There’s plenty of industry praise for Mat Baxter‘s new gig as APAC CEO of Mutinex. The outspoken executive didn’t hold back in interviews announcing his news, saying in one: “99.9% of marketers don’t have a fucking clue, and if they have no idea what their budgets are doing, they deserve to be fired.”

In a LinkedIn post, Ben Shepherd, CEO of Schwartz, gave the comments a bad review: “I have worked with loads of marketers and this statement is such a lazy generalisation designed to get the hot take machine ticking.

“It’s hard to understand the end game of this new sweary style of ‘marketing to marketers’, which is basically telling them how stupid they all are but doing it in public.”

In the comments section, Shepherd added that the “worst thing you can do as an analyst is rock up to a specialist doing their job, point to the data, and call them an idiot for doing what they are doing.

“It seems to be a weird flex to bang on about how dumb everyone is (i.e. your potential customers) and also in the same breath talk about all the money you’re going to make (assuming from all these dumb dumb marketers who can’t add 2 and 2 together). Good for them but the hubris is a bit much.”

James Greet agreed with Shepherd, with the former OMD and Mindshare CEO writing on Shepherd’s post: “Totally with you… all utter tosh! Leave ‘em to it.”

In response to Shepherd’s thoughts, Baxter told Mediaweek: “He’s entitled to his opinion. As am I.”

Earlier this month, Baxter clashed with TrinityP3’s Darren Woolley in the LinkedIn comments section, as Mediaweek reported on the pair’s initial disagreement over a promotional TikTok video featuring US media agency bosses, and their eventual resolution.

‘The market’s shit’

Baxter gives an honest interview. In his chat with Mediaweek ahead of his Mutinex news going live, he said: “The market’s shit … for an industry that prides itself on telling clients they innovate and be disruptive, the advertising industry is the least innovative, forward-thinking and adapted to change in the entire world, in my view.”

Baxter described the Mutinex product, what it aims to provide to the industry, and how agencies work as “revolutionary.”

“The number one thing I learnt at Huge is for all these people that profess to be innovative, different and creative, when you ask them to change, guess what they do? They implode. They freak out.”

He said that while the industry is “not ready to change”, the team at Mutinex is “driving a change that has to happen.”

Ferrier and Wright: ‘It’s a big story’

Baxter has plenty of fans, though. Among them is Thinkerbell co-founder Adam Ferrier; the pair co-founded Naked Communications 20 years ago.

“The best way to answer this question is with emojis:   ,” he told Mediaweek.

“I’m extremely happy for them both [Baxter and Mutinex co-founder and global CEO Henry Innis] and will be amazed if they don’t quickly become the new global benchmark in informed marketing decision-making. It’s a big story.”

Stephen Wright, TrinityP3’s business director media, also lauded the Mutinex appointment and Baxter’s “stellar track record”.

Wright told Mediaweek: “Be it Naked, UM, Initiative, or Huge – he always has an impact.

“Mat always loves to challenge the ‘status quo’ and at a time when marketers are very focused on ROI this appointment makes a lot of sense.

“He provides Mutinex with a vote of confidence from a well-respected global media leader together with an enhanced strategic approach without losing any of the energy, excitement, and dynamism exuded by Henry.”

‘Clients, agencies, board and CFOs do not understand the outcomes of their marketing investment’

Baxter told Mediweek that Mutinex needs to cause disruption. “You have an industry obsessed with patting themselves on the back and telling themselves how creative they are, not on how good the results are,” he said.

Proudly evangelising the product, he called it a “category breaker” and said that clients, agencies, boards, and CFOs “do not understand the outcomes of their marketing investment” or “have any idea where their money is best spent.”

“This is a simple decision-enabling tool. It might sound simplistic, but it’s revolutionary.”

“It’s a dynamic decision-enabling system that does not exist anywhere else in the market. Not just in Australia but anywhere. That is why I got excited about it.

“I think clients will have a huge amount of value out of it, and I think our market needs it because agencies and clients need to become way more accountable for growth.

“The hint is in the name GrowthOS. It’s not data analytics, it’s not this or that. It’s GrowthOS.”

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Top image: Mat Baxter

Honda has overhauled its agency model under its new marketing chief, appointing Howatson+Co to run media and creative, and creating an in-house agency to work alongside Chris Howatson‘s indie shop.

As a result of the shake up, spearheaded by new head of marketing Terri Golder, who joined February, incumbents Zenith, Leo Burnett, Wavemaker, and TRP lose the account.

Howatson+Co was already working with Honda on media, picking up the business in February after Honda’s first media pitch in a decade.

Honda thanked its former agency partners – “we wish each of them all the best” – and said the new “hybrid model” will “optimis[e] efficiency and creativity.”

“With our rich brand heritage, the establishment of an in-house agency, coupled with new external partners, positions us to drive greater effectiveness in our marketing efforts,” Belinda Cusworth, general manager of customer experience said.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Terri Golder to lead our reshaped marketing function.”

Golder started out in agencies, working for Grey, Clemenger, Proximity London, and McCann before heading client-side at Specsavers. From there, she spent almost seven years at Renault, then was head of marketing at Bunnings. Most recently, she worked as a consultant.

Howatson, the founder and CEO of Howatson+ Co, added that “Honda is one of the most valuable brands in the world.”

“The opportunity to work with Belinda and Terri to continue this legacy is a dream for both myself and the entire agency,” he said.

“We’re honoured to become part of the Honda family.”

The in-house component of the model was developed in partnership with -lution. Nick Thomas, -lution’s partner and chief strategy officer, said the in-house agency will launch next month, spanning creative, production, and media. It is currently recruiting for initial in-house roles.

“We’re proud to assist Honda in redesigning their operating model and building an in-house agency from scratch,” Thomas added.

Last month, Howatson+Co acquired Kenny Hill’s Akkomplice, 10 years after Hill set up the independent agency.

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Top image: Golder and Howatson

Despite some unexpected setbacks in the second Create Space census, Advertising Council Australia (ACA)’s Hannah Sturrock believes “we do focus on the bad stuff, but always because we’re trying to win, get better, and eliminate all weakness.”

Speaking to Mediaweek following the release of the census results, the national advertising industry body’s head of engagement, Sturrock, says: “We need to be comfortable with being uncomfortable, and the realisation that it’s not a quick fix.”

Hannah Sturrock

The census, conducted last November, aimed to capture the current state of diversity, equity, and inclusion within the local advertising, media, and marketing industry.

The ACA reported close to 2,500 professionals contributed to the anonymous survey, which follows on from the inaugural 2021 survey, leveraging Kantar’s Inclusion Index to benchmark performance. 

Inclusion Index: ‘Layers of prejudice and challenges’

The results showed a six-point drop in the industry’s Inclusion Index Score, falling from 62 to 56. This was in alignment with national and global trends, according to the ACA, driven by a lower sense of belonging and an increase in negative behaviour.

The local industry’s Inclusion Score is on par with the national norm at 55, measured by Kantar in 2022 – only just ahead of the global advertising, marketing, PR and market research industry benchmark of 54.

The Inclusion Index drop, Sturrock suggests, could also be evidence of stricter standards in work environments.

“I can see that it is quite sensitive to changing expectations,” she says. 

“51% of the industry is under 34. You can argue with it all you like, but that’s a very powerful age group that will be running the industry in 10 years’ time.

“I think there are just higher expectations across the board now of what work should offer and what progress looks like. Maybe we have to kind of accept that there’ll be this kind of three steps forward, two steps back.”

Sturrock describes being most disappointed by the substantial dip in the Inclusion Index score among LGBTQ+ respondents.

“I’ve read tons of verbatims. I’ve looked at a lot of data to try and figure out what was going on, and it’s not easy on this one. A 10 point drop in LGBTQ+ inclusion, despite the fact that we saw more people were comfortable being out at work, and a slight increase in representation at C-suite/executive management level.

“What accounted for this group feeling so much less positive about work? There wasn’t really an obvious answer, other than if we take an intersectional approach.”

Sturrock describes “layers of prejudice and challenges to overcome” contributing to increased feelings of exclusion in adland over the past two years.

“Having said that, I think also LGBTQ+ people probably do also have a higher expectation of what they’d like the industry to look like, in terms of that representation. I think we need to make progress there around the kind of people that are being hired, but also the people that are leading in agencies. And I get that, but that’s always probably going to be a slower burn.”

Sturrock is steadfast that the advertising industry is in need of encouragement, and in danger of relegating positive action to the “too hard” basket.

“We don’t want anyone to start glazing over and tuning out of this conversation because it’s all too hard,” she says.

“People need encouragement, don’t they? That they’re not going to be whacked with a stick.”

Create Space represents more than the final survey results, she reminds, but also includes a resource hub, six-step action plan, templates, training ideas, and industry case studies.

“That is a differentiating factor here,” she says. “Quite a lot of surveys come out and it’s just drawing attention to a particular stat or a particular problem.

“This is not just a survey. We’re not just going ‘here’s the data, see you later, good luck!’. We’re giving you the data, but that’s because we want to keep ourselves accountable. But we’re also trying to get very clear about what everyone can do.

“We have immediately followed up with what we think are lots of different tactical ways to address the problem.”

Improvements for women: ‘Really good marker of progress’

The survey revealed promising trends too, with the number of women in C-suite and executive management positions rising from 46% to 54% between 2021 and 2023. Women now dominate all five census levels: executives, senior staff, middle management, junior management, and interns.

Sturrock was heartened to see the significant increase in women holding creative and design leadership roles, which rose from 21% to 37% since the last census.

“It’s still lower than where it needs to be for a majority female industry, but I was really happy to see how much that had changed from 2021,” she says.

“At Ad Council, we are doing a lot of work in ensuring that … there is a pipeline of strong female creative talent being nurtured towards leadership. So it was good to see that it could change by that amount in two years, because I don’t think that stat has changed fast at all. But in two years, that felt like a really good marker of progress.”

She hopes the results signal a movement towards gender parity among CCO and ECD roles.

35% of respondents noted significant positive changes to DE&I in their company, with overall awareness of companies’ DE&I strategies and policies increasing by six percentage points to 59%.

But, as Sturrock notes, “there’s definitely cynicism creeping in around all talk no action, which probably talks to the idea that in the last few years, there’s lots of stuff that’s happening in the boardroom.

“But for a lot of people on the floor of the agency, they’re not as close to those conversations, so they don’t feel that there’s been massive progress in the same sort of intensity as someone who is probably spending millions of dollars.

“And both can be true at the same time. Yes, people are spending time and millions of dollars, and people can struggle to appreciate the progress. It doesn’t mean that one of them is right, and one of them is wrong, it just means that we’ve got to get better at bringing the two dimensions closer together.”

Part time: ‘I did think it would be higher’

There has been a slight reduction in the likelihood of individuals leaving the industry due to exclusion and discrimination, from 20% to 19%. However, this figure is higher for underrepresented groups and females who have taken parental leave in the past five years, increasing to 23% of females, 27% of LGBTQIA+ individuals, 30% of Asian respondents, and 28% of females who have taken parental leave in the last five years.

Only 7% of respondents work part-time, a statistic that surprised Sturrock. “I did think it would be higher,” she says.

“That suggests that as an industry, we haven’t really worked out how to operationalise the work that we do being in professional services working on tight timeframes.

“That just has such a knock on effect, if we can’t crack that, because then you do find it trickles down. The caring responsibilities start to take people out, rather than allowing them to stay in, and we also see the people that do work part time are not making it into those leadership roles, which then exacerbates the gender pay gap as well, and reinforces a leadership trope or profile, which is that you’ve got to be five days a week.”

Sexual harassment: ‘Would like to see that under 4%’

Instances of sexual harassment have reportedly dropped slightly from 6% to 5%, and from 8% to 6% for females.

“I would like to see instances of sexual harassment in the past 12 months really drop. We’ve gone from 8 to 6%, but I would like to see that under 4%.”

One factor that could influence future census outcomes is the positive duty legislation, which now places the onus on Australian businesses to prevent sexual harassment and misconduct in the workplace.

“Ultimately, we’re putting some real legal responsibility behind what was always just best practice, and it changes it from being reactive … to a proactive responsibility to ensure people are not being injured at work in any way. It goes the same for psychosocial legislation. Both of them have the same positive, proactive emphasis, which means that businesses of all sizes need to understand that this is not a nice to have, it’s a legal mandatory.”

Ultimately, “the industry is only going to prosper with a healthy, sustainable, excellent source of human resources, so we need to protect those resources,” she says. 

“We need to make sure that they are entering the industry, they’re staying in the industry, they’re progressing in the industry, and they’re thriving. 

“That’s the only way that the industry itself will continue to lead the way. And we do want to lead the way. We don’t want to be average, we want to be on the vanguard.”

See also: Inclusion drops in latest ACA Create Space results: ‘Average is not good enough’

The industry’s Inclusion Index Score has fallen by six points since 2021, results from the Advertising Council Australia’s (ACA) second Create Space Census show.

The census, which took place in November last year, paints the latest picture of the local advertising, media, and marketing industry’s demographics and experiences of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

According to the results, the Inclusion Index Score has fallen from 62 to 56, which, according to the ACA, is in alignment with national and global trends, driven by a lower sense of belonging and an increase in negative behaviour. The decline was mirrored by 8 out of 12 markets between 2019 and 2022. 

The score was further affected by perceptions of bias around hiring and career progression, insufficient support for skills development, and feeling undervalued compared to colleagues.

At its current number, the local industry’s Inclusion Score is on par with the national norm at 55, measured by Kantar in 2022 – only just ahead of the global advertising, marketing, PR and market research industry benchmark of 54. 

ACA’s CEO Tony Hale said that despite the Australian ad industry’s performance aligning with global trends, the drop in rank was disappointing. 

“The future of Australian advertising is reliant upon a wide variety of people feeling that they are included and listened to. Average is not good enough,” he said. 

“However, the green shoots in the data suggest our strategy is correct and industry leaders are increasingly aware of the importance of DE&I. We must now stay the course.”

The national advertising industry body said close to 2,500 professionals contributed to the anonymous Create Space survey, which follows on from the inaugural 2021 survey, and leverages Kantar’s Inclusion Index to benchmark performance. 

The number of women in C-suite and executive management roles has increased from 46% to 54% in the period from 2021 to 2023. Females now dominate all five census levels, also dominating senior staff, middle management, junior management, and intern and junior executive levels.

“It’s brilliant to see female representation at senior levels growing steadily and we now know we have to address equitable career development and training, particularly for people managers, as key drivers of inclusion,” Hale said.

35% of respondents noted significant positive changes to diversity, equity, and inclusion in their company. Overall awareness of companies’ DE&I strategies and policies has increased by six percentage points to 59%.

ACA’s national head of engagement, Hannah Sturrock, added: “Over the past two years, significant effort, time, and money have been invested in creating inclusive workplaces and progressive policies. 

“Awareness of inequality and underrepresentation has increased notably. Create Space is here to ensure we remain vigilant and continue to grow both as individuals and as an industry.”

Instances of sexual harassment have reportedly dropped slightly from 6% to 5% overall, and from 8% to 6% for females over the last 12 months. The ACA stated there is evidence of a more open culture, with a 6% increase in people sharing mental and physical health challenges with employers, and a 5% increase in LGBTQIA+ individuals being “out” in the workplace.

WPP ANZ President and D&I Committee Chair, Rose Herceg, said it was encouraging to see some positive changes in the data, which is evidence that agencies and businesses are taking action.

“These are wins. Progress is progress, especially as part of a long-term program that aims to drive systematic change over time,” she said.

“However, there is a perception gap that exists across the industry, with those most likely to report positive changes belonging to the C-suite, being aged over 45, or identifying as heterosexual or male. 

“That means the groups most affected by the lack of inclusion and representation are not feeling positive change as much. We need action that makes a difference to all people at all levels.”

There has been a marginal decline in the likelihood of individuals leaving the industry due to exclusion and discrimination from 20% to 19%, similar to in 2021.

However, this number is higher for underrepresented groups and females who have taken parental leave in the past five years, increasing to 23% of females, 27% of LGBTQIA+ people, 30% of Asian respondents, and 28% of females who’ve taken parental leave in the last five years.

See also: ‘Greedy’ and ‘shitty’: Adland urged to stop making parental leave redundancies

Sturrock continued: “Australia’s ad industry has done a good job updating its policies and approach to DE&I but the work must continue to translate strategy and intent into action and accountability at all levels, not just the C-suite where the most change is being seen. 

“The six actions in the Create Space Action Plan have proven to be an effective framework. We urge the industry to use them to reflect and reset, as we continue to foster a sense of belonging in the workplace.”

See also: ACA: Advertising industry needs to focus on retention and senior diverse talent

“AI is your competitive advantage as an independent,” Pip Bingemann, Springboards.ai co-founder, told the IMAA’s Digi-Byte event yesterday.

The Digital101 e-learning course is the final training module from the IMAA Academy, and was unveiled on Tuesday in front of almost 200 independent agency staff and media partners at the inaugural event, held at Fortress Sydney.

Highlighting the fact that 52% of the Fortune 500 companies from 20 years ago no longer exist, Bingemann told the room that “Bigger ain’t better. It’s slower, it’s more expensive, more complicated, and it’s also why the big go extinct.”

“Big businesses either get bought, go extinct, or die. The tech world has been cutting jobs for the last two years – they’ve cut half a million jobs in the last two years, and I think part of that is because they realised that there’s been too much fat in those businesses. They saw AI as the corporate Ozempic.”

Meanwhile, the advertising world has been trending in the opposite direction, with the number of jobs growing in advertising and marketing. 

“Half of the reason for that is because of the fragmentation of the landscape, but the other half, I think, is that within our industry there’s an anti-AI fear narrative that’s been circulating,” Bingemann said.

If used correctly – and that doesn’t mean spending 15 minutes playing with ChatGPT – Bingemann said that AI is a competitive advantage that will agencies “do more with less,” and to  “move faster and be more productive, to pitch more.”

He predicted that the advantages of AI would be felt for indies over both the short and long term, due to the fact that the larger players in the market simply “cannot move as quickly as a small independent.”

“There is a huge, huge short-term advantage. The agencies that can adopt AI now, understand the value of it and how to use it – not only to pitch more, but to proactively go out and work – is a three to five year impact. For every client you win now, the average tenure is three to five years. 

“From a long-term standpoint, I actually don’t think the holding companies are going to have the best tech, and the reason for that is that they’re not tech companies, they’re advertising companies. If they were good at creating tech, they wouldn’t be in advertising, if I’m brutally honest.”

The IMAA’s Digital101 offers an examination of the nation’s digital advertising landscape across five e-learning modules. The course begins with an overview of the digital space, the role and benefits of digital advertising, key channels and platforms, and insights into strategy, planning, and budget setting.

Additional modules dive into subjects such as programmatic advertising, digital video, digital audio, programmatic digital out-of-home, search engine marketing, social media, and display advertising. The course will also cover key developments in digital advertising and channels nationwide, ad verification and media quality, and Australia’s privacy laws.

Speaking about the Academy’s final e-learning module, IMAA board chair, Jacquie Alley, said she was “confident” the Digital101 module would leave participants with a comprehensive grasp of digital channels, formats, and strategies.

Jacqui Alley speaks at Tuesday’s Digi-Byte event

“Digital has become deeply embedded within nearly every aspect of Australians’ lives. A recent GWI study found that 96% of Australians are online every day, spending, on average, more than six hours with digital channels. 

“As a result, advertisers are investing heavily in digital – brands spent $14.7 billion on digital advertising in 2023 alone, with expenditure increasing by 3.7% year-on-year. It just shows the proliferation of digital in society and why it’s so important for media professionals to have a sound understanding of the digital sector.”

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Top Image: Pip Bingemann speaks at Digi-Byte

DDB Sydney and McDonald’s Australia have launched the Things just got feisty campaign to introduce the limited-edition Feisty McSpicy range. 

DDB Sydney and the Dylan Alcott Foundation’s Shift 20 Initiative – an alliance of leading brands focused on increasing representations of diversity in advertising – worked together to create the campaign’s hero film, meant to showcase a variety of spice lovers across Australia, whose experience of the Feisty McSpicy range elicits a somewhat involuntary flavour response.

McDonald’s Australia’s national marketing manager, Lancy Huynh, said: “Customers across the country have been begging for the return of our McSpicy range, so we  decided to not only bring it back, but to take it to a whole new level.

“We know spice lovers come from a range of different backgrounds, so it was important that we reflected that in our campaign creative. Our hero film aims to showcase the diversity of Macca’s customers across the whole creative ambit, including casting and locations.” 

The campaign comes as Macca’s promises its spiciest-ever chicken burger this month, alongside the return of Spicy Chicken McNuggets and Spicy Shaker Fries, all showcased in the multi-channel campaign.

DDB Sydney’s executive creative director, Matt Chandler, said the agency “saw a great opportunity to name the new creation, and then capture the kind of feisty reactions we’re bound to get.”

The campaign rolls out from today, Wednesday 22 May, across TV, online video, radio, online  audio, out-of-home, social media, partnerships, and sponsorships.

The work follows on from Macca’s launching its nostalgic homage to the legendary Big Mac via DDB Sydney and media agency OMD in April this year, reviving the classic chant: “Two all-beef patties, Special Sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.”

Later that month, in its ongoing pursuit to inject new life into the legendary Big Mac, the fast food giant brought back a promotional campaign for the burger, first launched in 1987, through a partnership with Snapchat, once again led by DDB Sydney and OMD, as well as DDB’s sister agency and London outpost, adam&eveDDB.

The Big Mac Chant Challenge is a gamified rewards program that encourages participants to recite the chant, leveraging social media to encourage fan participation, especially among younger generations, by introducing them to the chant already well known to their parents and grandparents.

See also: McDonald’s and DDB Sydney revive 1987 Big Mac promo, ‘passing the baton of the chant between generations

Credits:

Client: McDonald’s Australia 
Creative agency: DDB Sydney 
Media agency: OMD 
PR and influencer: Mango Communications Sydney 
Production company: Revolver 
Post-production: Revolver 
Sound house: Squeak E. Clean Studios Sydney 
Sound engineer: Simon Lister  
Head of production: Emma Duncan

The ABC has reported growing audiences so far in 2024 and Jennifer Collins is never far from the action.

As ABC head of screen, she looks after the teams running scripted dramas, scripted comedies, factual and documentary, children’s and family, and entertainment. Quite a remit.

“It’s just so great to see ABC TV doing so well at the moment,” Collins told Mediaweek backstage after the recent ABC TV mid-year programming event. “Viewers come, have a look at a documentary, then have a look at a scripted project and then move to an entertainment show.

“That’s the strength of the ABC – we’ve got that breadth of slate.”

Who’s who at ABC H2 2024

The mid-year upfront showcased an impressive line-up of programming. As we reported previously, programs from some of the major production houses are coming, including The Assembly (Helium), Ladies in Black (Bunya Entertainment, Plum (Roadshow Rough Diamond), Headliners (Endemol Shine), Monday’s Experts (CJZ), Hard Quiz Kids (Thinkative), Bluey Minisodes (Ludo), and Bay of Fires S2 (Marta Dusseldorp). The first of these shows and more start rolling out in the next few days.

Talent spruiking products included Wil Anderson, Tom Gleeson, Sammy J, Guy Montgomery, Namila Benson, Michael Theo, Megan Burslem, Gracie Otto, Anthony Burke, Adam Hills, Zane Rowe, Patricia Karvelas, Marc Fennell, Virginia Trioli, and Jan Fran.

ABC execs and talent at mid-year upfront event

Can the hits keep coming?

The ratings boast so far this year included ABC iview platform growth that sees it sitting as the #2 free-to-air BVOD network to date in Australia. Year-on-year weekly active user growth is up on iview, with 24% year-on-year growth on minutes viewed (*non-kids) and 10% year-on-year growth on minutes viewed (*kids).

Original commissions and acquisitions like NYE, Muster Dogs, Nemesis, Total Control, Darby and Joan, and Vera secured over 1 million total TV average audiences so far in 2024.

The broadcaster branded its TV offering #1 2024 network in reach, helped along by the biggest show on Australian television to date for 2024 – Bluey.

Scripted dramas are one place where the ABC shines. It’s a space largely vacated by the FTA commercial channels with a few notable exceptions. It’s an era where the main competition is SBS and the streaming platforms.

Brendan Cowell at work on Plum

Among the local dramas still to come this year is Plum. The Brendan Cowell and Asher Keddie series from Roadshow Rough Diamond and Modern Convict Films was originally scheduled for 2025.

“It’s ready now,” explained Collins. “We thought it was a really good time for Plum to be on air during the football season as well.” Although the date is yet to be revealed, expect the six episodes to screen before the end of September.

One show definitely coming in 2025 will be season two of Bay of Fires, the Marta Dusseldorp project which she produces and stars in has recently started filming in Tasmania.

When it comes to commissioning, Collins said the factual shows need the longest lead times. That means her wall planner includes factual shows that will be ready to screen in 2026 and 2027.

Financing challenges

Collins explained lots of judgements are made before a project gets the green light. Not least of those is financing.

“Some shows come into us partially financed, or partially developed,” she said. “A lot of our shows are coming to us just as an idea. That’s where we love it actually, to be able to work with the producers on the idea, developing it for the audience, knowing when it’s going to drop. Some of those developments do take a long time.”

Financing can come in different ways, including finding a co-pro partner. “Australian television is having a moment right now. The Newsreader has done extremely well for BBC. Bluey has obviously taken on the world stage.

“We are finding there’s a lot of partners that are looking to Australia to come in early on co-productions. That’s something we’re really looking at.”

The dream schedule for the broadcaster is to have a key drama and a narrative comedy on air for many weeks of the year. They would like more than they can currently afford. “We would love to be in a position to have one drama dropping every month. Across our acquisitions and commissioned slate, we’re pretty close to that. Now we commission probably five dramas a year and five narrative comedies.”

One of the recent hits was the New Zealand drama After the Party. It almost felt like a local commission. “We came in a little bit earlier than we normally might in the process. We have a really fantastic relationship with producer Lingo Pictures. We’ve made a lot of shows with Lingo, the latest one being The Messenger.

“Lingo producers Helen Bowden and Jason Stephens were able to give us an early heads up on After the Party. We were really excited about that show, its script and having Robyn Malcolm in the lead. It’s done so well for us.”

See also: ABC reveals major new investment in TV series commissions for 2024 plus more Bay of Fires

ABC’s head programming, acquisitions and streaming Roberta Allan and chief content officer Chris Oliver-Taylor with Jennifer Collins

The broadcaster receives lots of pitches

“We say no to a lot of projects. There are many more projects we pass on. Some which are probably quite good that we’d like to do. But it is all about budget.

“That’s why we’re always looking for innovative ways of financing our shows and stretching the dollar further.”

One thing the ABC doesn’t do is partner with a streaming platform.

The reason? “Our focus at the moment is building ABC iview so it is really important for us to have a period of exclusivity on our scripted dramas in particular. Those shows are on ABC exclusively for free because they’ve been taxpayer-funded shows and they should be available to all Australians for free.”

As to the ideal window for a locally commissioned series, Collins said, “Usually around five years exclusively. And if we’re re-commissioning shows, we need to know audiences expect that previous series are available on ABC iview. When we’re commissioning a drama, we need to know that when we go to second series that we can also have series one available for audiences. They can then binge through series one and series two.”

Ladies in Black

Ladies in Black

While Plum is scheduled for a little later in the year, coming in June is the TV series of Ladies in Black.

“It’s wonderful,” said Collins. “It’s lush, the fashion, the time in the 60s, beautifully layered storytelling, and an incredible cast, including Debi Mazar, Miranda Otto and Jessica De Gouw. Directed by Gracie Otto. We’re just in such good hands with Bunya Entertainment. We’ve been working with SAFC down in South Australia on that one as part of the ABC SAFC screen partnership.”

The prolific Anthony Burke

One January hit was a season of Grand Designs Transformations. Anthony Burke is no stranger to audiences for his work hosting Restoration Australia. But this was his first time with the Grand Designs franchise and his co-host Yasmine Ghoniem.

“We’ve always had Grand Designs on the network. We feel very blessed that we can now produce that franchise. Audiences just have lapped up Grand Designs Restorations,” said Collins. “It was really successful for us, over a million total TV audience. We looking forward to Anthony coming back with Grand Designs Australia later in 2024.”

Collins has a link to the format via her time at Grand Designs format home Fremantle where she worked as director of content.

See also: ABC introduces two new channels – ABC Family and ABC Entertains

Chris Wirasinha, the co-founder and CEO of ad tech startup Linkby, says after founding Pedestrian in 2005, running a business as a second-time founder has been much easier because he has a greater perspective on the industry.

“We’re learning so much from how to raise money from venture capital investors to how to grow internationally,” he told Mediaweek.

“Linkby’s two biggest markets are the US and UK respectively, so experiencing how to operate in new markets with their own distinct cultures has been an exciting part of the journey.”

Linkby is a global VC-funded adtech business that connects established and emerging D2C brands with popular publishers, including The Daily Mail, News Corp, Penske Media Co, Dotdash Meredith, The Daily Beast and more. 

Brands that use Linkby’s services only pay for clicks back to their website or the impressions on their content. 

The company was founded in Australia in 2020 by Andrew Chak, Adrian Fagerlund and Wirasinha, who co-founded Pedestrian Group in 2005 before selling the company to Nine in 2019.

Wirasinha said the idea of Linkby developed in his last few years of working at Pedestrian.

“During my last years there, I saw a huge amount of brands who’d built their businesses off of the back of channels like Facebook and Google looking to explore content opportunities but on a more performance-focused basis,” he said.

“Linkby was inspired by helping brands achieve this by supporting publishers, creators, newsletters and anyone with an audience to offer cost-per-click (CPC) and CPM-based content solutions.”

Linkby is growing rapidly – it has added 15 new staff across the business over the last couple of months and now stands at 60 employees globally.

“We now have over 1,500 agencies and brands using the platform who’ve collectively now driven more than 15 million clicks back to their sites driving millions of new customers and sales to our partner brands,” he said.

“We’re rapidly growing and expanding our Pubfeed product which is an ‘infinite scroll’ management tool for brands and publishers that allows editorially approved content to appear natively in feed. It can be bought on both a CPC and CPM basis allowing for mass distribution of content. It’s the fastest way to break brand news across a huge network of Australia’s most trusted publishers.”

Linkby has offices located in Sydney, New York, and London. Wirasinha stated the NY outpost has been performing particularly well.

“We’ve been fortunate to have Vanessa Lawrence, former publisher of Pedestrian, make the move to lead our team on the ground which continues to expand.

“The US market is our largest and accounts for half of the revenue of the business. We’re working closely with some of the biggest content creators in the world from the likes of USA Today in publishing to Morning Brew in newsletters.”

Most recently, the company made its debut on global affiliate marketing platform Awin’s Power 100 list for 2024, selected from more than 1 million active partners across 35 countries.

This year’s list, says Awin, spotlights “the next-generation affiliates reshaping the industry landscape.” Of Linkby specifically, Awin says it has “revolutionised the way that brands work with premium publishers.”

Wirasinha said Awin is one of the leaders in the global affiliate space and Linkby feels fortunate to work with it across its key markets of USA, the UK, and Australia.

“Being featured on this year’s power list as one of the only Australia-founded businesses is a testament to the massive cut-through Linkby has had globally in just over four years.”

Prime Video will launch its ad tier option for subscribers in Australia on 2 July 2024. 

For subscribers who want to avoid ads, members will need to pay an extra $2.99 per month on top of their current subscription. Members who do not upgrade and stick with their current plan will see ads inserted into their shows and movies.

Prime Video has not revealed how many ads would be played while streaming a film or show, but said in a statement that “we aim to have meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers.”

In an email to local subscribers this week, Prime Video said: “This will allow us to continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time.”

Prime Video increased its prices last year when it moved its monthly plan from $6.99 to $9.99 and its annual option from $59.99 to $79.99. The introduction of the ad tier will also apply to subscribers on annual subscriptions who will need to pay the extra monthly fee to avoid ads. 

Prime Video is the latest streaming service to introduce ads, following in the footsteps of its competitors Binge, Netflix, Paramount+, and Disney+. 

Netflix already offer an ad-supported tier which costs $7.99 a month, a standard plan with no ads at $18.99 per month, and a premium option at $25.99 per month.

Binge rolled out its ad model in March 2023, adding ads to the basic plan which costs $10 per month. To opt out of ads, subscribers had to upgrade to the standard plan at $18 per month. 

Paramount+ will launch it’s ad-tier in Australia in June. It will cost $6.99 per month for the ad tier, $9.99 per month for a standard membership and $13.99 per month for a premium membership. 

Disney+ has yet to launch its ad tier in Australia but is expected to by the end of the year, as US subscribers have had access to an ad tier since December 2022.

Stan’s parent company, Nine, have continued to stand against launching an ad-tier option on the streaming service.

The launch of a Prime Video ad tier comes as a report from Kantar in April revealed that 16.6% of VoD households are choosing a cheaper ad-supported plan, compared to 9.2% a year ago.

The report stated this is due to consumers fighting high interest rates by looking to trim their discretionary spending on services such as video streaming. 

The report also revealed that 7.8 million Australian households now subscribe to at least one VoD service, with penetration increasing from 74.3% in the previous quarter to 75.2% in Q1. 

See Also: Ad-supported streaming plans on the rise as households battle high interest rates

OMD CEO Laura Nice, oOh!media’s Chris Freel, UM’s Ben McCallum, and Atomic 212 CEO Claire Fenner are among the 100 senior industry leaders participating in UnLtd’s Adland Bail Out to help break the cycle of youth incarceration.

The event, which will take place on June 27 at the Yasmar Detention Centre in Haberfield, will see senior leaders in media, marketing, tech, and creative swap their home comforts for prison uniforms, solitary confinement, and prison grub to experience what life really is like for many young people at risk.

The “inmates” will be stripped of their possessions, fingerprinted, and interrogated before spending the night in the chilling cells of the youth detention centre.

To be released the next day, each participant will be required to raise $1,250 as their “bail”. The funds raised will go towards UnLtd charity partners’ programs, specifically designed to break the cycle of youth incarceration.

Stephen Hunt, CEO of UnLtd, highlighted that Australia is one of the only countries in the developed world that places children as young as 10 years into juvenile justice centres.

“Imprisoning children at such a young age simply does not work and only leads to a revolving door of incarceration, mental ill-health and a huge cost to our society. At UnLtd, we are fortunate to work with several charities that are focused on providing better outcomes for young people and society; ultimately keeping kids out of jail and helping them break the vicious cycle of youth incarceration.

“This event is a fantastic and unique way to bring awareness to this issue, deliver a visceral experience to our participants and to raise funds for more effective programs.”

Additional “inmates” confirmed include Ashley Earnshaw from Nine, Jasmin Bedir from Innocean, Mark Jarrett from PHD, Nicole Bence from Nova, Sam Buchanan from the IMAA and many more. This year, a few previously released inmates will take on different roles, with Fiona Roberts, Paul Kent, and Ricky Chanana confirmed as prison guards. 

Inmates are currently busy raising their bail, with Liam O’Meara at the top of the leaderboard for most funds raised to date.

Fiona Roberts, managing director ANZ at MiQ, said taking part in Adland Bail Out a few years ago was “one of the most eye-opening experiences” she had experienced.

“Spending the night on those cold hard floors of a cell is humbling and hearing the real life stories from young people is incredibly touching. But I’ve served my sentence and this year I’m excited to keep the motley crew in order as a Guard. Get ready to do as I tell you.”

The participants will take part in thought-provoking workshops to hear from young people with lived experience on youth incarceration and inspiring experts working tirelessly to help keep young people out of trouble, out of jail, and chasing their hopes and dreams.

2024 Adland Bail Out inmates so far:

Adam Elliott, Advertising Industry Careers
Adam Johnson, Nova
Andrew Gilbert, Yahoo!
Andy Procopis, ARN
Arvind Hickman, B&T
Ashley Earnshaw, Nine
Ashley McGrath, UnLtd
Ben McCallum, UM
Brittany ‘Bad B’ White, REA Group
Cathy O’Connor, oOh!media
Chris Ernst, Dentsu
Chris Freel, oOh!media
Claire Fenner, Atomic 212
Daniel ‘Dmac’ McConochie, Alliance Outdoor Media Group
Danika Johnston, WeAre8
Esther ‘The Pest’ Carlsen, Nova
Geoff ‘Golden Boy’ Cochrane, VMO
Henrik Isaksson, Acast
James Dixon, Atomic 212
Jade Harley, UnLtd
Jasmin Bedir, Innocean
Jo Clasby, Nine
Julia Edwards, Uber
Julie Anne ‘JLO from the Prison Block’ Longano, Peeps Consulting
Kasey Jamison, Amazon Ads
Kathryn ‘Fury’ Furnari, Innocean
Katie ‘The Shark Attack’ Finney, Seven Network
Laura ‘really not’ Nice, OMD
Liam O’Meara, Val Morgan Digital
Marcelle Gomez, iProspect
Mark Jarrett, PHD
Michael McEwan, M&C Saatchi Group
Nick ‘The Thomas Terror’ Thomas, Amazon
Nicole Bence, Nova
Nik Weber, ESPN
Ori ‘notORIous Gold’ Gold
Paul ‘Siggy’ Sigaloff, oOh!media
Pia ‘P-Dogg’ Coyle, PHD
Remi Roques, BroadSign
Sam Buchanan, IMAA
Stephen Hunt, UnLtd
Tom Loudon, Little Black Book
Tiffany Damm, UnLtd
Trent ‘ Bob’ McMillan, Kaimera

Full-service creative agency Today the Brave has appointed Alyce Gillis as head of strategy. She moves from Havas Host, where she spent the past five years and most recently served as its head of strategy, spearheading creative, PR, social, and influencer campaigns.

At Today the Brave, Gillis is set to lead the agency’s strategic function across creative, planning, and business development, working with its existing leadership team including managing partner Jaimes Leggett, partner Celia Wallace, and creative partners Jade Manning and Vince Osmond.

Commenting on her appointment, Gillis said: “I’m thrilled to be joining such a talented group of people at Today the Brave. The agency’s belief in leveraging the power of brave strategic and creative work to drive business growth, alongside the energy and passion the team have for the work they do is a powerful combination.”

Gillis’ appointment follows a string of business wins for Today the Brave, including Carnival Cruise Lines, HOYTS, TRUE NORTH, and MECCA. The agency continues to work with its foundational clients, including News Corp and the University of Sydney.

The agency has tripled its headcount in the past 12 months as it introduces fully integrated capabilities, including media and PR.

“If our first year was about getting ourselves established in the market – recent months have been focused on supercharging our growth,” said Leggett.

“It’s the perfect time to welcome Alyce into the fold. Her unique combination of skills will be invaluable in shaping our strategic offering for clients, as well driving our internal ambition to make Today the Brave the best agency any of us have ever worked for.”

Earlier this year, Carnival Cruises and Today the Brave launched the 100% Holiday campaign, aimed at leveraging Carnival’s established brand recognition to drive consideration and conversion

See also: Carnival unveils ‘100% Holiday’ campaign via Today the Brave amidst rising competition in the cruising industry

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Top Image: Alyce Gillis

Enero Group is reporting double-digit revenue growth for BMF and Orchard for the second half of the financial year, but expects net revenue and EBITDA to drop for the full year, amid challenging market conditions in the global technology sector.

The Australian agencies, including BMF and Orchard – Hotwire is global – are performing well in FY24 H2, according to its latest ASX announcement, growing by double-digits compared to the previous half.

For the 12 months ending 30 June 2024 (FY24), though, the group expects to report net revenue of between $189 million and $192 million, which represents a 5% to 7% decline on a like-for-like (LFL) basis and 20% to 22% decline on an underlying basis year on year.

Enero Group also forecasts EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) of between $36 million and $39 million or a 6% to 14% decline on a LFL basis and a 50% to 55% decline on an underlying basis year on year.

The group noted that business continues to be affected by “a global downturn in the technology industry and ongoing macroeconomic headwinds”.

The ASX announcement continued: “Enero is pleased by the performance of the Australian-based agencies, which continue to thrive in the competitive healthcare and consumer practices space.”

Enero is also managing its cost base tightly, it told investors, and is undertaking additional cost initiatives in FY24 H2 as top-line challenges face the business.

This comes as a competitive sale process continues with OBMedia, Enero Group’s performance advertising platform.

Last month, Mediaweek revealed that BMF’s chief creative officer Alex Derwin would be leaving the business to set up his own agency. Derwin has since started the venture, but hasn’t confirmed details to the market. BMF is yet to announce his replacement.

Earlier this month, BMF launched its first work for The a2 Milk Company since winning the account.

The new brand platform, Only a2 Will Do, accompanied by the hero film, Tough Tummies, celebrates the everyday of heroism our stomachs while recognising the natural absence in a2 milk of the the A1 protein found in most conventional milks.

The work from the creative agency closely followed a series of promotions within the agency’s creative and innovation departments, including Dave Roberts and Tom Hoskins to the shared role of group creative directors.

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Top image: Brent Scrimshaw, Enero Group chief executive officer

The National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) has partnered with brand design agency FutureBrand Australia to develop and deliver a brand strategy in support of the foundation’s vision of zero deaths from breast cancer. 

In support of this vision, the new brand strategy developed by FutureBrand will inform and inspire the NBCF’s marketing, communications, and digital initiatives. The strategy rollout commenced earlier this year as part of the NBCF’s 30th anniversary.

The work from FutureBrand Australia, a B Corp Certified organisation, is a pro bono commitment designed to help the organisation better leverage its brand for social and environmental outcomes. 

The news follows NBCF’s appointment of VML earlier this month.

NBCF director of digital technology, Andrew Bachelard, said: “A distinctive and compelling brand is essential to help us fund more world-class research towards our vision of zero deaths from breast cancer.

“We wanted to ensure that the new brand definition incorporated our values, as they are lived and experienced internally, so that the whole organisation speaks with a powerful and consistent voice driven by an inspiring brand idea,” he said.

Andrew Bachelard

FutureBrand developed its position via a series of interviews, co-creation sessions and employee surveys. According to the agency, this was instrumental in helping not only to craft a strategic direction for the NBCF, but to put together a roadmap to guide its implementation.

This further extended the brand strategy to identify the strategic roadmap that will enable its implementation, from brand architecture to brand identity, brand experience, brand training and beyond. 

FutureBrand Australia CEO Rich Curtis said: “When you work with an organisation with as strong a purpose as the National Breast Cancer Foundation, it becomes all the more important that it shows up in the everyday experience.

“That’s been our focus for engaging with people across the organisation, marketers and non-marketers alike, to develop a revitalised brand strategy that is credible in how it aligns with the foundation’s values – and incredible in how it enables those values to be even more impactful, both inside and out.” 

See Also: FutureBrand revamps Strike brand for Funlab

DDB Melbourne has announced the promotions of creative partner Giles Watson to deputy executive creative director, and group creative director James Cowie to creative partner – head of copy.

The move follows the agency‘s February promotion of Becky Morriss to creative director and appointment of Sarah Tonner as creative services and traffic manager.

In addition to Watson, Cowie, Morriss, and Toner, the DDB Group Melbourne creative leadership team includes creative director Cam Trollope, and is led by executive creative director, Psembi Kinstan.

See also: DDB Melbourne promotes Becky Morriss and taps Sarah Tonner

Kinstan said that “the promotion of Giles will be no shock to anyone that’s worked with him, and for those that haven’t, this promotion is designed to ensure more of our clients and teams across the Group get exactly that opportunity.”

Watson’s contribution to DDB Melbourne includes work on clients Porsche, Movember, Funlab, the National Gallery of Victoria, and Dulux. Over the past decade, he has also produced work for agencies including Howatson&Co, Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, as well as a number of agencies across Dubai and London.

Acclaimed campaigns in his roster including triple Yellow Pencil winning Matilda Bay’s Rejected Ales, and most recently Movember’s Mancestry, and Porsche’s Taycan Arcade.

During his time at DDB, Cowie has helped with the the revitalisation of the Coles brand as part of bespoke agency Smith Street. Before DDB, he was an executive creative director at Deutsch New York for nine years, running global creative for Budweiser Football.

“For too long, to the detriment of the Australian industry, there’s only one way to progress your career as a creative, and that’s through people management,” Kinstan added.

“I believe passionately in the role of craft to make all our work better, and passionately in our responsibility to show all creatives that there is more than one path to take in a creative career. I feel privileged to work alongside our Cowie and our growing creative leadership team.”

Today, DDB Sydney and McDonald’s launched the Things just got feisty campaign to introduce the limited-edition Feisty McSpicy range. 

See also: ‘Things just got feisty’ at Macca’s in campaign via DDB Sydney and Shift 20

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Top Image: Giles Watson and James Cowie

The MFA has launched the latest update to The MFA Guide, an introductory resource for media newcomers navigating their careers in an ever-changing and complex industry.

Written by 22 current media agency professionals, the updated version covers how media agencies work, the journey of a brief, through to an in-depth analysis of each channel, and more.

The MFA Guide includes new sections on influencer marketing, gaming, experiential, and evolving audio platforms, as well as the most recent case studies of effective campaigns to demonstrate the impact of media agencies in delivering long-lasting results for marketers.

Linda Wong, MFA director of people, said: “In a dynamic and constantly moving media landscape, media agency employees need to know more than ever before.

“Packed with the latest developments across channels, audiences and marketing needs, The MFA Guide provides the ultimate foundational knowledge for anyone working in the media industry.

“For newcomers, it offers a comprehensive understanding of the purpose and value of media agencies, as well as the vast array of career opportunities available to them.”

Originally developed a decade ago for the Tertiary sector, The MFA Guide’s audience continues to grow, encompassing media owners and clients, while remaining a key resource for lecturers and students learning about the media industry.

Katherine Pochroj, group marketplace director at EssenceMediacom, called the new MFA Guide a great resource for covering channels, audience insights, and more.

“Particularly for those just starting in media, it’s a solid overview of the critical role and significance of media agencies and the amazing industry they have joined,” she added.

See Also: ‘Less about media plans, more about marketing orchestration’: MFA Awards committee members on what clients need from media agencies

See Also: Pitch pledge might not work in ‘Wild West frontier’ of Aussie adland: ACA, MFA, and IMAA on State of the Pitch

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Top Image: Media industry professionals involved in putting together the content for The MFA Guide

The Seven Network is extending its data partnership with Visa, and will be adding three new segments: luxury brands and stores, SMB owners, and seasonal shoppers. 

Seven and Visa have previously worked together to build a data solution visualised by 7REDiQ before being made available to advertisers. Marketers can leverage the data to target audiences across Seven’s digital platforms. 

Seven’s director of audience development and growth Andrew Brain said “All of this ladders up to our overall strategy to ensure 7REDiQ continues to provide the market with the most advanced, intuitive and innovative guidance when advertisers are seeking maximum efficacy with minimum wastage.”

As part of the partnership, Seven will also tap insights from Visa economists to provide foresight on upcoming disposable income.

Visa’s head of consulting and analytics for Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific, David Peacock, said the team were “excited to extend our partnership for another year,” and that Visa’s transaction data “Provides valuable insights on where and how Australians are spending their disposable income.”

“We know these insights are incredibly valuable for advertisers looking to target audiences with the utmost precision.

“Visa is developing ways to enhance our insights even further by extending the reach of our data into new categories that will give us an even broader view of Australians’ spending habits.”

In February, Visa announced it was building on its sports sponsorships with a strategy to work with athletes to help power their skills as creators.

Most recently, Visa announced the four Australian athletes joining Team Visa for Paris 2024, as part of the company’s worldwide payment technology partnership with the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Surfer Molly Picklum, swimmer Flynn Southam, middle distance Paralympian Jaryd Clifford, and footballer Ellie Carpenter will be part of the team. Globally, Team Visa includes athletes representing more than 60 markets and 40 sports.

See Also: How Visa is helping athletes become creators to leverage its brand in 2024

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Top Image: Andrew Brain

Both WPP and INVNT have partnered again with SXSW Sydney, with INVNT the sponsor and co-producer of the Discovery Stage, and WPP as an official partner.

WPP will host clients, international guest speakers, and local innovators across 10 sessions focused on creativity and AI leadership. At the end of each day, it will host networking events for marketers.

“We couldn’t think of a better place to showcase creativity as a force for growth,” Rose Herceg, WPP country president in Australia and New Zealand, said.

“This year, our audience can expect to see what creative transformation supercharged by WPP Open – our intelligent marketing operating system powered by AI – looks like and learn how it is helping to future-proof our industry.”

On the 2024 Discovery Stage, featured within the SXSW Sydney Tech and Innovation Expo, INVNT will, for a second year, bring its expertise in production, brand storytelling and its “Challenge Everything” ethos to SXSW Sydney.

Adam Harriden, executive creative director of INVNT, told Mediaweek: “This year at SXSW Sydney, we challenge brands, partners, and attendees to ask themselves – what does innovation truly mean? Innovation isn’t only about exploring new technologies to transform the traditional.

“Innovation is about sparking conversations that challenge the status quo and can even change the way entire industries operate it’s about creating experiences that tap deep into everlasting memories, that resonate on a universally human level, and with whatever we do or create, taking our challenges on with a daring spirit to push boundaries, rather than following the traditional.

“The best things are often Australian-made, and we look forward to unveiling new collaborations, conversations, and experiential moments that will truly challenge the meaning of Innovation at SXSW Sydney 2024 and the world at large.”

Adam Harriden

Harriden said that INVNT is looking forward to creating a stage program that explores the latest developments in technology, art, business, commerce, and culture catalysing the future of creativity. He said last year’s SXSW was a “smorgasbord of creativity, commerce, and culture.”

“We’re looking forward to collaborating with brands and helping them understand that it’s not about pleasing everyone, but telling brand stories and experiences that resonate and are curated for specific audiences.

“One size doesn’t fit all at SXSW, so if you’re going to activate, you’re going to have to make it special; your presence at the festival full of changemakers and pioneers means that you have the potential to propel us into a future filled with lots of exciting opportunities and possibilities.”

This year, INVNT will bring more emerging ideas, experiential moments, and on-stage collaborations with INVNT.ATOM, the innovation-powered division of INVNT GROUP.

Laura Roberts, managing director of INVNT GROUP APAC, added that the agency looks forward to “collaborating with brands to infuse our hallmark creativity, storytelling, and innovation into a diverse range of activations, helping them stand out as disruptive brand pioneers amongst the crowd.”

Colin Daniels, managing director of SXSW Sydney, welcomed both WPP and INVNT back on board.

“INVNT’s “Challenge Everything” ethos aligns greatly with that of SXSW Sydney and their focus on innovation and powerful storytelling makes them the perfect partner to help us bring this element of the program to life,” he said.

Of WPP, Daniels continued: “Just like in 2023, WPP’s stage sessions will be a must-see for marketers and brands alike. We look forward to taking our partnership to the next level this year as we create innovative and engaging content for our audiences.”

Last year, SXSW Sydney attracted 300,000 attendees and 1,000 sessions. It returns to Sydney 14–20 October.

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Top image: Adam Harriden

TV Report 21 May 2024:

Nine TV Report

The Summit

Nine’s evening began The Summit.

As a chaser closed in to catch the hiking group a big twist turned the game on its head. A friendship was torn apart and competitors were forced to turn on each other in a bid to survive. 

A Current Affair

Over on A Current Affair, the program met with a woman from the UK who is fighting for her citizenship after 55 years in Australia and also met with a woman living in a hospital while her parents battle with NDIS over care options.

Seven TV Report

Farmer Wants a Wife

On Seven, Farmer Wants a Wife saw Farmer Joe find love, selecting Sarah in the Farmer Wants a Wife finale.

Joe admitted: “This is one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made,” before acknowledging country-girl-at-heart Sarah had all the qualities he was looking for in a partner.

Joe declared: “I love the person you are. I love how strong and determined you are.”

In starting the next chapter of his life on the farm, Joe recognised the path to love isn’t always smooth: “It hasn’t always been easy with us. We’ve had some tough times. I’ve sometimes felt that you’ve pulled away. But I also know that you can be a shy person and take your time to get to know people.

“I’m looking for someone who doesn’t need me, but who wants me,” Joe professed before asking Sarah if she wanted to come back to the farm with him.

Excited, Sarah replied “absolutely” before the couple sealed it with a kiss.  

Home & Away

Before Farmer was Home & Away as Xander was fed up with Mac and Felicity’s feud, Alf offered Mali advice and Justin tried to surprise Leah. 

10 TV Report

The Project

The Project on 10 looked into the ICC seeking the arrest warrants for Israel PM and Hamas leaders, met with a pensioner who is fighting to live in his converted bus on his friend’s property and welcomed the Harlem Globetrotters to the desk. 

MasterChef Australia

On 10’s MasterChef, the punk princess of pastry, Anna Polyviou returned with a pressure test created especially for the particular challenge. An egg on toast proved to be much more intimidating than thought for the contestants.

The Cheap Seats

Taking a look at the week that was were The Cheap Seats hosts Melanie Bracewell and Tim McDonald as Mel Tracina and Merrick Watts joined in on the action.

ABC

Tony Armstrong’s Extra-Ordinary Things

Tony Armstrong travelled across the country to meet everyday Aussies with ordinary things that hold extraordinary stories of Australia’s most defining moments. 

SBS

Who Do You Think You Are?

Author Kathy Lette was featured in this episode as she discovered formidable females in Norway.

Monday 20 May 2024: VOZ Total TV Ratings Overnight Top 30 – Programs ranked on reach

Total People TV Ratings

Nine’s The Summit recorded a total TV national reach of 1,512,000, a total TV national audience of 526,000, and a BVOD audience of 52,000.

Nine’s A Current Affair recorded a total TV national reach of 1,599,000, a total TV national audience of 1,057,000, and a BVOD audience of 66,000.

Seven’s Farmer Wants a Wife recorded a total TV national reach of 1,807,000, a total TV national audience of 1,130,000, and a BVOD audience of 111,000.

Also on Seven, Home & Away recorded a total TV national reach of 1,404,000, a total TV national audience of 892,000, and a BVOD audience of 94,000.

10’s airing of MasterChef Australia recorded a total TV national reach of 1,227,000, a total TV national audience of 659,000, and a BVOD audience of 56,000.

10’s airing of Have You Been Paying Attention? recorded a total TV national reach of 1,214,000, a total TV national audience of 683,000, and a BVOD audience of 35,000.

See Also: TV Report 20 May 2024: Two farmers find their forever during Farmer Wants A Wife

People 25-54

Nine’s The Summit:
• Total TV nation reach: 536,000
• National Audience: 232,000
• BVOD Audience: 30,000

Nine’s A Current Affair:
• Total TV nation reach: 490,000
• National Audience: 306,000
• BVOD Audience: 37,000

10’s MasterChef:
• Total TV nation reach: 479,000
• National Audience: 259,000 
• BVOD Audience: 33,000

Seven’s Farmer Wants a Wife:
• Total TV nation reach: 531,000
• National Audience: 306,000
• BVOD Audience: 61,000

Seven’s Home & Away:
• Total TV nation reach: 458,000
• National Audience: 295,000
• BVOD Audience: 54,000

10’s Have You Been Paying Attention?
• Total TV nation reach: 527,000
• National Audience: 319,000
• BVOD Audience: 22,000

People 16-39

Nine’s The Summit:
• Total TV nation reach: 206,000
• National Audience: 79,000
• BVOD Audience: 15,000

Nine’s A Current Affair:
• Total TV nation reach: 203,000
• National Audience: 125,000
• BVOD Audience: 19,000

10’s MasterChef:
• Total TV nation reach: 216,000
• National Audience: 120,000 
• BVOD Audience: 19,000

Seven’s Farmer Wants a Wife:
• Total TV nation reach: 222,000
• National Audience: 128,000
• BVOD Audience: 33,000

Seven’s Home & Away:
• Total TV nation reach: 207,000
• National Audience: 136,000
• BVOD Audience: 32,000

10’s Have You Been Paying Attention?
• Total TV nation reach: 226,000
• National Audience: 143,000
• BVOD Audience: 12,000

Grocery Shoppers 18+ TV Ratings

Nine’s The Summit:
• Total TV nation reach: 1,142,000
• National Audience: 398,000
• BVOD Audience: 42,000

Nine’s A Current Affair:
• Total TV nation reach: 1,228,000
• National Audience: 822,000
• BVOD Audience: 53,000

10’s MasterChef:
• Total TV nation reach: 953,000
• National Audience: 515,000 
• BVOD Audience: 45,000

Seven’s Farmer Wants a Wife:
• Total TV nation reach: 1,415,000
• National Audience: 891,000
• BVOD Audience: 89,000

Seven’s Home & Away:
• Total TV nation reach: 1,096,000
• National Audience: 694,000
• BVOD Audience: 75,000

10’s Have You Been Paying Attention?
• Total TV nation reach: 957,000
• National Audience: 545,000
• BVOD Audience: 28,000

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