A Friday panel discussion in The Growth Distillery’s The Ideas Dome delved into News.com.au’s impactful “About Bloody Time” campaign.

The editorial initiative was dedicated to addressing the significant issue of endometriosis and the inadequate healthcare support women with this condition face in Australia. The campaign brought attention to the silent suffering of many and has become a beacon of change in the way endometriosis is treated and discussed within the medical community and society at large.

The session was hosted by Liz Burke, deputy editor of News.com.au. She was joined on The Ideas Dome stage by News.com.au journalists and editors Lexi Cartwright, Julie Snook, and Kerry Warren. Snook is also an Endometriosis Australia ambassador.

Cartwright and Snook both stepped forward to share their personal battles with endometriosis. Their stories are not just personal; they are testimonies that underscore the broader campaign’s goal. This goal is to raise awareness significantly and to drive a much-needed change in medical consultation policies. Both women articulated the physical pain and emotional distress the condition inflicts, thereby illuminating the need for a more compassionate and educated medical approach.

About Bloody Time impact

The campaign has garnered substantial attention, amassing over 50,000 signatures. This considerable public support sparked vital discussions across various media platforms. Such discourse was instrumental in leading to significant changes, notably influencing an increase in Medicare funding.

This success story illustrates how powerful media influence can lead to tangible health reforms, thereby transforming lives positively. The campaign’s traction highlights the media’s role as a catalyst in initiating essential policy changes.

The discussion also shed light on the challenges women face due to endometriosis, including societal stigma and the overwhelming financial and emotional burdens. Particularly, the stigma often results in delayed diagnosis and treatment, exacerbating suffering. Despite the challenges, the campaign’s success in securing critical government funding to improve healthcare consultations marked a pivotal achievement. It represents not just a financial victory but also an acknowledgment of the struggles endured by millions of women.

Liz Burke, Lexi Cartwright, Julie Snook and Kerry Warren

The panel reflected on the ongoing efforts to further extend awareness and education about endometriosis. They stressed the fundamental importance of continued advocacy and meaningful policy change to support women affected by this condition.

The panellists acknowledged that while progress has been made, the journey towards a healthier and more informed future for women with endometriosis continues. They emphasised their dedication to ensuring that women, like the memorable mention of 84-year-old Rhonda and those who have navigated the complexities of endometriosis, including family planning and beyond, receive the support and recognition they deserve. Through ongoing efforts and a compassionate approach, they hope to continue inspiring change and support for those affected.

Warren detailed how the signatures were presented for Federal Health Minister Mark Butler and the subsequent funding of $49m.

Warren also noted having the campaign running on News.com.au was critical to its success. “We obviously have a mass audience. We reach 12 to 13 million Australians a month. So we aren’t speaking to an echo chamber.”

See also: About Bloody Time campaign spurs $49m government funding for endometriosis

By James Manning, Alisha Buaya and Jasper Baumann at SXSW

SXSW Sydney day five rounds out a long and tiring week that was fun, insightful, and inspiring. Mediaweek was on the ground – here’s what happened on Friday, October 18.

Brilliant marketing or Dark Art: Are you convincing or conning your customers?

WARC managing editor Rica Facundo moderated a lively and interactive panel between Hardhat founder, Dan Monheit, and Sarla Fernando, ADMA’s regulatory expert, on the fine line between the behavioural economics of marketing and “conning” your customers into a purchase. The trio examined common practices and debated whether they’re great marketing or potentially problematic cons, and teach the audience how to avoid landing on the wrong side of the law.

Fernando spoke about dark patterns, noting that it shares “the common notion that you’re manipulating consumers into making choices that they might otherwise not have made.

“The definition of effective marketing is persuading consumers to purchase something they may not have intended. So what’s the difference between using a really cute little puppy dog to make me purchase something or taking me down a game where I’m playing this game and I’m seeing a really big green button and every time I press it I get free coins or a free avatar or I go up a level or I get. then I keep going down this journey and about the fifth time I press that green button I’m asked to purchase something.

“What’s the difference between that because at the end of the day, dark patterns, they exist everywhere, right? Why is this a problem today? Why do governments care about this now? Well, effectively, the increased extent to which data about an individual can be gathered, put together with the rise of digital marketing, means that it accelerates an advertiser’s ability to create personalised ads that use their speeches to specifically appeal, emotionally or psychologically, to its intended target.” – AB

Rica Facundo, Dan Monheit and Sarla Fernando.

The Reputation Tightrope

Natasha Brack, director of communications at SNAP, APAC, academic and social commentator, Dr. Susan Carland, and comedian and writer, Sami Shah, discussed how organisations and individuals manage their reputation whilst taking a stand on social issues in an interconnected and divergent world. 

Dr Carland pointed out that people get deeply trapped in their own silos of beliefs and opinions “to the point where we actually can’t conceive of how someone could think differently to us. Because we’re not all sharing a newscape anymore, a shared set of facts.

“What that happens then, when we’re talking about, as you said, dehumanisation is the only way we can understand that someone could think differently to us on anything, whatever it is, is that they must be either evil or stupid.

“They’re the only conclusions we can draw and when we think that about other people, well then I don’t need to engage with them. It’s much easier to dehumanise them, destroy them online.”

Natasha Brack, Sami Shah and Dr. Susan Carland

From a comedian’s point of view, comedian Shah said that making jokes is not necessarily the best way to discuss important and topical issue in society. 

“I think we’ve somehow degraded experts to the point where for some reason, and again social media has a large part to play in this, comedians have become thought leaders.

“You go online and these young boys are watching stand-up comedians like Joe Rogan or whoever, but going, ‘oh he has wisdom’. No, he doesn’t. His loyalty is to the punch line. That has always been true, and most comedians, I know most comedians, we’re degenerates. We’re poorly read, ill-informed.

“We just spend all day thinking, ‘what’s the word that will get me that laugh?’ That’s our only loyalty. So the idea that comedians are giving the truth and the insight, that’s Ricky Gervais blowing up his own butt. It has nothing to do with what actually comedians’ role in society is.

“We (comedians) are the clown. Our job is to say the emperor has no clothes, but we will always be the clown pointing that out, and the emperor will always remain the emperor. Don’t think you can then supplant the emperor.” – AB

Rolling Stone House

Rolling Stone House rounded out its three day take over of UTS Underground in Ultimo for SXSW Sydney 2024 with an impressive line up of performers including Hockey Dad, The Grogans, Full Flower Moon Band, and a DJ set by Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers.

Guests were greeted with a fun Cholula Hot Sauce walkway and treated to an American Apparel activation with a free printed T-Shirt and a silent disco that allowed guests to put on headphones and dance to hits by Charli XCX, Beastie Boys and Beyonce (thank you).

The Rolling Stone, Brag Media and Vinyl Group teams pulled out all the stops on Friday night with a line up that included Emmanuel Kelly, Phoebe Rings, daste, Dayshawn and Heartbreak High’s Ayesha Madon. – AB

Ayesha Madon

The Ideas Dome: Massive impact of News.com.au’s About Bloody Time campaign

Liz Burke, Lexi Cartwright, Julie Snook and Kerry Warren

A Friday panel discussion in The Growth Distillery’s The Ideas Dome delved into News.com.au’s impactful “About Bloody Time” campaign.

The editorial initiative was dedicated to addressing the significant issue of endometriosis and the inadequate healthcare support women with this condition face in Australia. The campaign brought attention to the silent suffering of many and has become a beacon of change in the way endometriosis is treated and discussed within the medical community and society at large.

The session was hosted by Liz Burke, deputy editor of News.com.au. She was joined on The Ideas Dome stage by News.com.au journalists and editors Lexi Cartwright, Julie Snook, and Kerry Warren. Snook is also an Endometriosis Australia ambassador. JM

[Read more]

Are brands the new cultural super force?

Tully Walter, Elly Strang, Tim Snape and Tim Koslowski

The co-founder of the podcast The Daily Aus, Tim Koslowski, hosted a Friday afternoon session about brands and their influence on culture.

Joining Koslowski on the SXSW stage were Elly Strang from Tracksuit, Tim Snape  from Heaps Normal and Tully Walter from SOON Futures.

The session was to examine the importance of brand power, particularly among young Australians, in shaping the journalistic narrative. The discussion navigated the complexities surrounding how brands must evolve to maintain and grow their influence amidst changing consumer expectations and the vital role of branding power in cementing trust in journalism.

Brands as cultural super forces

Koslowski noted the transformative role brands play as emerging cultural super forces, gradually replacing traditional societal influencers such as religion and pop culture. This shift signifies a paradigm change in consumer behaviour, wherein individuals now exhibit strong brand attachment, altering conventional cultural dynamics. The conversation extends to how brands are not merely products but cultural storytellers capable of reshaping societal narratives and values, matching the rhythm of evolving consumer mindsets.

Heaps Normal’s branding journey

Tim Snape chronicled the journey of Heaps Normal, detailing how the brand aimed to become synonymous with non-alcoholic beer. By understanding cultural trends and aligning their strategy and timing, Heaps Normal successfully positioned itself as a significant cultural influencer. Snape explained the challenges and strategic decisions that played a pivotal role in carving out a niche in the market, making Heaps Normal a leader in advocating for moderation and redefining drinking culture in Australia.

The panel concluded that a keen understanding of evolving cultural shifts is imperative for effective brand strategy. Brands must not only adapt but also create an aspirational identity that resonates with societal trends, such as the growing sober culture and heightened awareness around mental wellbeing.

The essence of successful branding lies in the balance of adapting to these societal trends while fostering a strong, trustworthy brand identity that resonates with individuals on a deeper, cultural level. JM

Building next-gen progressive media companies

Alicia Vrajlal, Crystal Andrews, Lucy Blakiston and Natasha Gillezeau discussed the challenges and opportunities of building new-generation progressive media companies on their panel.

They emphasised the importance of bravery and challenging industry norms, the role of algorithms in shaping content consumption, and the need for financial sustainability. Metrics discussed included news fatigue at 41% and a gender gap in Gen Z’s interest in news, with only 23% of women very interested compared to 47% of men.

The panellists also discussed the importance of quality over quantity, the difficulty of monetising progressive media, and the need to break taboos, particularly around women’s issues and mental health.

According to the panel, next-gen media companies can diversify their revenue streams beyond advertising and brand partnerships by exploring subscription models and paid content offerings, such as newsletters, podcasts, or exclusive content for paying members. They also suggested to investigate opportunities for innovation grants, funding programs, or other forms of institutional support that align with the company’s mission and values. – JB

For News Media, Digital Transformation Isn’t a Process – It’s a State

Chris Janz was joined by Duncan Greive, Lee Lowndes and Lucy Blakiston on a panel discussing the challenges smaller media companies face in a market-dominated major media companies and big tech.

In a fragmented digital landscape, the panellists explored key strategies to engage audiences and build brand value, including:

• Owning the audience relationship through direct channels like newsletters and subscriptions, rather than relying on social media platforms.
• Focusing on creating unique, valuable content that adds real journalistic value, rather than just replicating commodity news.
• Building a distinct brand identity and voice, often centered around individual journalists, to foster a direct connection with readers.
• Experimenting with new content formats like podcasts and short-form videos to engage audiences across different platforms. – JB

The Growth Distillery, in collaboration with The Behavioural Architects, have released a new behavioural science-based playbook and simulator tool to show brands how to leverage the most relevant mental shortcuts or ‘nudges’ used by consumers to help establish trust and drive brand preference.

The new research analysed 34 distinct cues that leverage cognitive biases to nudge consumers toward making decisions. It found marketers who know which cues effectively nudge consumers to the next purchase stage will thrive in this landscape by building trust and driving engagement. Findings include:

• Nudges using trusted payment options at the bottom of the funnel are up to 8 times more effective compared to generic ads.
• Offering something ‘free’ can be up to 5.8 times more effective at driving consideration, particularly at the top of the funnel.
• Use of scarcity through limited-time offers create urgency and drive purchases making it more than 4 times more effective.

Mike Daniels

The Behavioural Architects founder Mike Daniels said: “Project Nudge adds further nuance to how behavioural science principles work in practice. It provides marketers with evidence-based frameworks to build trust and boost brand desirability. It demonstrates how conversion can be optimised through the marketing funnel, whilst helping consumers to make confident and informed purchasing decisions.”

The research also uncovered that different nudges are more effective at different stages of the purchase funnel and vary in their impact across different categories and publication channels.

Leigh Lavery

The Growth Distillery head of growth intelligence Leigh Lavery said: “As the digital landscape becomes increasingly complex and competitive for consumer attention down to the microsecond, marketers who can effectively use nudges to influence consumer behaviour will gain a significant advantage. Understanding how and when to apply these nudges in the new modern landscape allows brands to differentiate themselves and stay ahead of competitors.”

The Growth Distillery and The Behavioural Architects have launched the Nudge Simulator, which allows marketers to test and refine their strategies, ensuring the most effective nudges are applied to drive desired outcomes.

Foxtel Media Upfront 2025 saw media buyers, agencies, and executives gather for the broadcaster’s outlook for the year ahead.

The Group’s chief executive, Patrick Delany, welcomed attendees to the evening, telling them: ‘Every year, we detail the transformation, how we’ve gone from a single product company with a set-top box to an IP-connected digital-led and entertainment company, and everyone (the presenters) that comes out tonight stands before you because we are now a digital sports and entertainment company.

“There’s no question about it, so we’re very excited to share tonight how we’re going to disrupt the Australian media industry again this year.”

The overview of the evening included a segment on the success of sports viewing app Kayo Australia, the reimagination of of streaming platform Binge, innovation in the ad market and measurement, as well as the new Hubbl bundle.

Patrick Delany

Mark Frain, Foxtel Media CEO, followed and addressed the broadcaster’s “breakup” with OzTam and its “assertion of our unwillingness to collaborate them.”

“Now is not the time for more mudslinging, I do feel compelled for my team, our colleagues and our business partners to say this publicly. We have attempted many times over the last two years to find solutions with OzTam to address inaccuracies with the panel to drive a more future-facing agenda and to join as a shareholder for an equal voice,” he said.

“Unfortunately, the board and the shareholders said no, so we moved in a different direction one more aligned with the consumer shift to on-demand viewing and more aligned to our business shift, away from linear to digital.”
 
Frain said over the last year Foxtel Media has progressed through collaborations that aim to drive its business and industry forward. ” It’s not always easy more meetings, more opinions, more compromises, but comfort and growth don’t often co-exist and leadership choices are always not that popular. But our experience has proved collaboration is bringing greater accuracy, better results and, more importantly, new opportunities.”

Mark Frain

Mediaweek caught up with media buyers who attended the event to get their thoughts on offerings and what piqued their interest.
 
Lorraine Woods, Atomic 212°’s chief investment and trading officer, told Mediaweek the presentation focused on future-proofing its business while ensuring improved ROI for advertisers and agencies, and addressed challenges such as video ecosystem, data, measurement and effectiveness.
 
“We operate in a highly fragmented video landscape, and measurement and attribution continue to be challenging. It was promising to see Foxtel directly address these concerns by enhancing its data proposition and measurement capabilities, which will ultimately lead back to better attribution and understanding of effectiveness. These advancements demonstrate it is equipping its business with the necessary tools to stay ahead in this ever changing landscape, which is critical for both agencies and advertisers.”
 
She said that Atomic 212° will be interested to explore the new data offerings and push their potential for its clients. “The sophistication behind the Agile and CommBank IQ partnerships represents exactly what we seek when planning our video investments, effectively leveraging data to identify the highest opportunity for return and optimising this across platforms in real-time.”
 
“Collaborating with agencies to build smart, test and measure frameworks will be beneficial in understanding how their platforms can drive a better outcome for clients and, ultimately, could lead to more ad revenue for Foxtel if we get it right and prove campaign effectiveness. We have already been on this journey with them so looking forward to evolving it.”

Lorraine Woods

Woods noted the upcoming studies on video effectiveness will play a crucial role in shifting the conversation from reach to engagement and attention-based outcomes. She added that it will highlight the link between attention and sales performance will benefit the entire video industry.

She also noted the updates from Kantar would be “critical for the long term success of audience measurement” across Foxtel’s platforms.

“The TV landscape is undergoing a lot of change around currency and measurement right now. Accelerating these changes is crucial for Foxtel and agencies to use this data for our planning and buying. Without this, Foxtel’s growth trajectory could be at risk, especially given the increasing pressures of the competitive market.

Woods called the decision to stream live sports on Binge as a smart strategic move as the threat of emerging SVOD players make a deliberate play in this space. She said: “Live sports remains a major draw for audiences, and this move ensures Foxtel’s continued leadership in one of the most watched and valuable content genres.”

Woods also noted Foxtel’s continued its tradition of market-first innovation with the announcement of Hubbl and Netflix partnership and securing future subscriber growth and solidifying its place in the SVOD ecosystem

“Its partnership with TVBeat was another noticeable first, converting linear impressions into digital helping to improve performance across linear,” she added.

For Jessica Summers, investment director at OMD, she said the themes of commitment and collaboration with partners were consistently highlighted, as seen in its use of data sources such as Kantar and CommBank iQ, alongside the Video Futures Collective initiative and strong relationships with audience and advertiser partners.
 
She also noted that Foxtel emphasised its ambition to be the number one partner of choice in return. “It was refreshing to see such cohesive and unifying messaging as they set the stage for the year ahead.”

Summers said the dedication to their data and ongoing progress towards becoming the top digital sport and entertainment company stood out, as it boldly project that 52% of its 2025 revenue would come from digital around its key pillars of sport domination, streaming reimagination, and ad market innovation.

Jessica Summers

“It was clear throughout the event that Foxtel has a strong vision for the future of their sports platform, supported by exclusive rights to the first eight rounds of AFL and the reimagining of the KAYO platform to drive audience and advertiser growth. Their dominance in sports is a core strength, and it’s no surprise that they’re looking to extend this advantage across their portfolio, with Binge expanding its audience and engagement through the inclusion of both sports and news.”

Summers added that another major highlight was the announcement that Foxtel, Foxtel Go, KAYO, and Binge will all be available on a single platform by the end of the year.

“In a competitive market, this integration will give Foxtel a significant edge, enabling advertisers to easily visualise the combined performance of their campaigns and make more informed, data-driven decisions,” she said.

Avenue C managing partner, media, Daniel Cutrone told Mediaweek that Foxtel delivered a “strong case” that “instilled confidence despite turbulent content deals” of Max and HBO, while revolutionising its measurement standards in 2025.

“Whilst there was no mention of how the introduction of Max’ may impact the Foxtel Group in the long-term, both House of Dragon and The Penguin featured within their upcoming programming reels.

“Instead, the Foxtel Group focussed more on its original content from returning franchises of Selling Houses Australia, The Twelve, Colin From Accounts, as well new properties: Billion Dollar Playground and The Last Anniversary to name a few.”

Daniel Cutrone

Cutrone noted Binge’s addition of women’s domestic sport as well as news properties Sky News, CNN, CNBC, BBC. “This would uniquely place Binge as an Entertainment, News and Sports Streaming platform, without canabilising on Kayo subscribers with only 10% cross-over,” he said.

He said that Foxtel’s strength is firmly placed within Sport which was reinforced with its ongoing broadcast and tech innovations, breadth of commentary team, ad-free during live play, and its exclusive content strategy with the AFL Super Saturday to win over fans for longer.

“Overall, Foxtel has a challenging retention strategy ahead in 2025 – with even more competition than ever! Meanwhile as the business shifts its Linear TV metrics to a new single-source digital currency it may struggle in the short-term, that is until all the pieces are tried and tested to provide true de-duplicated scale and ROI across the entire group,” Cutrone added.

See also:
Foxtel Upfront 2025: BINGE to offer sport streaming via Kayo Sports, Hubbl launching Aussie-first bundle combining Netflix and Kayo
Foxtel Upfront 2025: Foxtel Group showcases 2025 content slate
Foxtel Upfront 2025: Amazon joins Video Futures Collective, new research projects into premium digital video advertising impact

–

Top image: Left – Mark Frain. Right: Lorraine Woods, Daniel Cutrone and Jessica Woods

Mediaweek completes our coverage of the Foxtel Media Upfront 2025 with this photo gallery of executives on the red carpet and the presentation stage.

Foxtel Group and Foxtel Media chief executives Patrick Delany and Mark Frain started and finished the show.

The Upfront 2025 saw media buyers, agencies, and executives gather for the broadcaster’s outlook for the year ahead.

The Group’s chief executive, Patrick Delany, welcomed attendees to the evening, telling them: “Every year, we detail the transformation, how we’ve gone from a single product company with a set-top box to an IP-connected digital-led and entertainment company, and everyone (the presenters) that comes out tonight stands before you because we are now a digital sports and entertainment company.”

See also: Media buyers on Foxtel’s 2025 upfront: ‘Refreshing’ and ‘promising’ offerings amid ‘more competition than ever’

One of the biggest announcements at the Upfront involved streaming platform BINGE and its expanded content offering to include live and on-demand premium sport, direct from Kayo Sports, on the platform, as well as additional live news channels, at no additional cost to subscribers.

Starting with a bumper finals weekend with the back-to-back AFLW Grand Final and WBBL Grand Final on 30 November and 1 December, sport will appear on BINGE. Following that will be Men’s Big Bash League, Super Netball, and, come winter, NRL and AFL footy on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays (simulcast games) during the regular season with no ad breaks during play.

See also: Foxtel Upfront 2025: BINGE to offer sport streaming via Kayo Sports, Hubbl launching Aussie-first bundle combining Netflix and Kayo

Foxtel Media’s Toby Dewar, Nev Hasan, Annie Griffiths and Mark Frain

NRL’s Andrew Abdo and Patrick Delany

Foxtel’s Patrick Delany and Rebecca McCloy

NBL’s David Stevenson, Kayo’s Cate Hefele and NBL’s Larry Kestleman

Michael Brooks, General Manager for ANZ at Warner Bros. Discovery

Foxtel’s Patrick Delany and Alison Hurbert-Burns

Foxtel’s Wendy Moore and Dennis Scott

Foxtel’s Julian Ogrin and NRL’s Andrew Abdo

Foxtel’s Hilary Perchard

Sky News Australia anchor Laura Jayes

Patrick Delany

Mark Frain

Fox Sports commentators at the Kayo Bar: Jonathan Brown, Brett Lee, Brendon Julian and Adam Gilchrist

In the third quarter of 2024, Netflix continued to assert its leadership in the streaming industry, showcasing significant growth in both revenue and viewership. With a 15% year-over-year increase in revenue and an operating margin of 30%, Netflix has proven its resilience in a competitive sector. This week, the company attributed its success to a diverse slate of content, a growing global audience, and continuous innovation in its business model, including its advertising tier.

Financial overview: Strong growth across the board

Netflix’s Q3 results outperformed expectations, with revenue growing by 15%, slightly higher than the initial forecast. The company saw a significant rise in average paid memberships, which increased by 15% year-over-year, alongside 5.1 million new subscribers. However, this was a decrease from the 8.8 million net additions in Q3 2023. Despite this, Netflix continued to report growth across its major markets.

In the United States and Canada (UCAN), Netflix’s most mature market, revenue increased by 16%, driven by a 10% growth in paid memberships. Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) saw a similar revenue increase of 16%, while Asia Pacific (APAC) led the growth with a 19% rise, thanks to strong local content in countries like Japan, Korea, Thailand, and India.

The company doesn’t break out the data for individual countries. However, Telsyte reported that in Australia Netflix had 6.2m subscribers in June 2024. This represented YOY growth of 2%.

In Latin America (LATAM), revenue rose by 9%, although paid net additions slightly dipped due to price changes and a softer content slate. Nevertheless, early signs in Q4 indicate a rebound in this region.

See also: Telsyte SVOD report – Ad-supported tiers grow, Netflix still #1, Total subscriptions up 4% to 25.3m

Engagement and content strategy

Netflix’s engagement metrics remain a core focus, serving as a barometer of member happiness and retention. With over 600 million users globally, the company said it continues to program to meet diverse tastes, cultures, and languages, giving it a competitive edge over other streaming platforms. Netflix has delivered a steady stream of new content, despite challenges posed by last year’s industry strikes.

Netflix emphasised the importance of view hours as a key metric for measuring success. In the first three quarters of 2024, view hours per membership grew year-over-year, especially among “owner households” — those unaffected by paid-sharing restrictions.

Critically acclaimed content also played a pivotal role in Netflix’s strategy. At the 2024 Primetime Emmy Awards, Netflix secured 24 wins from 107 nominations, surpassing competitors in both critical and popular appeal. Notable winners included Ripley, The Crown, Beckham, and Blue Eye Samurai.

Netflix hit TV series and films

Netflix continued to deliver popular TV shows and films that captured global audiences in Q3 2024. The streamer released the following audience data this week.

Television
The Perfect Couple – 65.2 million views
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story – 54.6 million views
Emily in Paris, Season 4 – 51.0 million views
Cobra Kai, Season 6 – 36.5 million views
Nobody Wants This – 37.0 million views
The Accident (Mexico) – 37.2 million views
Simone Biles: Rising – 19.0 million views
Selling Sunset, Season 8 – 10.9 million views
Tokyo Swindlers (Japan) – 10.5 million views
Culinary Class Wars (Korea) – 11.0 million views

Returning fan favourites like Umbrella Academy and Elite also made their mark, with the final seasons of both series performing well. Umbrella Academy had 25.5 million views in its fourth season, while Elite attracted 12.2 million views in its eighth and final season.

Films
The Union – 111.9 million views
Rebel Ridge – 104.7 million views
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F – 87.5 million views
Vanished into the Night (Italy) – 39.2 million views
Officer Black Belt (South Korea) – 32.8 million views
Maharaja (India) – 22.6 million views
Blame the Game (Germany) – 22.4 million views
Growing ad business and outlook

A significant area of focus for Netflix in Q3 was its growing advertising business. The company’s ad-supported membership grew by 35% quarter-over-quarter, accounting for over 50% of sign-ups in markets where the ads tier is available. Netflix’s first-party ad tech platform is set to launch in Canada in Q4 2024, with broader availability planned for 2025. The platform aims to create new revenue streams while offering advertisers greater engagement opportunities.

Netflix acknowledged its ad business is still in the early stages. The company expects to reach critical scale for advertisers by 2025, though it doesn’t foresee ads becoming a primary driver of revenue growth in the short term.

Netflix is balancing the growth of its ad inventory with overall revenue growth, aiming for a 15% increase in total company revenue in 2024.

What’s next for Netflix?

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter of 2024, Netflix has more strong content slated for release.

An important release for the company locally in the last week of October is Territory. The series stars Anna Torv, Robert Taylor and Sara Wiseman. Territory is a joint production between Easy Tiger and Ronde, created by Timothy Lee and Ben Davies and produced by Paul Ranford. Executive producers are Ben Davies, Rob Gibson and Ian Collie.

Also coming is the second season of Squid Game which is expected to drive significant engagement, alongside new seasons of Outer Banks and Love is Blind. On the film front, Netflix will premiere Carry-On, an action thriller starring Taron Egerton and Jason Bateman, as well as The Six Triple Eight, a war drama directed by Tyler Perry and starring Kerry Washington.

In Latin America, Netflix will debut two of its most ambitious projects: 100 Years of Solitude, based on Gabriel García Márquez’s iconic novel, and Senna, a biopic about the legendary Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna.

Additionally, Netflix is expanding into live events, with a Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul boxing match scheduled for November and two NFL games on Christmas Day, featuring the Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, and Houston Texans.

It has been a big few months for Prime Video in this market. We reported that earlier this month the streaming platform owned by Amazon appointed Hwei Loke as the new head of the platform across Australia and New Zealand.

Not long before that, the platform introduced an ad tier, automatically flipping customers to that tier unless they paid more.

During an interview at SXSW, Mediaweek asked Loke about what the ad tier means for Prime.

“That change enables us to continue to invest in compelling and quality local regional content and to increase that investment over time.

“We introduced ads in June to our consumers, but we have meaningfully fewer ads than any other streaming service and linear platform.”

Hwei Loke. Above: Loke with Prime talent at SXSW

Being a Prime Video subscriber means more than just the streaming product. “We have other customers who engage in the shopping benefits of Prime, but also we have free Amazon shipping, Prime Reading, Prime Music, Prime Gaming. So as a holistic offering, people are really seeing the value in that.”

As Loke indicated, the extra income from the ad tier keeps the local content pipeline flowing.

When asked about the content that has been resonating best with Prime customers, Loke said: “What we know is that what consumers want is relatable content. They want content that reflects their diverse backgrounds and cultures.

“For myself, growing up in Australia as an Asian Australian, I never saw anybody who looked like me on screens. We are committed to bringing stories of what people look like, of their individual stories, to the screen. That’s what they are coming to us for.”

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

Biggest ANZ Original so far at Prime

“Last year, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, not just in Australia, but globally, this was our biggest local original to date.

“It went top five in over 78 countries globally. In Australia, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart and Deadloch were the top ACTA-awarded drama series last year.

“People love the escapism of Deadloch. To escape into that Tasmanian noir world. We’ve seen the series achieve 100% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. It managed to rank top five in 175 countries globally.

Deadloch: Kate Box, Kate McLennan, Kate McCarthy and Madeleine Sami.

“In our unscripted slate last year, we told the story of The Wiggles in Hot Potato: The Story of The Wiggles.

“We also had a documentary called The Defenders, which won Best Australian Documentary at Sydney Film Festival. Again, such a gripping documentary about a Bahraini football player who was detained in Thailand and tortured, essentially.

“Craig Foster, the Australian former soccer player, deep-dived into this case and advocated for him. These are the type of stories that we don’t shy away from. We’re excited to bring these kinds of stories to Australians.

“This year has been great for us in terms of local originals already. We had a series called Dance Live, a movie called Five Blind Dates, and the series The Test, which returned for season three.”

Hwei Loke was speaking to Mediaweek on the eve of the release of a local version of The Office.

In addition to the launch of The Office, Prime released updates for the slate of local originals.

“We have a series called The Narrow Road to the Deep North, which is a series based on the Booker Award-winning novel of the same name. It’s a five-part series, which is going to be really dramatic, compelling, intense, starring Jacob Elordi. Later in the year we will release Top End Bub, which is a series based on the movie Top End Wedding, which released in 2019.

“The series will star Miranda Tapsall with an incredibly strong cast. Right now we’re filming Deadloch season two in Queensland. People can finally stop asking me when season two is coming because it is coming.”

The Office Australia: Felicity Ward

People who have previewed The Office have noted how edgy it is. Some translate that as it being “risky”.

“It’s out there,” laughed Loke. “The Office has such fantastic fans behind it already from the UK and US series. We know fans are passionate about it. We have taken a risk with it, but we’re so incredibly proud of this series.

“It has the same situational office humour that people know from the franchise. But it has a beautifully fresh Australian take on it, and not only from a brilliant cast of characters, headed up by Hannah Howard, played by Felicity Ward.

“As a new female leader [at Prime], I hope I can learn what not to do from her.”

What do Prime customers want: The content or the shopping?

As to the single biggest reason as to why people subscribe, Loke replied: “We get a mix. What’s great about it is that people come in for the shopping and then see what the streaming offer is, and then vice versa as well.”

Loke said it’s a good time to be a consumer because of choice.

“There are so many different places to find things. It can get confusing as to what content is on what platform. And we aim to take that stress out for a consumer.

“We’re consumer obsessed, at the end of the day for us, it is about presenting a proposition that takes the stress out of streaming and has Prime as your go-to entertainment destination.

“A customer can come onto Prime Video and stream all of our free series, movies, live sport, unscripted, scripted, everything. But you can also rent or buy new releases that sometimes are still in the theatres. And aggregate, add on other subscriptions to the platform, it is all one seamless experience.”

All the content goes through the Prime Video app and customers can toggle subscriptions off and on.

Global success is good, but Australia is the focus

About the importance of global success with Prime Australian commissions, Loke said: “Audiences globally are really interested to see Australian stories.

“They’re captivating. Our talent is captivating. We’re very proud, honestly, to have our content do well globally.

“My focus, however, and our team’s focus is the Australian consumer. As long as we are surprising, and delighting our Australian audience, I’m happy.”

As to making decision about Australian Originals, Loke noted: We’ve got a great local content team that works out of Australia and is supported from a global perspective by our US counterparts.

“Our local team are constantly looking at new deals, pitches, things on the table, measuring up what our consumers want, balancing it with what they’re watching, balancing it with the US slate that we have. And it’s a juggle of presenting the consumers with what they are after within the realms of the rights that are available.”

Do Aussies have different tastes from rest of the world?

“There are a lot of similarities between the US market. When I look at consumers, the core thing I always take away is that they just want to be entertained and they just want something that’s relatable, but also an escape from their own world.”

Clemenger BBDO has made six appointments to its Melbourne-based team that include a mix of seasoned international leaders in response to recent growth at the creative agency as the team prepares to move to the Pink House on Little Collins early in the new year.

The hires include creative directors Heidi Kesselman and Anthony Cassidy and creative resource director Lizzie Slattery, along with rising local talents in senior creative Jake Blood, copywriter Talia Stone and art director Zaneta Vincent.

Adrián Flores, Clemenger BBDO chief creative officer, said: “A problem shared is a problem halved. So when I landed a few months back to discover that our iconic St Kilda Road digs were now a pile of rubble and I would be spending my lunchtimes surrounded by Patagucci amongst the Docklands most middling food courts, I realised the only recourse left was to make others feel my pain. I look forward to spending six more performance reviews discussing the new office’s early new year opening dates with this delightfully talented group.”

Clemenger BBDO creative director Heidi Kesselman added: “I’ve always considered Clems to be a bastion of unbridled creativity, and the shop that put Australia on the creative map globally. Moving over from the densely populated island of Singapore, I was initially concerned about the wide open spaces and fresh air Australia would have to offer. Luckily Adrián has reassured me that the middle of the Docklands is very much a refuge from any such luxury.”

Lizzie Slattery, Clemenger BBDO creative resource director, she appreciated being surrounded by “dynamic thinkers”.

“I’m not such a big fan of constantly having to corral them. The building was a big draw card in me coming to work here – it’s a resourcing dream. The grey surrounds and constant traffic noise acts as a natural fence, barricading in the creatives and making it easier for me to keep them focused on our clients’ needs.”

Kesselman is relocating from Singapore where she has worked as a freelance CD for the likes of BBH and TBWA. She has spent 15 years leading creative teams in South Africa, Europe and Asia, including more than three years as Global Creative Director for Porsche with BBDO Germany, and for Mercedes-Benz, PepsiCo and MARS during her five-year stint with Network BBDO in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Meanwhile, Cassidy has relocated from the UK where he led teams in both in-house and agency environments, holding roles including Brand Creative Director for Marks and Spencer and CD with Arcadia Group and specialist fashion and retail creative communications agency, Portas.

Slattery returns home to Melbourne after a seven-year stint in London, most recently at We Are Social where she rose up the ranks to head resource management for London, the largest WAS office, resourcing up to 200 people a day across 5 departments.

Senior creative Blood joins from three years with Saatchi & Saatchi Melbourne. He has also held creative roles with M&C Saatchi, DDB Aotearoa NZ and Saatchi & Saatchi NZ. After beginning his career with CHEP Melbourne, he now helps shape next generation creatives in Victoria as AWARD School’s Top Tutor of 2024, mentoring three of this year’s Top 10 graduates, including the first-place getter.

Multidisciplinary designer Stone joins from T2 Tea, bringing VM and retail branding experience whilst budding stand-up comic and exceptionally funny copywriter Talia joins from three years at Deloitte following her graduation in AWARD School’s Top 10.  

The additions to Clems’ creative department with these six new talents comes off the back of a busy new business period and follows the promotion of four high-performing existing creative team members, and four senior strategy appointments.

The agency will be moving into the Pink House on Little Collins early in the new year.

Top image: L to R –
Talia Stone in pink
Zaneta Vincent in stripes
Heidi Kesselman in laptop
Jake Blood at top
Lizzie Slattery in the back
Adrián Flores in white
Ant Phillips with the beard
Anthony Cassidy in the bottom corner

Superloop, challenger ISP provider, has launched its latest campaign calling for Australians to take a stand up to expensive internet providers by bringing back the early 2010’s trend – planking – with Leo Burnett and Zenith.

Research by Leo Burnett Australia found that many Australian households are using internet plans with speeds that an average American family was using 12 years ago – a time when the famous planking meme emerged. Without a clear reference to what high-speed internet really is, Australian ISP consumers have come to accept slow and outdated internet and have unwillingly learnt to live with it.

The campaign launched with a hero 30-second film, showcasing consumers planking in various precarious locations, claiming their nightmarish internet speeds and prices have left them ‘stuck in 2011.’ The work positions Superloop as a network purpose-built for the superfast future of the internet – directed by Gustav Sundström and produced by Hooves.

Ben Colman, chief marketing officer at Superloop, said: “Superloop is about delivering exceptional internet speed at outstanding value. However, Australians have been stuck paying high prices for internet speeds of yesteryear. We wanted to take this opportunity to challenge Australians to stand up to their internet providers by making the switch to Superloop – all packaged up in a cheeky and playful approach to get their attention.”

“This work is yet another demonstration of the game-changing connected platform we’ve got at Publicis Groupe Australia. Leo Burnett Australia and Zenith Australia’s partnership has been critical in building exceptional and effective solutions for us at Superloop.”

James Beswick and Rowan Foxcroft, associate creative directors at Leo Burnett Australia, said: “Millions of people are still metaphorically stuck in ancient planking times. Clearly, what those people need is for Superloop to unshackle them from outdated internet and set them free.”

The campaign launches in October across key digital channels including OLV, YouTube, Social and Audio, with a second phase launching in the New Year.

Campaign Credits 

Client: Superloop
Ben Coleman – Chief Marketing Officer
Justin Payne – Head of Marketing Growth
Nick Hack – Group Creative Director
Ellie Langer – Head of Brand & Comms
Sarah Endres – Senior Marketing Manager

Creative Agency: Leo Burnett Australia
James Walker Smith – General Manager
Andy Fergusson – Chief Creative Officer
Rowan Foxcroft – Associate Creative Director
James Beswick – Associate Creative Director
Eryn LeMesurier – Senior Strategy Director
Tyson Mahon – Group Business Director
Daniella Garabedian – Business Director
Michael Demosthenous – National Head of Production
Anastasia Nielsen – Senior Integrated Producer
Emily Coleman – Junior Producer

Media: Zenith
Ryan Varley – Head of Planning (Sydney)
Ewan Mitchell – Client Partner
Emily Robinson – Account Director
Nicola Carnevale – Account Manager
Lewis Hughes – Digital Director
Nicole Parish – Snr Digital Manager
Brendan Van Ryn – Group Investment Director

Film Production Company: Hooves
Gustav Sundström – Director
John Pace – Executive Producer
Helen Morahan – Producer
Alex Serafini – DP
Simon Morgan – Art Director
Peta Einberg – Casting
Post Production: The Editors
Bernard Garry – Editor
Richard Lambert – Online
Matt Fezz – Colourist
Sound Design & Composition: Mosaic
Adam Moses – Composer
Bill Doig – Producer

Stills Production Company: The Pool Collective
Simon Harsent – Photographer
Prodigious – Post-Production
Ben Greenfield – Retouching

SOLVD, the Newcastle-based independent media and creative consultancy, has launched a new campaign for Hunter Water that combines technology, media, and creative to promote water conservation in real-time.
 
The campaign, Every Day is a Good Day to Save Water, is SOLVD’s first campaign for Hunter Water after securing the media and creative account as part of its expanding service offering into media in 2024.

The campaign leverages real-time weather triggers and programmatic plugins, aligning the media strategy with live weather conditions to deliver dynamic, contextually relevant messaging to consumers in the NSW Hunter region. Hunter Water is a state-owned corporation (SOC) that provides drinking water, wastewater, recycled water, and some stormwater services to a population of more than 600,000 people in homes and businesses across NSW’s Lower Hunter.

This tech-driven approach integrates seamlessly with the creative execution, which centres around the strategic insight — people don’t see the need to save water when it’s raining, but it’s just as important.

Renee Fedder, Hunter Water’s group manager communication and engagement, said: “The local community understands the need to save water, particularly after the severe drought in 2019, but it’s key to communicate the importance of conservation all year round, not just in rain-starved periods.

“Our climate is getting more unpredictable so the challenge is to keep the message fresh and impactful, and ensure our community has the tools and knowledge to save water in any weather.”

SOLVD principal consultant, Sam Gannon said the agency focused on unlocking a clear problem and identifying ways to do things differently to achieve results. “Hunter Water has been communicating the same message for years, so our challenge was to achieve improved  cut-through using the same core information.”

“By applying technology to the creative and vice versa, we’ve developed a campaign that’s dynamic, responsive, and designed to make an impact. This process was really collaborative from the outset and we could not have arrived at the outcome without that approach. It is a huge credit to our client Hunter Water and our team leads for coming together with a laser focus on leveraging communication and technology to change behaviour,” he added.
 
The campaign sees two scenarios that are often reminiscent of the summer months in the Hunter – sweltering hot, or wet and miserable. While the weather is different, in both scenarios Mick reminds Dave, while the mates are fishing,  that every day is a good day to save water, before seeing him putting weather-relevant, water-saving methods into action.
 
The integrated media and creative campaign launches during National Water Week on 21 October and will roll out across TV, radio, BVOD, digital audio, outdoor and social.

Credits:

SOLVD Agency
Sam Gannon – Principal Consultant
Dan Caban – Group Media Consultant
Lexie Wadsworth – Group Strategy Consultant
Maddie McFarlane – Senior Consultant
Anisha Gittins – Art Director

Toybox Films
Aaron Haberfield – Director/DOP
Ange Maloney – Photographer

Eponine
Sam Eather – Producer

Final Post
Antony March – Sound Design
Shane Burrell – Grade