Australian Idol has wrapped its 2025 run with a record-breaking season, cementing the show as one of Seven’s standout entertainment properties.

With 1.85 million Australians tuning in across Seven and 7plus for Monday night’s grand final showdown, the broadcast delivered Idol’s biggest-ever audience on the network and signalled a major moment in the evolution of the heritage format.

The finale episode, which crowned Marshall Hamburger as this year’s winner, pulled an average national total TV audience of 1.07 million, up 13% on last year’s finale.

Part one of the Grand Finale the night before also averaged 1.07 million viewers and reached 2.22 million nationally. Across the full season, Australian Idol reached a total of 11.14 million people, with every episode delivering year-on-year growth.

The season’s average audience hit 925,000, a 14% increase on 2024, while 7plus streaming surged 42%.

A format that plays like live sport

Seven’s director of content, unscripted, Majella Hay, told Mediaweek she attributes the show’s success to its live format and the team’s deep understanding of audience behaviour.

“We always said that with a brand like Idol, we wanted year-on-year growth, and to achieve double-digit growth is incredible,” Hay said. “In 2023, we only had one episode that cracked 800k. This season, we had seven episodes over a million. That’s bloody brilliant for all of us, especially in the toughest slot on free-to-air.”

Hay believes Idol’s live component is a win for both audiences and agencies, as it offers a rare opportunity in modern reality formats.

“It’s one of the only free-to-air shows that still has that live week-on-week element. It lets the audience feel ownership, they choose who stays and who wins. There are parallels with sport because you support your contestant like you’d support a sports team. Even if they stumble, you stay with them,” she said.

Creative flexibility meets commercial agility

This season’s format tweaks gave the show freshness without compromising familiarity. “It’s about shaking it up just enough that it feels new, but not so much that people don’t recognise what they love,” Hay said.

One key innovation was the refined ‘Golden Ticket’ process.

“We did Golden Tickets and capped them at 30,” Hay explained. “That was a world first that had never been done anywhere on Idol around the world. In fact, in many other territories put 150 or 250 through to that next stage.”

Hay highlighted the strategic thinking behind this, acknowledging the differences in scale compared to other territories. “Sometimes, in some of the bigger formats, like in some of the bigger territories, like the UK and the US, because they cover such a vast expanse of people, if you told them you only had 30 tickets, that would be really difficult for them.”

The judges’ dynamic also contributed significantly to the season’s success, with Hay crediting Marcia Hines, Amy Shark, and Kyle Sandilands for “really hitting their stride” this year.

“We could say to Marcia that if she’s on a regional road trip and someone blows her away, she can ‘go rogue’ if she likes,” Hay said, comparing the situation to dealing with kids: “You give them the boundaries, and you let them push it a little bit, you know, because you know what’s going to come out of it is fantastic”.

Looking to the future

Despite the strong performance, Hay remains grounded and focused on continued success. “I’m not going to interrupt anything that’s not broken or change anything for a specific reason. We know that 7Plus is important, linear is important, and live streaming is important. But I don’t want to start over-analysing these numbers so much that I lose sight of what we do well because that is also what you can kind of do,” she said.

She added that “knowing when to pull back is as important as knowing when to lean forward. So, I’m not proposing any changes at the moment that are based explicitly on a platform or specifically based on our outcome. I want to make another bloody great series that again delivers year-on-year growth.”

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ARN has unveiled a major restructure of its commercial team, appointing five senior leaders to new state-based director of sales – Total Audio roles, as it looks to accelerate growth across its audio portfolio.

The new appointments in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth are effective immediately and reflect ARN’s push to simplify access to its expansive offering, from broadcast and streaming to podcasting and digital, through a single point of contact in each state.

Each Director of Sales – Total Audio will oversee metro, regional and digital revenues in their respective markets, working closely with the newly formed Integrate by ARN division and the global iHeart team to deliver creative, data-driven campaigns.

The five new sales directors are all internal promotions, signalling the bench strength within ARN’s commercial ranks.

• Ashlea Reece steps into the Sydney role after 15 years with ARN, most recently as Sydney Sales Director – Agency. She is known for her deep market knowledge and innovative client solutions.

• Nick Flood takes on the Melbourne role, bringing over 20 years of experience across Australia and New Zealand. He previously served as National Sales Director – Independent Agencies and Direct Advertisers.

• Emily Buckby becomes Brisbane Director of Sales – Total Audio, after nine years at ARN and past roles with Nova, TEN and oOh!media.

• Sonia Russo, a 16-year ARN veteran, will lead the Adelaide team. She previously held senior positions at Clemenger BBDO and Starcom MediaVest.

• Aaron Bryant will head up Perth, leveraging his experience at Nova, JCDecaux and Initiative, as well as six years at ARN.

The restructure follows the recent promotion of Richard Hunwick to director of sales – Total Audio, to whom all state-based leaders will report.

Michael Stephenson, chief operating officer of ARN, said the move was designed to make it easier for partners to tap into ARN’s scale, talent and data assets.

“The Total Audio commercial structure creates a single point of contact for every partner in every market to leverage the size, scale and power of ARN’s leading audio platform,” said Stephenson.

“The fact that we have been able to promote Ash, Nick, Emily, Sonia and Aaron is testament to the breadth and depth of talent we have within our business. We have the biggest stars, the best brands, the largest platforms and we now have a commercial structure that will allow us to unlock these assets for our advertising partners.”

The announcement continues ARN’s broader strategy to cement its position as Australia’s leading Total Audio network, powered by its live broadcast brands, streaming services, and partnerships with global podcasting giant iHeart.

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Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) and WPP welcomed senior marketers to the holding company’s Sydney Campus for the latest Marketing Masterclass, in partnership with global marketing effectiveness consultancy Gain Theory.

From Data to Decisions: Driving Profitable Growth with Marketing Effectiveness’ explored how CMOs can elevate marketing’s strategic role by embedding a culture of data-driven decision-making, aligning business KPIs with marketing metrics, and using foresight to plan proactively in an increasingly volatile market.

One of the core themes of the morning was the need for marketers to speak the language of the C-suite, with practical recommendations for aligning measurement programs to business priorities.

Attendees heard how moving from reporting to strategic planning can transform marketing into a growth engine, and how techniques like scenario planning and war-gaming can help teams better prepare for future disruptions.

The session also addressed the importance of building organisational trust in marketing data and fostering a culture where marketing is empowered to lead.

The AANA event opened with a fireside chat between Arvind Sethumadhavan, senior partner at Gain Theory, and Jyane Quek, global head of planning and effectiveness, corporate affairs, brand and marketing at Standard Chartered Bank, who highlighted the growing gap between marketing teams and senior leadership when it comes to evaluating effectiveness. 

AANA CMO panel

Justin Nel, directory of Australia of Gain Theory, then lead a panel discussion Tamara Howe, CMO, SunRice,  Susan Coghill, CMO, Tourism Australia and Naomi Gorringe, head of marketing, Southern Cross Austereo (SCA).

The panel explored the role of foresight and advanced analytics in future-proofing marketing strategies, with each leader sharing examples of how their teams are using data to navigate change and drive confident decision-making.

Coghill told marketers to not let imperfect data stop them. “Define your challenges, figure out what success looks like, build a simple measurement framework, and then learn as you go and evolve it and get better, apply those learnings.

“We don’t own our customer journey, we rely on those partnerships to drive that conversion at the end. What matters is how we use the information that we have to make better decisions, how we interpret it, how we apply the data, even if it isn’t your own.

“I would say don’t wait for the perfect data, it’s like waiting for the perfect time to go on holiday. You will never get that tan, you’ll miss your flight, don’t wait, get started now.”

Howe said: “We’re passionate about evidence-based decision making. While Marketing should always be a balance of art and science, it’s helpful to take the subjectivity out where you can, so you can then focus your energy on the right areas, and with a true north of being consumer led.”

Gorringe said: “The level of data-literacy across an organisation is often greatly varied, therefore starting with an understanding of where teams and individuals are at, establishing the context and goals for each team, and meeting people where they are, will help short-cut the education phase. By speaking each team’s language, we can show how making decisions based on data will help them reach their goals. This makes change feel relevant, seamless and achievable.”

Nel added: “Marketing effectiveness should be a strategic imperative not an afterthought. To do this well you need to think holistically, starting with a clear understanding of the role that marketing plays in achieving the goals of the business.

“Then you need to use advanced measurement and foresight techniques to transform data into actionable insights that drive growth.”

Rounding out the morning, Josh Faulks, AANA CEO, said: “There’s no growth without proof. Today’s masterclass was about giving marketers the frameworks, confidence and language to champion effectiveness inside their organisations and lead business growth from the inside out.”

Top image: AANA Masterclass attendees

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Canva has launched the Visual Suite 2.0, the graphic design platform’s biggest product launch since founding in 2012 which reimagines how teams create, communicate, and collaborate in the AI-powered era.

The new products, unveiled at Canva’s fourth Canva Create event at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, are designed to bridge the gap between creativity and productivity and brings in a new chapter of AI-powered design, seamless content creation, and powerful personalisation.

Visual Suite 2.0 aims to empower Canva’s rapidly growing community of more than 230 million monthly active users to design like never before. From powerful visual spreadsheets to advanced data visualisation, conversational design, personalised content at scale, and revolutionary new ways to create interactive experiences.

The announcement cements the graphic design platform’s role as the category leader in visual communication – powering everything from everyday content creation to complex workflows for teams around the world.

“We’re thrilled to unveil the Visual Suite 2.0 where creativity meets productivity, the biggest product launch since Canva was founded more than a decade ago,” Melanie Perkins, Canva’s co-founder and CEO.

“Each year, our community of 230 million people shares millions of ideas, and one we hear time and again is the desire to bring creativity and productivity into a single, seamless flow.

“From reimagined workplace essentials to entirely new ways to create with your own design partner, we’re excited to continue making it easier than ever for anyone to bring their ideas to life.”

How Canva is powering the world’s visual communication

Canva’s rapid global growth continues to accelerate, with more than 145 million users joining the platform since the launch of Canva’s Visual Suite in 2022. Today, more than 420 designs are created every second, with a total of 34 billion designs created since Canva’s launch in 2013.

The Visual Suite has become ubiquitous with individuals, teams, and enterprises alike – used in more than 190 countries and by more than 95% of the Fortune 500, including household names like T-Mobile, Salesforce, and FedEx.

The growing global adoption across the world’s most influential companies hashelped propel Canva to achieve more than US$3 billion in annualised revenue, marking an increase of more than 30% over the last year.

At Canva Create, companies like Docusign showcased how they use Canva to create engaging, on-brand content at scale. Docusign used Canva to scale their global rebrand, rebranding thousands of assets and saving 500+ hours of creative team time.

Introducing Visual Suite 2.0 – Powerful New Ways to Create

Canva’s Visual Suite 2.0 unlocks an entirely new level of creativity and productivity. From bold new ways to design, to transformative upgrades of Canva’s most-loved tools, today’s announcement redefines what’s possible, bringing the worlds of content, data, and design into one seamless experience. Whether you’re building entire campaigns, visualising complex data, or scaling on-brand content in seconds, these launches are set to redefine the future of work, creativity, and collaboration.

Visual Suite in One Design – a world-first breakthrough that redefines how teams create: for the first time, everything from documents and presentations to websites can be built in a single design, in one unified format.

This eliminates the need for separate tools, fragmented workflows, and disconnected files. Entire campaigns – from planning and briefing to design and delivery – can now happen in one seamless, collaborative space.

Canva Sheets – spreadsheets reimagined to be visual, powerful, and connected to everything you do: for decades, spreadsheets have been complex, rigid, and difficult to customise – Canva research found almost 70% of professionals who work with data weekly feel anxious about it. Canva Sheets introduces a fully visual, intelligent, and powerful experience that seamlessly integrates data, text, and visual assets.

Built on top of Canva’s Magic Studio, Canva Sheets simplifies data-driven work with features like Magic Insights, which scans datasets to highlight key patterns and takeaways, and Data Connectors, which import data from HubSpot, Statista, Google Analytics and more – making it easier than ever to bring data to life.

Magic Studio at Scale – personalised, on-brand content at unprecedented speed and scale: as demand for content surges across formats, teams, and channels, Magic Studio at Scale transforms spreadsheets into powerful content engines. Built into Canva Sheets, it empowers teams to create vast amounts of content in seconds.

From multi-market marketing campaigns to sales outreach and internal communications, templates can be instantly populated with dynamic data inputs, eliminating manual effort, speeding up production, and ensuring consistency at every touchpoint.

Magic Charts – instantly transform complex data into powerful, interactive visual stories: data has long been complex, static, and inaccessible to anyone outside of specialised teams. Magic Charts changes that, making it easy for anyone to convert raw numbers into dynamic, on-brand visuals in seconds.

From scrollable reports and animated visualisations to stunning infographics, this powerful AI tool bridges the gap between data and design, empowering every team to communicate insights clearly and creatively.

Canva AI – design at the speed of conversation: the blank page used to hold teams back. Now, a simple prompt moves creativity forward. Canva AI is a voice-enabled, conversational creative partner that brings all of Canva’s generative AI tools into one seamless workflow, helping anyone go from idea to execution in seconds.

From generating text, slides and images to editing photos and resising designs, it all happens with just a prompt or your voice.

Canva Code – the power of code, without the complexity: designing interactive content has often required technical tools or complex workarounds. Canva Code removes those barriers, making it easy for anyone to bring interactivity into their designs using just a simple prompt.

From calculators to forms and flashcards, Canva Code transforms static content into dynamic, engaging experiences, all within Canva, with no coding or external tools required. Whether for landing pages, classroom resources, or presentations, interactive designs are now just a few words away.

Canva Photo Editor – professional grade, AI-powered edits made easy: bringing studio quality images to life is now as easy as customising a Canva template.

Now part of Visual Suite, Canva Photo Editor has evolved into a more powerful tool designed for efficiency and ease whether working in a design or as a quick edit and export.

Transformational features include AI-powered point and click editing to modify select elements with precision, AI- generated backgrounds that account for lighting and layout and effortless object removal or replacement.

Responsible by Design

All of Canva’s AI tools, including Canva AI and Magic Studio, are backed by Canva Shield, the company’s rigorous approach to AI trust and safety. This includes input and output moderation, safety filters, bias mitigation, and clear user controls over how data is used in AI training.

Canva sees AI as a tool to amplify, not replace, human creativity, and is committed to building AI responsibly and transparently. Through its industry-leading $200 million Creator Fund, Canva has paid out millions in AI royalties, ensuring creators are fairly rewarded whenever their assets are used in AI-generated designs.

Creators receive ongoing payments when their content powers published AI outputs and remain eligible for monthly royalties when they opt in to AI training.

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Droga5 ANZ, part of Accenture Song, has appointed Kit Lansdell as head of effectiveness.

Lansdell brings 25 years of experience to the role across top advertising agencies in Australia and the UK —including The Monkeys (now Droga5), Clemenger BBDO, Leagas Delaney, and Grey London.

He has shaped strategy for some of the world’s most iconic brands. His portfolio spans industries as diverse as sports, financial services, automotive and food.

Among his career highlights include helping Australian Lamb achieve record fame and sales, launching the Hyundai A-League, and moving millions of people worldwide with Masterfoods ‘Make Dinnertime Matter’.

Landsell has led strategy for clients including adidas, Audi, the Australian Government, BBC, Blackmores, Coca-Cola, HSBC, Mars, MLA, P&G and the United Nations.

During his time at The Monkeys, Lansdell helped the agency to secure titles including The Australian Effie Awards Effective Agency of the Year, for three years running, and APAC Effectiveness Agency of the Year at Spikes for the past four.

Lansdell said of his new role: “I’ve always seen effectiveness as the ultimate measure of what we do as an industry. So, helping Droga5 build on its incredible effectiveness legacy is the ultimate privilege.”

Droga5 ANZ CEO Matt Michael said: “Kit is one of the country’s most admired strategists and passionately believes in the power of creativity.”

“We’ve always had a view that our work must work and that we must be equal parts creative and effective. Kit’s expertise will be invaluable in driving the next chapter of powerful, effective work in our market.”

This comes after Droga5 has made a major move in its global creative leadership, with Barbara Humphries and Damon Stapleton announced as co-chief creative officers for Australia and New Zealand, while Tara Ford takes the reins as chief creative officer of Droga5 London.

Top image: Kit Landsell

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EssenceMediacom Australia has appointed Maddison Keogh as APAC client managing partner for Uber.

She will lead one of the GroupM agency’s most exciting and dynamic relationships across the APAC region and to continue to elevate client leadership.

The appointment comes after EssenceMediacom was reappointed by Uber in 2024, when the Australian agency took on an expanded remit working across the APAC region.

Keogh brings more than 14 years of experience in client leadership and media management. She has a proven track record of transitioning existing client relationships into true business partnerships, as well as the management of many successful new business pitches in her previous tenure.

She was head of client service for Initiative Sydney, and worked with clients including Amazon, Salesforce, Goodman Fielder and Pernod Ricard.

In her new role, Keogh will drive operational excellence across the APAC market for the Uber account, as well as working with EssenceMediacom’s leadership and client teams to raise the bar in client leadership and stakeholder engagement across the agency.

Stevie Douglas-Neal, EssenceMediacom Sydney managing director, said: “Maddie is a hugely impressive client leader, and we are beyond thrilled to have her join EssenceMediacom in one of our most strategically important roles, leading Uber across the APAC region. Uber’s philosophy is so well aligned with our Breakthrough mindset and toolset.

“They encourage bravery, push us to innovate, and to deliver work that connects with consumers and drives business results. I look forward to seeing Maddie deliver breakthroughs across a dynamic region and fuel the next era of growth for Uber in every market in which they’re active.”

Keogh said: “EssenceMediacom has been on an incredible journey over the past two years and to join an agency with unrivalled momentum is beyond exciting. I am thrilled to be working with some of the smartest talent in our industry and look forward to contributing to the agency’s breakthrough vision by harnessing my expertise in client leadership and business development.

“Innovation drives our industry forward, and the opportunity to partner with a client like Uber who consistently raises the bar with groundbreaking work, was an opportunity I couldn’t look past.”

Top image: Maddie Keogh

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Connecting Plots has expanded its offering with integrated comms offering and appointed seasoned PR and communications specialist Katie Eastment to the newly created role of head of PR.

Eastment brings over a decade of experience to the role and joins the agency from The IMPACT Agency where she was head of consumer and most recently group account director. In her time there, she worked across a diverse range of clients including Nestlé, Modibodi, Connect Hearing, Solahart, and The Growth Faculty.

She is known for her results-driven approach and passion for integrated thinking, and thrives on developing creative solutions that span earned, influencer, events, and partnerships – with some of her most memorable projects coming from campaigns that broke the mould of traditional PR.

“In today’s world, brands can’t just buy attention, they have to earn it.” Tom Phillips, CEO and co-founder at Connecting Plots, said.

“Now more than ever – brands need stories that hit different, connecting seamlessly across everything they do, and shape how a brand is felt, not just seen. More and more of our clients have been asking us to carry our earned creative thinking into PR.

“Katie’s energy, smarts and experience will be instrumental as we introduce Connecting Plots PR, adding new layers to our creative and comms toolkit that take our clients’ brands to new heights in innovative ways.”

Eastman said of her new role: “I’m excited to be joining Connecting Plots at such a pivotal time. What really drew me to the agency was their passion for insight-led, integrated thinking and creating work that genuinely earns attention.

“I’m looking forward to building the agency’s earned capability and helping clients find creative ways to tell stories and stretch their budgets further.”

Eastment’s appointment marks a significant milestone for Connecting Plots as the agency continues to expand this integrated offering, providing clients with a seamless blend of creative, media, social, production and now earned solutions.

Top image: Katie Eastment

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Equality Media + Marketing topped the list of 2025’s Best Places to Work in the Media and Marketing category by the Australian Financial Review (AFR) and BOSS Magazine.

The publication’s annual Best Places to Work list recognises and celebrates the achievements of the best small, medium and large organisations in nine industry categories.

The list and awards are based on anonymous staff survey, written submission, including academically grounded and human-centred framework designed to assess workplace experiences such as culture, policies, employee experience and best practice workplace strategies.

Equality Media + Marketing

The Melbourne-based agency was named the #1 place to work in marketing and media in the Australian Financial Review’s 2025 Best Places to Work list-marking the third consecutive year the independent agency has been recognised on a national stage.

Equality has built a reputation as one of Australia’s most progressive and people-first workplaces, leading industry transformation through its four-day workweek at full pay, groundbreaking gender equity initiatives, and a culture of radical transparency and care.

“When you put people first, everything else falls into place. Creativity soars, trust deepens and the work gets better,” Marilla Akkermans, founder and managing director of Equality Media + Marketing, said.

With three straight AFR wins under its belt, Equality has proven that small agencies can drive large-scale change.

“We’ve always believed that small independent agencies don’t have to play small,” strategy director Leah Cioccio said.

“Being recognised alongside national and global organisations shows that values-led businesses is not only viable – it’s powerful. We’re not interested in being the biggest,” Akkermans added. “We’re here to be the best – for our people, our clients and the future of work.”

iProspect Australia

iProspect Australia has placed eighth on the 2025 AFR BOSS Best Places to Work List. It is the second consecutive year for the dentsu agency to be featured on the annual list, recognised for creating a motivating and productive workplace that consciously creates cultures, policies, structures and environments to enable iProspect to push boundaries by fusing brand-building with a performance mindset.

iProspect’s success focuses is demonstrated via its media-I results marking it as one of the happiest agencies in Australia and growing NPS and TRR scores.

Marcelle Hoyek, iProspect national managing director, said: “It is a testament to the ongoing work by the iProspect team that we have been recognised as a Best Place to Work for the second consecutive year.

“Culture is incredibly important to the overall success of iProspect, we are an engaged team who love coming to work and pushing to do better work than the day before. Our vision for iProspect is underpinned by our culture, it is the fuel that has accelerated our growth and that of our clients.”

dentsu QLD

Making its debut on the AFR and Boss Magazine list in ninth spot is dentsu QLD. The agency’s spot on the list comes after a year of double-digit revenue growth powered by their mission to inspire remarkable behaviours and an innovative approach to unlocking growth for its people that has driven internal engagement and NPS to record highs.

The agency’s managing director Chris Ernst said: “I am incredibly proud of the momentum we are experiencing as a team and am even more proud to say that every person in our agency has played a part in it.

“Our commitment to our purpose, values, and mission is unwavering and has helped to create an environment where our people give to each other, which has resulted in growth for our people, our partners, our business, and our community.”

In the past 12 months, dentsu QLD’s general manager Emily Cook won Mediaweek’s ‘Next of the Best’ Culture Award while the agency picked up new business including Good Drinks Australia.

The Media Store

The Media Store was recognised on the AFR and Boss Magazine list as a finalist for the ‘Media and Marketing’ category and receiving the ‘Belonging’ award, one of five special awards, on the night which make up the BEING acronym to what makes a best place to work – Belonging, Energising, Integrating, Nurturing and Generating.

The agency was recognised as the standout organisation, across all industries, for facilitating a sense of Belonging within its culture, for its success in creating a workplace where employees feel accepted, included and valued.

“The Media Store has all the ingredients for a best place to work, from meaningful staff benefits, individual flexibility, extensive learning and development and true collaboration,” The Media Store, chief operating officer, Jacquie Alley, said.

“But what sets us apart is that we are values-led. We value our intergenerational team, and we go beyond inclusion to a true sense of belonging where everyone is seen and heard.

“We are honoured to be named in the special awards category, ‘Belonging’. As famous diversity speaker Verna Meyers once said, diversity is being invited to the party, inclusion is being asked to dance. However, belonging is when they play your favourite song on the dancefloor.

“We truly want all of our people to shine and be known as themselves, to be asked to dance and have their song played, to feel they are part of something bigger than themselves. That there is a welcoming and important place for them at work at The Media Store. It’s been a big week for the agency, with a new client on the horizon and now acknowledgement that our team really do feel that they belong. We are so excited for what’s to come.”

Top image (left to right): Equality Media + Marketing, iProspect Sydney, dentsu Queensland, The Media Store’s Jacquie Alley and Stephen Leeds

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Magnite has expanded its global partnership with Samsung Ads to strengthen audience addressability in streaming.

The advertising division of Samsung Electronics saw double-digit percentage gross revenue growth on the Magnite Streaming SSP as a result of their successful collaboration from 2023 to 2024.

Samsung Ads will leverage the Magnite Access product to better manage behavioural audience data across Magnite platforms. Magnite Access helps media owners like Samsung Ads increase the volume of targeted impressions in Magnite’s exchanges and drive higher CPMs and revenue.

The partnership expansion follows closely on the heels of Samsung’s continued success in the US and globally. Samsung Ads has cultivated the largest single source of TV data in the US market attained with user consent.

Samsung TV Plus, Samsung’s free ad-supported TV (FAST) and on-demand (AVOD) service, has 88 million monthly active users and recently launched in Singapore, the Philippines, and Thailand, with Magnite facilitating programmatic access to this inventory for the first time in the region.

Breakthroughs, improved forecasting and reduction in timeouts

“Alongside the rapid growth of our ads business, Magnite has been an instrumental partner helping us build custom technology to improve our programmatic monetisation,” said Joe Melaragno, head of channel sales at Samsung Ads.

“Our collaboration with Magnite has led to a number of breakthroughs including simplified genre targeting to support contextual advertising, improved forecasting capabilities, and a significant reduction in timeouts to complement our rapid viewership growth on Samsung TV Plus.

“We’re very excited to see how Magnite Storefront within the Magnite Access suite can bring additional value to our data capabilities and further empower our sales team to deliver best-in-class solutions for advertisers.”

Ryan Kenney, SVP, streaming platform at Magnite said: “As ad-supported streaming continues to rise in popularity, Samsung Ads is at the forefront of delivering best-in-class experiences to viewers worldwide.”

“We’re pleased to continue our collaboration with Samsung Ads to bring high-quality streaming TV advertising to more programmatic buyers and to make audience-based buying more prevalent and effective in this environment.”

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Yahoo’s 14th annual Yahoo Academy program wrapped with a high stakes Pitch-Off event for Australian youth charity Musicians Making A Difference (MMAD).

The 30 emerging leaders from across the Australia and Singapore media and marketing industry had just two hours to respond to the pitch brief of ‘Keep MMAD’s Home Humming’.

The objective of the brief was to develop a compelling and repeatable fundraising mechanism to generate $200,000+ annually to help sustain MMAD’s headquarters and continue their life-changing support for at-risk youth in Australia.

Delegates incorporated the techniques, skills and tools picked up over the course of the two-day program that explored how imagination can drive brand impact and marketing fit for the real world, hacking culture to fuel creative ideas, innovation in AI and how to deliver an impactful pitch. These sessions were run by industry luminaries including:

Rob Campbell, Colenso BBDO’S chief strategy officer, Simone Gupta, co-founder of Supermassive, Lucio Ribeiro founder of Lucio.AI and Greg ‘Sparrow’ Graham, founder, The Nest Consultancy.

The judging panel, composed of Gupta, Campbell, John McNerney, managing director AUSEA of Yahoo, Dominic Brook, co-founder and managing director of MMAD, Gai Le Roy, CEO of IAB Australia, and Erin Green, head of marketing of the Cairns Hatchlings, was presented with a wealth of innovative ideas from teams in the Pitch-Off.

These ranged from ticketed events, jam sessions, mentorship programs and out-of-the-box brand collaborations.

Yahoo Academy winners

In the end, it was team ‘Hoo Ya’ – consisting of Shai Stern, native and social campaign executive at News Corp Australia, Meaghan Lowth, performance manager at OMD, and Singaporean delegate Brian Yak, senior account manager at CPXi Asia – who took home gold and won the competition. This year also marked a milestone, with an international delegate being part of the winning team for the first time since Yahoo Academy opened for entries from Asia three years ago.

Their idea, ‘MMAD About Silence’, tackled the often-unseen mental health challenges young people face, aiming to break the silence by making it impossible to ignore. The campaign centred on a three-pillared, omni-channel strategy.

It featured a unique combination of busking and silent disco and sports partnerships with supporting social content shared under the hashtag #WhyCantIHear. The team also successfully mapped out a path to sustainable funding through corporate partnerships. At its core, the campaign aimed to spark conversation through intrigue.

The winning team, lauded by judges for a simple, emotive approach that felt more like a cause than a campaign, was awarded an all-expenses-paid trip to a major international marketing conference held later this year.

Teams Inf8nity and De-MMAD Side Platform (DSP) also received honourable mentions for their creative and practical approaches to the brief.

‘Bold, thoughtful and genuinely capable of making a difference’

Lowth said of her team’s win: “Yahoo Academy has been super fun and refreshing. It stood out from other events by helping us have meaningful conversations with our talented peers. The speakers addressed some really relevant and interesting topics that left us buzzing.

“Over the last two days, we learnt how MMAD is helping young people suffering with depression, homelessness, and domestic violence. We wanted to amplify that and show how music can bring out the silence within individuals by silencing people’s screens for 24 hours.”

McNerney, Yahoo’s managing director AUSEA, said: “Congratulations to this year’s winning team on an outstanding performance. Yahoo Academy was designed to help spark fresh ideas and equip participants with practical tools they can leave with.

“The calibre of creative-thinking and boldness we saw in this year’s delegates was exceptional. It’s inspiring to see these emerging leaders tackle real challenges and walk away with elevated confidence and practical strategies to create meaningful impact in their roles and across the industry.”

Brook adds: “The work MMAD does is about creating great, meaningful change by rebranding young lives and investing in their future. The ideas brought forward in this challenge were bold, thoughtful and genuinely capable of making a difference.

“We’re so grateful to the media organisations who nominated their young talent and our hope is that this experience will spark some ideas for ways to support the mental health and wellbeing within their own teams.”

Top image: Yahoo Academy class of 2025

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Ezi-LockOdour, the kitty litter system brand, has launched its first brand campaign with integrated agency Communicado.

The campaign targets cat parents who often don’t know or forget about odour control for their cat’s litter and encourages cat owners to pre-empt the stink and banish kitty litter odours for good.

The ‘Saves You From Smells’ campaign dramatically depicts the lengths a cat owner goes to when they have an inferior kitty litter system. Through exaggerated hyperbole and a humorous before and after, the campaign shows that Ezi-LockOdour’s superior litter system removes cat smells, bringing you closer to your furry friend.

The campaign is live across BVOD & social.

Annie Price, Communicado’s executive creative director, said: “This product is a cat-egory game changer. And as soon as the team shared the idea with me, I knew it would work a treat, portraying the problem / solution in a simple, gettable, entertaining way. From horror story to happy days.”

Unicharm Australasia Ezi-LockOdour brand manager Mae Mizuno Li, added: “We love the way the campaign has come together! The film both shocks you and makes you laugh, but in essence, it captures the horrible smell and embarrassment cat parents feel and shows what millions of people worldwide already know – that Ezi-LockOdour really does Save you from Smells.”

Communicado delivers integrated thinking and creative solutions, combined with PR, digital and shopper delivery for some of Australian brands such as BabyLove, Asahi Beverages, Petstock, Dulux and Carpet Court.

CREDITS

Client: Unicharm Australasia
General Manager Marketing: Michael Joel
Brand Manager, Ezi-LockOdour: Mae Mizuno Li

Creative Agency: Communicado
Executive Creative Director: Annie Price
Associate CD/Writer: Chris Buchanan
Associate CD/Art Director: Simon Fleming
Senior Designer: Jack Dinsmoor
Integrated Strategist: Daniel Hedger
Group Account Director: Wil de Souza
Account Manager: Narayanan Subramani
Head of Content & Social: Anna Barham Kumar
Senior Digital Creative & Social Media Manager: Lydia Burrows
Digital Producer: Amy Greer
PR Account Director: Claudia Frederick

Media Agency: Cole Media
General Manager: Candice Cole
Digital Director: Anya Subberwal
Director: Daniel Dunn
Producer: Kalliroy Edlin
VO Artist: Carly Wilding
Talent: Carly Wilding
Animal agent: Lauren Paws
Hair & makeup: Amy Kenny
Location: Photoloco

Sound: Production Alley
Photography: Kit Haselden

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Total People TV Ratings

Seven’s Seven News recorded a total TV national reach of 2,097,000, a total TV national audience of 1,323,000 and a BVOD audience of 88,000.

Nine’s 9News recorded a total TV national reach of 2,091,000, a total TV national audience of 1,310,000 and a BVOD audience of 113,000.

Nine’s A Current Affair recorded a total TV national reach of 1,567,000, a total TV national audience of 1,033,000 and a BVOD audience of 84,000.

Seven’s The 1% Club UK recorded a total TV national reach of 1,562,000, a total TV national audience of 892,000 and a BVOD audience of 54,000.

Nine’s Tipping Point Australia recorded a total TV national reach of 1,421,000, a total TV national audience of 747,000 and a BVOD audience of 65,000.

People 25-54

Nine’s 9News:
• Total TV national reach: 663,000
• National Audience: 379,000
• BVOD Audience: 58,000

Seven’s Seven News:
• Total TV national reach: 531,000
• National Audience: 295,000
• BVOD Audience: 45,000

Nine’s The Hundred With Andy Lee:
• Total TV national reach: 513,000
• National Audience: 240,000
• BVOD Audience: 31,000

Nine’s A Current Affair:
• Total TV national reach: 484,000
• National Audience: 297,000
• BVOD Audience: 44,000

Seven’s The 1% Club UK:
• Total TV national reach: 420,000
• National Audience: 204,000
• BVOD Audience: 27,000

People 16-39

Nine’s 9News:
• Total TV national reach: 271,000
• National Audience: 149,000
• BVOD Audience: 29,000

Seven’s Seven News:
• Total TV national reach: 205,000
• National Audience: 102,000
• BVOD Audience: 23,000

Nine’s A Current Affair:
• Total TV national reach: 202,000
• National Audience: 115,000
• BVOD Audience: 23,000

Nine’s The Hundred With Andy Lee:
• Total TV national reach: 196,000
• National Audience: 84,000
• BVOD Audience: 16,000

Seven’s Home And Away:
• Total TV national reach: 175,000
• National Audience: 106,000
• BVOD Audience: 43,000

Grocery Shoppers 18+ TV Ratings

Seven’s Seven News:
• Total TV national reach: 1,661,000
• National Audience: 1,053,000
• BVOD Audience: 71,000

Nine’s 9News:
• Total TV national reach: 1,642,000
• National Audience: 1,047,000
• BVOD Audience: 92,000

Nine’s A Current Affair:
• Total TV national reach: 1,247,000
• National Audience: 834,000
• BVOD Audience: 69,000

Seven’s The 1% Club Uk:
• Total TV national reach: 1,209,000
• National Audience: 695,000
• BVOD Audience: 43,000

Nine’s Tipping Point Australia:
• Total TV national reach: 1,142,000
• National Audience: 611,000
• BVOD Audience: 53,000

Data © OzTAM and Regional TAM 2025. Not to be reproduced, published or communicated (electronically or in hard copy) in whole or in part, without prior written consent of OzTAM and Regional TAM.

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