AANA RESET, held at the Australian Turf Club in Randwick on Friday, was a resounding success as attendees enjoyed interesting and thought-provoking talks from industry leaders.
The Who’s Who in Australian marketing attended the event, from leading CMOs, senior brand teams, agency CEOs and over 180 brands.
Some of the companies present for AANA RESET included Nestlé, Woolworths, Coles, Telstra, News Corp Australia, Nine, Westpac, OMD, Google, Twitch, Meta, ANZ etc.
The 2023 theme is Being Better, with a focus on challenging, provoking and re-energising chief marketing officers, business leaders, industry peers.
The day began with a warm and educational Welcome to Country led by Aunty Lola Ryan.
AANA CEO Josh Faulks followed with a rousing opening address to start the day. He encouraged marketers not to underestimate the industry’s power in difficult times and to be a force for positive change.
“This is when we step up, this is when we thrive,” Faulks said.
Bernard Salt
Bernard Salt AM, executive director of The Demographics Group, gave a fascinating talk about the customer of the future, whom he described as savvier, flexier (a word he coined) and even more lifestyle obsessed.
“I think that we have just gone through a major global and certainly national event and that it has shifted the way of thinking of middle Australia, the customers of Australia. There’s been a generational and attitudinal change,” he said of the impact of the pandemic.
Ukonwa Ojo, former CMO of Amazon Prime Video with a plethora of accolades and awards to her name, followed up with an inspiring talk titled “Only the brave. Only the humble.”
Ojo spoke about her work as the founder and CEO of Zaia Ventures, an organisation committed to building and scaling businesses that serve underrepresented and marginalised communities. She also discussed her work with Amazon, Prime Video, Mac Cosmetics, Durex and Unilever.
Ukonwa Ojo
Emma Logan, AANA’s director of member engagement & events, was on stage next to share her thank you to the event’s partners and sponsors.
After a mid-morning break, Nick Cody entertained audiences with a comedy set before the session took a serious change of tone with Shelley Reys AO, CEO of Arilla Indigenous Consulting.
Nick Cody
Shelley Reys
Reys enlightened audiences as she spoke about Australia’s journey to becoming a reconciled nation. She also clarified what having a Voice in Parliament means and dispelled common myths about the representative advisory body.
Following Reys’ eye-opening talk was Andrew Therkelsen, managing director of The Lab, on the topic of business as a force for good. He explored the rise of consumers wanting brands to offer things for good and how marketers can better market this message.
Andrew Therkelsen
Rio Ferdinand with Peter Stefanovic
Closing the mid-morning session was the highly anticipated Rio Ferdinand, who spoke to Sky News anchor Peter Stefanovic about his esteemed football career, learnings as an entrepreneur and his latest work with WeAre8.
Following a delicious lunch, Martin Brown, chair of AANA and GM of coffee & dairy at Nestle Oceania, gave the chairman’s remarks and shared how businesses can be a powerful force for good, particularly in sustainability.
Brown introduced Sandra Martinez, CEO of Nestle Oceania, who delved deeper into the company’s work in sustainability, communities and commitment to reaching Net Zero in 2050. She also introduced Nestle’s three Cs to tackling climate change – commitment, collaboration and courage.
Martin Brown
Sandra Martinez
Anders Sorman-Nilsson, futurist and founder of the think tank Thinque, rounded out a humorous and compelling discussion about how AI, human creativity and digital nutrition win the digital minds and analogue hearts of tomorrow’s Conscious Consumers.
Looking back on the AANA RESET, Faulks was proud of the day and told Mediaweek while it was difficult for him to pick out one highlight from an incredible day, there were a few key themes that stuck out to him.
“Bravery and humility were a common thread through so many of the presentations at RESET.
“Bravery to think big – think Ukonwa with her challenge to set Big Hairy Audacious Goals – and humility to recognise that the industry is changing so quickly, and we don’t have all the answers, so we need to be open to change and open to new technologies,” he said.
Anders Sorman-Nilsson
Josh Faulks
Faulks said that Ukonwa’s talk was something he hoped resonated with all the marketers in the room. “It is definitely something we will be implementing at AANA,” he added.
In addition, Faulks also pointed out the insight about the need to not fear new technologies such as AI.
“We need to embrace and use them to our advantage to free up time for us to do the higher thinking – original and creative thought.
“Finally, the power of creativity and the need to create an emotional connection with consumers were also the standouts for me,” Faulks added.