ADMA’s Global Forum is set to open its doors on Thursday, August 24 at Doltone House, Jones Bay Wharf, Sydney.
The program features keynotes, panel discussions, workshops, and networking opportunities, all designed to empower professionals with practical strategies and forward-thinking ideas.
Joining the 2023 lineup is Melissa Hopkins, chief marketing and audience officer at Channel Seven, who spoke to Mediaweek about her appearance at the conference and what the Women’s World Cup means for Seven.
“I’m very honoured and lucky that I sit on the board of advisors of ADMA, and have done for a good couple of years,” Hopkins says, speaking about how she ended up on the 2023 lineup.
“I’m super passionate about industry bodies that I believe are all around education, and setting ourselves up for the future – and ADMA absolutely does that in a really brilliant way.”
It’s not just education that Hopkins says ADMA excels at, also pointing to the organisation’s work at keeping up with the rapid evolution of data in the industry.
“I never thought when I started, dare I say nearly 30 years ago, that I’d be talking about first-party datasets, privacy, spam acts, and regulation. The world of data moves at such a fast pace, so I think it’s really brilliant that they champion that. I’m honoured to be part of that team.”
Taking to the stage at ADMA’s Global Forum, Hopkins will be presenting Marketing Lessons From A Data Breach. Previously chief marketing officer at Optus before joining Seven, the session will give the audience a behind-the-scenes look into how the 2022 data breach at Optus transformed the role of a CMO.
“The data breach is something that I lived through whilst I was at Optus, and I was one of the first marketers in Australia to deal with such a massive breach,” says Hopkins.
“It was a period of immense learning in the field of marketing in regards to the role you play within that, the role of your brands, and the role of communicating to customers. I feel it is important to share those learnings so people can be better prepared moving forward, and appreciate that even if you’ve got quite sophisticated programs in place around privacy or cyber or data management, you can’t always see what’s going to happen in the future.
“I think it’s very easy in the marketing industry to talk about great successes and applaud people, but the reality is, is that the best learning often comes from the most challenging situations. I’m looking forward to sharing that with the audience.”
2023 Women’s World Cup
As Mediaweek caught up with Hopkins, the world was basking in the glory of Spain taking home the title of Women’s World Cup champions for 2023.
With the entire country getting behind the Matildas, Seven has left the tournament with the most watched broadcast of the modern era, with Australia v England scoring 4,495,000 metro overnight viewers.
“We were blown away. The numbers are absolutely unbelievable – we managed to reach over 18 million Australians through the entire tournament,” says Hopkins.
“We’re super proud of the fact that we were able to partner with Optus and really demonstrate that Australians got behind this as a sport, regardless of gender. It was called as a sport, and Australians got behind it and watched it as a sport.”
For Hopkins, the success story will continue even after the World Cup confetti has been swept up.
“The other really interesting and exciting thing aside from the Women’s World Cup is the numbers we’re experiencing at the moment in reach, full stop. The Voice is absolutely through the roof in reach and audience, the news just keeps continuing to grow. I think that that’s important and exciting for the industry, that if you have the right content, people will gather and connect.”
As for what comes next, Hopkins says there are three major focuses for her and the team in the next 12 months or so. The first one, she says, is redefining in the industry what Australians watch.
“I believe there’s a little bit of a myth out there that the minutes watched on television and BVOD keep shrinking. Whilst that may be the case when you look at all of the new entrants and players into the marketplace, the fact of the matter is more Australians are watching more long-form content than ever, and Seven is batting way above what many people expect it should be for reach.
“The second thing is just how we really focus on enhancing and building the Seven brand as a brand that represents something in Australians’ lives – as a brand that is considered in conversation with the likes of Woolworths or Bunnings. That’s a big challenge, but I’m excited about it.
“Finally, we’re in this amazing space of transformation and a new digital world in the way that consumers are choosing to snack their content – be that broadcast or on 7Plus – and the opportunity to really shake up the status quo in the market is super exciting.”
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Top Image: Melissa Hopkins