Elle shopping spread ranged from $89 to $3,680. There are a generous collection of discount codes on the Elle Australia website.
Elle subscription offer: Couldn’t find one, probably because there are just two editions this year. There were offers for marie claire, belle and Gourmet Traveller. Are Media’s online store, Magshop, doesn’t have Elle listed. iSubscribe doesn’t have it either, although it does sell international editions. Elle Australia is available on the Readly app though which you need to have if you want to get serious about magazines.

Socials: Using Instagram and Facebook as key platforms for engaging with audiences, it seems.
Facebook: 746,000 followers
Instagram: 304,000 followers and only 16 posts
TikTok: 12,800 followers

Summary: Are Media has pulled off an impressive first edition of the relaunch. Now they have a copy to show potential advertisers, and it might be easier to convince some of the holdbacks that this is a real deal. The hard bit: producing this much quality again… but they have time on their side.

LiSTNR has introduced several new features and enhancements, working to improve user experience, in the biggest update to the app since its launch in 2021.

The enhancements will work to make the LiSTNR app faster, more intuitive and personalised with a full re-design. The features were developed following consultation and feedback from LiSTNR’s 1.8 million signed-up customer base.

All LiSTNR users will retain their user accounts and preferences as the new app launches. If users have auto-app updates on, they do not need to do anything.

New features include:

• A simpler navigation featuring: Home, Discover, and Library.
• A fully personalised homepage with a ‘For You’ tab, giving users easy access to live radio and music stations, radio shows and podcasts they follow or have recently played.
• New tabs to showcase the most popular content types including Radio, Podcasts and Music (with Sport coming soon).
• A re-designed Radio tab, highlighting all 99 Hit and Triple M local stations and their associated DAB+ stations. A more relevant experience is achieved by users’ postcodes informing the prioritisation of local Hit and Triple M radio stations and local news appearing first.
• A Music tab with a range of music stations to suit every mood and music-based podcasts.
• A Discover option to enable intuitive search plus browsing by category and genre.
• An improved Library to provide access to all the content that users follow, have listened to and downloaded, plus the latest podcast episodes.

SCA chief technology and operations officer, Stephen Haddad, said: “LiSTNR has been developed from the ground up within SCA and this new version of the app, our biggest since LiSTNR launched, will deliver our 1.8 million-plus signed-up users a truly personal experience. We have listened to and taken on board user feedback to produce the ultimate audio user experience, making content easily accessible and the app faster and fun to use.

“As well as the new features and benefits, the LiSTNR app has undergone a complete re-design to look even more slick and to be even more intuitive. While users are listening, they will feel immersed in a world of great content, with all the information they could want at their fingertips. We are extremely proud of delivering an Australian owned and operated digital audio platform.”

SCA chief commercial officer, Seb Rennie, said: “The LiSTNR app is enabled with best-in-class technology to deliver unique and unrivalled targeting, attribution, contextual solutions and advanced dynamic creative optimisation for advertisers ensuring that this, along with LiSTNR’s highly engaged audience of more than 1.8 million users, means the most advanced and effective digital audio solutions are now available at LiSTNR.”

See Also: SCA break-up: CEO John Kelly explains why board not yet happy with offer

Nissan Australia has launched a nationwide 360° campaign to showcase its e-POWER technology and introduce a fresh look for the brand led by Nissan United, TBWA’s dedicated bespoke agency for the car brand.

The campaign is designed around the convenience of Nissan’s e-POWER technology: “Driven by electric. Fuelled by petrol. So, you’ll never need to plug in to recharge.”

At the heart of the campaign is a 30-second television commercial set against the backdrop of the Australian landscape, featuring the X-TRAIL e-POWER engaged in a playful pursuit with a futuristic, battery-powered droid.

The commercial aims to showcase the effortless cruising capabilities of the X-TRAIL e-POWER across vast distances without requiring charging, unlike its battery-dependent counterpart.

Sriram Padmanabhan, Nissan’s marketing director, said: “This exciting new campaign and reinvigorated visual identity engineers a bolder and braver direction for Nissan in Australia and, along with our Dealer partners, we very much look forward to bringing it to life throughout the coming months.”

Sarah Cajelot, general manager at Nissan United, added: “The driving experience of the e-POWER really is something special. So much so, we kick-started the whole process by briefing the creative team in the vehicle. It’s quiet and smooth, so we had to find a disruptive way to tell Nissan’s e-POWER story.”

The campaign will roll out across channels including TV, cinema, online video (OLV), social media, anamorphic out-of-home (OOH), and digital platforms, as it unveils Nissan’s new visual identity.

It will also leverage partnerships with content creators and sponsorships with carsales, Urban List, and Meta for augmented reality experiences.

The Nissan campaign launch coincides with the debut of a new advertisement for the Apple Watch by TBWA’s other specialised agency for Apple, TBWA\Media Arts Lab.

The campaign depicts real stories of Apple Watch saving lives through distinctly Australian narratives, underscoring the capabilities of the Apple Watch.

Through a series of films, individuals Bruce and Lexie share personal accounts detailing how the Fall Detection and Low Heart Rate Notifications functionalities of the Apple Watch came to their aid during unforeseen circumstances.

See also: TBWA\Media Arts Lab’s latest work shows real stories of Apple Watch saving lives

Credits:
Client
Nissan Australia

TBWA\Melbourne
Chief creative officer: Paul Reardon
Senior creative: Scott Canning
Senior creative: Siobhan Fitzgerald
Senior producer: Melina Flood

Nissan United
General manager: Sarah Cajelot
Precision marketing and media lead: Tony McKay

Revolver
Director: Dani Pearce
Managing director / co-owner: Michael Ritchie
Executive producer / partner: Pip Smart
Producer: Sarah Nichols
Director of photography: Germain McMicking

Arc Edit
Executive producer: Daniel Fry
Producer: Jess Ryan
Editor: Lucas Baynes

Heckler
Head of VFX: Tom Corbett
EP: Steven Marolho
Head of production: Amy Jarman
Flame online: Julian Ford
3D artists: Maud Chapuis, Rachael Tedesco, Dusan Marjanovic, Philip Wang, Patricio Ducaud, John Trudgian, Nick Kaloterakis 
Compositor: Ran Xie
Colourist: Fergus Rotherham 

Rumble Studios
Executive producer: Michael Gie
Engineer: Cam Milne

Level Two Music
Music supervisor: Karl Richer
Music supervisor: Mel Pantz

Fetch TV and Kargo have teamed up to boost the sales of video advertising space on the Fetch aggregation platform. 

Fetch grants access to their TV viewership through both advertising-supported FAST channels and subscription-based channels. Working alongside Fetch’s in-house Advertising team, the collaboration with Kargo will extend Fetch’s sales network, catering to Australian advertisers and media agencies.

For advertisers, Kargo will present the chance to connect with the Fetch audience through targeted programmatic or direct advertising campaigns. Advertisers can opt for standalone video purchases or leverage Kargo’s solutions and targeting capabilities to boost their presence on Fetch’s platform.

This announcement comes as Fetch continues to work through the ongoing migration of the Telstra TV base of around 700,000 subscribers across to Fetch, following the acquisition of a majority share in Fetch TV Pty Ltd by Telstra Group Ltd in 2022.

“With extensive experience in online video over many years, Kargo has developed a suite of enhanced pre roll advertising solutions that have been proven to work much harder than standard pre-rolls.”, said Robert Leach, Kargo GM APAC. 

“Over the last couple of years Kargo has brought this experience to enhanced CTV advertising with some of the world’s largest broadcasters. The results have been amazing, with dramatic increases in ad recall, brand awareness, consideration, favorability and purchase intent when compared to standard CTV pre rolls.” 

Melissa Fitzgerald, head of advertising at Fetch TV, said “The launch of video advertising on Fetch has been a great success and with demand growing every day.  Adding Kargo to our sales efforts will enable us to scale quickly and better service our agency partners. Kargo is a progressive company with an established and well-regarded sales team that now provide advertisers with access to Fetch’s large audience, servicing the Australian market nationally.”

“We are well aware of the effectiveness of CTV pre-roll,” Leach continued. “This partnership marks a major milestone in shaping the CTV landscape of Australia. Merging Fetch TV’s top-notch content delivery with Kargo’s cutting-edge advertising solutions not only enhances the audience’s ad viewing experience but also boosts brand favorability and recall. It’s a win-win situation for everyone involved.”

See Also: Fetch and ESPN extend current channel distribution agreement

The UN Global Compact Network Australia (UNGCNA) has partnered with sustainability consultancy, Salterbaxter, and digital workforce learning provider, Cahoot Learning, to address anti-greenwashing concerns through a new, online training course tailored for marketers and communicators.

Crafted in response to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) and Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC)’s recent crackdown on greenwashing claims in the advertising industry, the course, Greenwashing: Time to stop the spin cycle, aims to equip marketers and communicators with the necessary tools to avoid greenwashing and uphold credibility in sustainability messaging.

Last year, the ACCC conducted an internet sweep of 247 Australian businesses, and reported 57% were making concerning claims about their environmental credentials.

See also: ASIC commits to continue greenwashing crackdown in 2024

Spearheaded by The UNGCNA, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, the course (The course scheduled to commence on March 11, 2024.) is made to help professionals practically apply the eight principles outlined in the ACCC’s guide for businesses making environmental claims.

Kate Dundas, executive director at UNGCNA, commented on the importance of aligning marketing practices with consumer expectations for environmentally responsible products and services.

“To avoid missteps and harness the potential of marketing as a force for good it’s critical more marketers build the know-how and confidence needed to engage on ESG topics,” said Dundas.

Stu Wragg, managing director of Salterbaxter Australia, also emphasised the role of credible business action and creative engagement in promoting sustainable practices.

Wragg said: “As public expectations that companies act on sustainability grows, marketers need to be careful not to inadvertently mislead consumers.”

Barbara Harvey, head of learning and culture at Cahoot Learning, added, “Learning outcomes are always strengthened when participants learn together. A key feature of this course is the facilitation of peer-to-peer networking.”

See also: AANA targets greenwashing practices in advertising, CEO Josh Faulks declares, “it’s critical.”

Independent media agency Yango has announced four senior appointments. The appoints follow Yango’s adoption of a full-service media model, expanding its remit to include SEO and content, comms strategy, and full-service media planning and buying.

Bolstering this new model, Yango has named Hannah Mannion has as SEO and content director, Eb Yusuf as head of strategy, Natalie Murray as head of media planning, and Natalie Clark as client solutions director.

The move further follows a score of recent wins for the agency, including Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD’s local distributor EV Direct, CBHS Health, Frasers Property Industrial and Scape Student Living.

See also:
Yango wins Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia
Yango announces the additions of Parramatta Eels and Frasers Property to its client portfolio

Yango managing partner, Nick Murdoch, said: “We’re thrilled to have bolstered our senior ranks with four highly experienced appointments. All bring new skills and expertise, broadening our service offering and strengthening our capabilities.

“Our decisions always revolve around our‘People Focused, Results Driven’ positioning, which champions our people, clients and audiences, along with measurable results. Recruiting highly skilled staff and extending our capabilities is a critical part of our growth plan for 2024.”

Mannion moves most recently from search and media specialist agency Jaywing. She also brings experience from digital marketing agencies Indago Digital, and PHD in her native UK. 

Said Mannion: “Yango is an exciting place to work. The agency’s commitment to delivering best-in-class strategies has created a solid foundation for expanded SEO capabilities and a blended media approach. I’m excited to see what’s to come in 2024.”

Yusuf brings comes to the agency having worked as marketing lead for Twentieth Century Fox, and head of strategy at OMD for Roadshow Films.

Said Yusuf: “As a culture-first marketer, Yango is a good fit. It’s fantastic to be part of the business as it expands to address a broad spectrum of marketing touch-points.”

Murray has worked across prominent Australian publishers including Nova Entertainment, SCA and MTV, while Clark joined Yango as account manager in 2017. Previously, Clark worked at Nine Entertainment and Adconion Media Group.

See also: Brand advertising is essential for successful performance marketing, according to Yango

–

Top Image: Eb Yusuf, Natalie Clark, Natalie Murray & Hannah Mannion (L to R)

Integral Ad Science (IAS) has expanded its Made for Advertising (MFA) AI-driven solution to provide advertisers with a solution that can measure and optimise against MFA and Ad Clutter sites and drive maximum efficacy across the programmatic buying process.

MFA sites are web pages built to conduct ad arbitrage and feature low quality content (e.g. spam sites, or ad farms) created to serve ads, whereas Ad Clutter sites feature high ad density and high ad-to-content ratio, leading to lower performance.

The platform uses the technology and additional signals built into its core platform to intelligently identify MFA and Ad Clutter sites, as opposed to a static exclusion list. The AI-driven site measurement and optimisation solution will be available globally beginning in Q2 2024.

Lisa Utzschneider, CEO of IAS, said with the growth of MFA sites, global advertisers need safeguards to avoid ad arbitrage and low-performing, high-ad-density sites while optimising for media quality and performance

According to the ANA’s 2023 Programmatic Media Supply Chain Transparency Study, MFA websites counted towards 21% of study impressions and 15% of ad spend, illustrating a significant opportunity for advertisers and agencies to better understand where their impressions are delivered and to optimise away from MFA sites to reduce media waste.

IAS analysis from over 40 global agencies and brands found traffic served on sites classified as non-MFA have a +278% better conversion rate than traffic served on sites classified as MFA. Further analysis by IAS found that quality media was more cost efficient than sites classified as MFA, delivering lower cost-per-conversion by 63%.

The IAS MFA Measurement and Optimisation solution supports the ANA’s definition of MFA and has been trained against Sincera’s deep library of metadata along with Jounce Media’s widely adopted list of MFA domains. The solution leverages supply chain data and IAS-measured site characteristics including ad-to-content ratio, total number of ads, auto-refresh ads, refresh rate, traffic source, and autoplay video ads to report on MFA Ads, MFA Rate, Ad Clutter Ads, and Ad Clutter Rate.

Chris Kane, president of Jounce Media, said: “The industry should not conflate Made For Advertising supply with other forms of low quality advertising experiences. MFA publishers operate an ad arbitrage business model that has no place in the programmatic supply chain.”

“Separately, media companies that produce original content and attract organic visitors sometimes engage in aggressive monetization techniques that dilute the value of advertising. By clearly distinguishing MFA supply from ad clutter, IAS is giving media buyers the tools they need to make informed decisions about inventory quality,” Kane added.

By partnering with IAS, publishers can also garner greater insight into their own inventory with solutions for how to improve quality and drive greater engagement with advertisers. For publishers identified as MFA or Ad Clutter, they’ll also have greater visibility into their inventory quality. IAS MFA measurement promotes a healthier media ecosystem by enabling publishers to improve the quality of their properties and drive greater engagement with their advertisers.

Creative media agency Slingshot has introduced Creatalytics, a proprietary tool aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of brands’ creative investments by merging creative and analytics. This move is part of the agency‘s adoption of the Unconventional Intelligence (UI) methodology, which focusses on the interconnectedness of creative and media in today’s landscape.

The announcement follows Slingshot’s recent string of client acquisitions, including prominent brands such as Inghams, Capilano, and Krispy Kreme, which was announced last month. With the Krispy Kreme win, Slingshot will be spearheading the confectionary chain‘s major campaigns in the year ahead.

See also: 
Slingshot to lead media strategy, planning and buying for Krispy Kreme Australia
Slingshot wins Inghams’ media strategy, planning and buying account

Creatalytics aggregates data from over 75 points across marketing science, global best practices, and platform excellence to provide clients with a Creative Compatibility Score and actionable recommendations for improving creative performance within specific channels.

Simon Corbett, Slingshot’s chief innovation officer, commented on the rationale behind Creatalytics: “We love creative agencies and the work that they produce. We want to ensure that we do our part in ensuring it performs as well as it possibly can within each channel.”

He claimed that Slingshot’s UI methodology delivers a stronger return on investment by combining category insights, industry conventions, and data-driven expertise to uncover untapped opportunities.

Jane Waterhouse, Slingshot’s managing director, added: “Creatalytics comes from our desire to make our clients work more effective in the media channels where they commit most of their marketing budget. It is also driven by a deep understanding of the impact creative has as the single largest driver of salience or advertising profitability.

“Creatalytics does not tell clients what a good or bad idea is, our job is to make the most of that idea by ensuring it is fit for channel. Ultimately this gives more time to creatives to be creative and less time spent on operationalising creative.”

Jane Waterhouse, managing director, Slingshot

See also: Slingshot and onesmoothstone welcomes Jane Waterhouse and announces team restructure

The 2024 NIDA Prime Video partnership finds two scholarships for women students with intersectional backgrounds to enable them to pursue a career in the creative arts, in addition to supporting the 2024 Master of Fine Arts directing cohort. 

Master of Fine Arts directing student Nicole Puni and Master of Fine Arts writing student Krishna Patel were officially awarded the scholarships at an event at NIDA last week.

The scholarships aim to improve representation in the industry by removing barriers and providing opportunities to those who can share diverse voices, stories, and lived experiences.

At the ceremony, Sarah Christie, senior development executive at Amazon MGM Studios said: “Creative partnerships are key to our success, and investing in new voices is an important part of continuing our ambition to provide a platform for great Australian series that resonate and reach a global audience. 

“We want to make sure that we’re creating opportunities that broaden the representation of perspectives in our industry and believe the education on offer at NIDA and the support offered by these scholarships, can play a significant part in elevating the storytellers of the future.”

Nicole Puni is studying the master of fine arts, directing course and is a Samoan and Torres Strait Islander creative, born in Wellington, New Zealand and raised in Newcastle, NSW. Nicole has directed, written, and produced stories on women, people of colour, Indigenous Australians, the LGBTQIA+ and marginalised youth.

Krishna Patel is studying the master of fine arts dramatic writing and was born, raised and founded her artistic practice in Townsville, QLD. Krishna’s lived experience of being a queer Australian with trans-cultural Kenyan, Indian and British heritage has given her interest in producing stories of identity and belonging; often with an otherworldly twist. 

NIDA CEO, Liz Hughes, said: “This generous scholarship is an incredible opportunity for Nicole and Krishna and will enable a major boost for their careers in arts and entertainment while studying at NIDA.

“The support and dedication from Sarah and the team at Prime Video to broaden horizons in storytelling by supporting diverse voices is perfectly aligned to NIDA’s vision and greatly appreciated by everyone.”

Bikesales, a subsidiary of Australian automative marketplace, carsales, has launched a new digital-led campaign: ‘A lifetime of bikes.’ Crafted in partnership with Melbourne-based creative and production agency, Two Tractors, the campaign celebrates motorcyclists’ lifelong love for riding.

Rafael Constantinou, executive general manager of marketing, content and customer at carsales, highlighted the increasing popularity of motorcycles as an alternative mode of transport in Australia.

“While Aussies may think of cars getting them from A to B, motorcycles are also becoming an alternative for many,” said Constantinou. 

“Since 2019, there has been a 72% increase in the number of motorcycle buyers in Australia.”

See also: Carsales welcomes Rafael Constantinou as executive general manager

The ads follows two characters as they traverse their personal journeys as motorcycle owners, from their initial foray into riding to their present-day experiences, with bikesales being the preferred destination for both new and seasoned riders to indulge their passion for motorcycles.

The campaign’s two 15-second hero advertisements and additional shorter clips highlighting features of the bikesales platform, will be rolled out across paid digital channels including YouTube and Facebook.

See also: LiSTNR and carsales demystify car ownership with a new podcast series

Constantinou outlined the campaign’s objective to position bikesales as the premier platform for motorcycle enthusiasts, facilitating all aspects of research, purchase, and sale, “while also showing that bikesales is indeed ‘with you all the way.‘”

“We want to accelerate bikesales awareness and engagement to motorcyclists – both commuters and enthusiasts,” said Constantinou.

Rick Hargreaves, co-founder of Two Tractors, added: “We’ve had a lot of fun bringing personality and humour to this campaign and it’s been a brilliant collaboration with the bikesales team.

“The combination of actors and animated elements, mirroring the bikesales interface is such an effective way to showcase the simplicity of researching and buying a motorcycle on bikesales.com.au.”

The Kid LAROI, Sia, Troye Sivan and Dom Dolla have made the Australian Music Global Impact List on Spotify Australia.

The list, the first to consider a full year of streaming, recognises the Top 30 tracks from Australian artists with the biggest global impact on Spotify over 2023 (eligibility limited to tracks released between Jan 1 and December 31, 2023).

Sia leads the list with Gimme Love, the first single from her anticipated 10th album, Reasonable Woman, set for release this year. In second place is Thundercat and Tame Impala with No More Lies.

The Kid LAROI, 20, not only takes the third spot with I Can’t Go Back To The Way It Was (Intro) but has emerged as Australia’s dominant music export of 2023 with five entries on the list.

Two more of his hits – I GUESS IT’S LOVE? at #5 and collab with US rapper Lil Tjay 2 Grown at #9 – have made the streaming platform’s Top 10 list.

Singer-songwriter Clinton Kane makes the list’s Top 10 while Troye Sivan scored three placings, the highest being One Of Your Girls at #6, followed by Rush in the 10th spot.

GRAMMY nominated producer Dom Dolla also nabbed three spots after a breakout 2023, taking #16 with Saving Up and Rhyme Dust with MK in #18. 

Other Australian artists who had staying power internationally across 2023 were Luude, Ruel, Lithe, Go-Jo and Spacey Jane.

Alicia Sbrugnera, head of music at Spotify Australia, said the 2023 Spotify Australian Music Global Impact List provides a snapshot of local artists are having an impact on the global stage with a mix of established and emerging artists.

“We’re proud to be playing our part in helping Australia on its journey to becoming a significant exporter of music, as well as helping prove that making it big in international markets is a legitimate path to career growth and success for local artists.”

–

Top image: The Kid LAROI, Sia, Troye Sivan and Dom Dolla

TV Report March 5, 2024:

Nine TV Report

Married at First Sight

Nine’s evening began with the Couples Retreat at Byron Bay continuing on Married at First Sight. 

In the aftermath of Boys and Girls Night, the reveal of Jack’s inappropriate behaviour towards Sara sends shockwaves through the group.

Sara informs Tim of his friend’s actions only to be concerned by his subdued reaction. Worried that Tim might never become the assertive and supportive man she needs, Sara issues an ultimatum: confront Jack or risk losing her forever. Tim continues to struggle between honouring his wife’s wishes and facing a confrontation with Jack that he’s unsure he can handle. 

Eden was also grappling with a dilemma – she’s holding a bombshell secret that threatens to devastate one couple and create havoc in the experiment. Wrestling with guilt and anxiety, Eden faces a daunting decision: reveal the truth and risk losing her friends in the group or maintain silence and jeopardise her relationship with Jayden.

Timothy’s newfound vulnerability and openness with his wife has ushered in a new dawn for their relationship and they begin to find the closeness she has longed for. 

Tensions escalated and the final night drinks became a battleground as the drama surrounding Jack erupted. For the first time in the experiment, Tori’s trust in Jack wavers as she is faced with the reality of her husband’s actions.

As the group prepares to leave Byron Bay, the web of lies and deceit woven by one participant is on the brink of unravelling.

A Current Affair

Over on A Current Affair, a kind-hearted Sydney cafe run by people living with disability is facing final months of operation due to its pay-it-forward style and met with a woman sacked after a TV interview as NDIS minister admits the system is not safe enough.

Seven TV Report

Australian Idol

Over on Seven, Tyler and TJ were eliminated from the competition after the nation locked in their top 8 artists.

The Top 10 came out of the gates with an electric group performance of Silverchair’s Straight Lines, before taking to the stage to hear who was safe and who would sing again for their spot in the competition.

Across the country, more than 2.1 million votes were placed, with TJ, 24, from Karratha; Tyler, 21, from the Sunshine Coast; Ivana, 20, from Victoria; and Kiani, 17, from Bribie Island landing in the bottom four. 

On leaving the competition, TJ said: “Thank you so much to the judges who have helped craft me into an artist who is ready to take on the world. Everything you have done has meant so much to me. I feel like I walked through this door for people to be inspired. I want to leave it open for people to come through.”

A grateful Tyler shared: “Thank you for betting on me as an artist and the amazing feedback. This isn’t the end. This has helped me exponentially with my career and what I love to do.”

Home & Away

Before Australian Idol was Home & Away as Remi came clean to Bree. Tane was dragged in the Coastal News and Roo found a clue, or was it a red herring? 

10 TV Report

The Project

The Project on 10 reported on Sam Kerr’s charge over an alleged racial harassment incident. The team also had on the show Tom Cashman and Crowded House. 

Australian Survivor

On 10’s Australian Survivor, betrayals on both sides of the tribe see Alex with the OG Titans while Kitty is now on the bottom. After sporadic gameplay from Raymond, will his alliance trust him enough to help him pull off his risky advantage and cast the ultimate vote?

At Tribal Council, Ray reveals he wants to be voted out tonight. But during the conversations, Kirby hands her Immunity necklace to Rianna. When JLP calls this out, Feras and Raymond are concerned there is another plan going on.

Caroline leads the voting by writing Raymond’s name down and out loud saying how much she loves and will miss him. The rest of the tribe seems to follow suit, while Ray feigns despondency. When JLP asks if anyone has a hidden Immunity Idol they’d like to play, Ray turns to the rest of the tribe and explains his advantage.

As the votes are read out, it becomes obvious Raymond has pulled off his plan, and Valeria is voted out.

ABC

7:30

On 7:30, the program met with parents who felt let down by the childcare system, investigated questions over the AUKUS deal and met with a family devastated by drownings who are pleading for clearer signs. 

Back Roads

Back Roads saw Rae Johnston discovering a remote and tiny community that punches above its weight on the international stage, in music, art, science, politics and culture. 

SBS

Who Do You Think You Are? Aus

Last night’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? Aus welcomed veteran actor and musician, John Waters, who was born in the UK and came to Australia at the age of 19. John returned to his homeland to investigate his paternal Scottish working-class roots.

Insight

Insight looked into Australia’s plummeting birth rate as host Kumi Taguchi spoke to singles, couples and fertility and population experts to find out what’s behind the baby drought, and what society will look like in forty years as a result. 

See also: TV Report March 4, 2024: Couples are put to the test as MAFS goes to Byron Bay