Business of Media
Wavemaker appoints Zeb Allan as Melbourne investment director
Wavemaker Australia has appointed Zeb Allan to the role of Melbourne investment director, charged with executing the agency’s trading and investment strategy in the Melbourne office.
Allan will report to Wavemaker Australian national head of investment Philippa Noilea-Tani.
He joins Wavemaker from GroupM sister agency MediaCom Melbourne where he was marketplace director of operations. He previously spent time at Mindshare and UM.
An experienced team leader, Allan is a big believer in the power of mentoring, having been an active mentor in previous roles, including providing one-on-one training and ongoing support to younger team members.
Noilea-Tani said: “Zeb has excellent technical investment skills and strong media vendor relationships in the Melbourne market. He’s also dedicated to leading teams that are highly aligned and providing mentoring and support to his colleagues. For all of these reasons and more, he will be a valuable leader who will help us continue to futureproof Wavemaker’s innovative investment approach. I am excited to welcome him to the team in this important role.”
Allan added: “The team at Wavemaker is passionate and focused on finding innovative ways to best optimise our clients’ media investments and I’m delighted to be part of that. I can’t wait to get started.”
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Photo: Zeb Allan with Philippa Noilea-Tani and Nathan Cook
Zenith appoints Kim Xavier as national head of insights
Zenith CEO, Nickie Scriven, has announced the appointment of Kim Xavier (pictured) to the role of national head of insights.
Earlier this year Xavier returned to Australia after a three-year stint in the US working as a senior director of shopper insights for Southeastern Grocers, the parent company of retail chains BI-LO, Winn-Dixie, Fresco y Más and Harveys Supermarket.
In other key roles, Xavier was previously head of shopper insights for Coles Supermarkets, Coles Express and Coles Liquor; prior to that working in a similar role at Cadbury. She was also a customer experience consultant at Melbourne-based market research firm, The Evolved Group.
On the appointment, Scriven said: “Kim is a highly experienced insights professional focussed on providing a holistic view of the customer and will play a pivotal role in informing strategic business decisions and unlocking key growth opportunities for our clients.
“We’re very fortunate to have someone of Kim’s calibre join our national leadership team, and we look forward to introducing her to clients and our other key partners.”
Xavier added: “I’m excited to join Zenith at a time of great change and opportunity in the media and marketing landscape. My role will be to provide strategic counsel to our clients’ business challenges, and to deliver actionable recommendations.”
The appointment is effective immediately, with Xavier based in Zenith’s Melbourne office.
Xavier’s appointment follows the departure of Tim Beveridge who was Zenith’s chief strategy, data & insights officer for four and a half years. “I would like to thank Tim for his enormous contribution, hard work and loyalty to Zenith, and wish him and his family all the best for the future,” Scriven said.
News Brands
A Current Affair: Fiery clash after Pauline Hanson invited to Uluru
Senator Pauline Hanson says her intervention in the debate over climbing Uluru is about helping Indigenous Australians – but not everybody is convinced, reports 9News.com.au.
The One Nation leader travelled out to Kata-Tjuta National Park in the Northern Territory with A Current Affair.
“I’ve come here to listen to the traditional owners,” she said.
Senator Hanson was invited to visit Uluru by Jimpanna Yulara, a senior member of the Anangu Mayatja Council of Elders, and met with senior owners Cassidy and Reggie Uluru to get their blessing to climb the iconic landmark.
Officially, there’s nothing preventing Senator Hanson or anybody else from climbing Uluru until October 26, when the closure will take effect.
“I think it’s special. It is special to be here,” Senator Hanson said.
A Current Affair issued this statement:
Pauline Hanson had recently expressed a desire to attempt to climb Uluru after the announcement that local landowners would be enforcing their desire to prohibit people climbing the magnificent natural landmark. Ms Hanson invited A Current Affair, along with local landowners on that journey. It is our view that by filming it for our audience, all Australians can gain an insight into this important and significant debate.
The ACA team followed due diligence to ensure all permits were granted and the climb was approved, and engaged local elders who agreed to meet with Hanson. As viewers will have seen on tonight’s show, Hanson gained new insights and appreciation for Uluru through the filming of the story.
[ACA host Tracy Grimshaw also added at the conclusion of the Martin King report that Nine didn’t pay Hanson for the story, although it contributed to her travel costs.]
Publishing
Universal’s WellBeing launching category called Mindful Media
Universal Media Co’s WellBeing is launching a new division and two new publications: Wild for Millennials and Being for Centennials, reports the Sydney based publishing company:
Each brand will publish multi-platform, but in this age of high-frequency messaging, it is the print magazine that will deliver the most prized and attentive audience. “Wild and Being are publications for the times, providing their audiences valuable in-mind time,” said publisher Janice Williams. “We were looking at how communication styles have changed and we realised that generational distinctions provided an opportunity to communicate with real relevance and attentiveness.” Wild and Being were born.
Wild is the creation of Kate Duncan – herself a bit of a wild lifer who recently left the city to build a creative future surfing and producing Wild from her Byron Bay home.
Being has been created by Ally McManus, who writes and runs a yoga teaching practice on Victoria’s Great Ocean Road.
Both publications provide their audiences with a rich and valuable experience of in-mind time. “When we talk to these mostly digitally-native generations, it is clear they value calm, creative, thoughtful stories from sources that are credible and relatable,” said Williams. “Their visual sensibilities are also extremely sophisticated. So while digital communications are very much a part of the picture, the print format gives us the calm, slow, reading experience that we want, with a visual packaging that is quite playful and retro-cool.”
WellBeing, Wild and Being are Mindful Media. “The experience that you get with Mindful Media is derived in part from what you see on the page, and partly from what your own mind brings to the experience,” said Williams. “We wish to create beautiful reading experiences that are relaxing, thoughtful and inspiring.”
The first print editions of the new magazines will be published later in 2019.
Magazine photo mix-up suggests we’re not as ‘woke’ as we think
This week’s edition of celebrity magazine Who included an interview with Adut Akech (who was one of Princess Meghan‘s “Forces for change” on the cover of a recent edition of British Vogue), in which the South-Sudanese model, whose family now lives in Adelaide, spoke of “how people view refugees and peoples attitude to colour in general”.
But the largest photo across the two-page spread was not of Akech but another model, Flavia Lazarus, who appears in the Melbourne Fashion Week campaign, reports The Age’s Melissa Singer.
On Sunday night, three days after the magazine hit the stands, Akech published an emotional post on Instagram in which she expressed how hurt she was by the error.
Errors do happen but this one is inexcusable. The public relations agency at the centre of the blunder has apologised for the “administrative error”, in which the wrong folder of images was sent to the magazine, while it is understood Who has spoken to Akech personally.
Adut Akech wrote on Instagram:
For those who are not aware, last week @whomagazine (Australia) published a feature article about me. In the interview I spoke about how people view refugees and peoples attitude to colour in general. With the article they published a large photo saying it was me. But it was of another black girl.
I feel as though this would’ve not happened to a white model. My aim for this post is not to bash Who Magazine -they have apologised to me directly – but I feel like I need to express publicly how I feel. This has deeply affected me and we need to start an important conversation that needs to happen. I’m sure that I’m not the first person that’s experienced this and it needs to stop.
[Read the Instagram post here]
Television
Australian Survivor spin-off The Jury Villa returns to 10 Play
The Jury Villa, 10 Play’s exclusive Australian Survivor companion show, has returned this season. The digital-only show follows the journey of the final Survivor tribe mates after they get eliminated and are reintroduced back into civilisation, sequestered as jury members.
Australian Survivor’s executive producer Cathie Scott said: “This season of Australian Survivor has taken the format to a whole new level! We’re witnessing more intense and strategic gameplay, exceptional production values and heightened audience engagement. With records being broken across all 10 platforms, fans are loving the show.
“The Jury Villa is a great way for us to extend the Survivor storyline beyond the initial broadcast and onto our digital platform, 10 Play. It was one of the highest rated digital companion shows on 10 Play last year – particularly with our under 50s audience. I’m sure it will continue to entice and excite the Survivor fans this season.
“Like Australian Survivor, this season of The Jury Villa is set to be a must-watch. We’ve really upped the ante on the production of the show and, based on the gameplay this season, audiences can expect some pretty interesting interactions at the Villa as the castaways are voted out of the main game!”
Network 10 reports Australian Survivor is currently averaging a 7-day national audience of 867,000, up seven per cent on last season – the highest total audience of all seasons on 10. This includes a BVOD average of 78,000, up 32 per cent year on year.
Network 10’s general manager, digital Liz Baldwin said: “Digital extension shows on 10 Play are a fantastic way to engage fans by giving them exclusive behind the scenes insight. The Jury Villa continues our strategy to produce exclusive show-adjacent content across 10’s ecosystem and I’m so pleased we were able to bring it back this year.”
Each episode of The Jury Villa is released on 10 Play immediately after Australian Survivor airs in each market.
The first two jury members on the series this year are Shaun and David.
Sports Media
Legends step up for Seven’s Friday night EJ Whitten Game
Seven has revealed star-studded line-up of former AFL greats will take to AAMI Park on Friday for the EJ Whitten Legends Game on Friday Night Football from Adelaide this week.
Wayne Carey will take the coaching reins for the All Stars with Sabrina Frederick in his corner as assistant coach, and Bernie Vince running messages.
Coaching Victoria is Dermott Brereton with Daisy Pearce assistant coaching and Sharni Layton on running duties.
A collection of AFL stars will return to the field including Cameron Ling, Brendan Fevola and Anthony Koutoufides for the ‘Big V’ and Matthew Richardson, Gavin Wanganeen and Mark Ricciuto for the All Stars, as they raise funds for the EJ Whitten Foundation supporting men’s health awareness.
Brian Taylor and James Brayshaw will lead the call for Seven, with expert commentary from Tim Watson, and ‘Dipper’ and Gilbert McAdam on the boundary.
Armchair Experts with Brownlow medalist Adam Cooney and AFL Superfan Cameron Luke will follow the match with their unique take on proceedings.
TV Broadcast times:
EJ Whitten Legends match – Victoria v All Stars (AAMI Park), Friday August 30
• Melbourne 7.30pm Live on Channel 7
• Adelaide 7.00pm Live on Channel 7
• Perth 5.30pm Live on 7mate
• Sydney 7.30pm Live on 7mate
• Brisbane 7.30pm Live on 7mate