Rory Heffernan has been appointed as chief executive officer of Atomic 212°, effective 1 November.
 
Heffernan, who has been Atomic 212°’s national managing director for over two years, will succeed Claire Fenner who resigned earlier this month and leaves the independent media agency on 31 October.

He was the first employee of Atomic 212°, joining the Sydney office in 2010 before moving to Melbourne in 2014 to lead digital operations and client relationships. Heffernan was then appointed general manager of the Melbourne office in 2019 before stepping up to the national managing director role in February 2022.

This year, has seen Heffernan awarded by trade media press, including the New Business award in Mediaweek’s Next of the Best list.

“Thank you to Barry (O’Brien, chairman) and James (Dixon, chief data officer and partner) for what has been an incredible journey and experience to get to this point with Atomic 212°,” Heffernan said.

“I am very honoured to take on the CEO role and to lead this fantastic team into the future, building on the success and impact we have had within the industry to date.

“The past two years have been remarkable for our business, with significant growth in staff, billings and revenue. The refinement of our product across trading, data, performance and strategy has led to great results for clients old and new alike, and I’m incredibly proud of the internal development we’ve had for our people – from our leadership team to our industry-leading People & Culture program.

“Thank you to our amazing people and our supportive, collaborative clients for making us the business we are today. I look forward to working with you all to continue to grow our agency and capabilities, as I will continue to focus on innovation and how we best equip our clients and team into the future,” he added.

Rory Heffernan and Claire Fenner

Last week Fenner announced her resignation as national chief executive officer of Atomic 212°. She said of her time at the agency: “After an amazing 10 years at Atomic 212°, I’ve achieved so many goals and had so much success. I’m looking forward to having more time to focus on my family in my next adventure. It’s a decision that doesn’t come lightly, as I have come to consider many members of the Atomic 212° team family.
 
“We’ve had a phenomenal journey together and achieved unmatched success. I’m incredibly proud to be leaving Atomic 212° as the number one independent media agency.

“Thank you to all the brilliant, talented people in the business and, in particular, the incredible senior leadership team who have all played an instrumental role in the success of Atomic 212° and the success of our client partnerships.
 
“Thank you to our partners, our clients. We have been so fortunate to attract and work with such valued partners who truly understand what partnership is and are a pleasure to work with every day, working together towards a common goal. We have thrived off the success of your businesses,” she said.

Barry O’Brien

Atomic 212° Chairman, Barry O’Brien, said: “This is one of the better things I get to do: to proudly make this announcement as chairman of Australia’s largest independent media agency.

“Good things come to those who wait and today is a wonderful moment for all of Atomic 212° – and a moment 14 years in the making. Rory was our first employee, and he has grown from the first day he walked into our company. He has played a key role in the growth and success of our clients, our people and our agency. It’s fantastic to see him step up into the CEO position and I know he is going to do a great job.

“Rory will take the reins seamlessly from the great work done by Claire Fenner to lead the team and the company into the future, having set the bar at the highest level for himself and the team with the extraordinary success we have enjoyed over the past few years,” he said.

James Dixon

James Dixon, Atomic 212° chief data officer and partner, said: “Rory has been with us since the start and has made an invaluable contribution to the success of Atomic 212°. I can’t think of anyone better and more deserving of becoming our new CEO.”

Heffernan’s appointment follows a series of client wins and retentions for Atomic 212° over the past year including BlueScope, Great Wall Motor, BMW Australia and New Zealand, Bupa, the Northern Territory Government, Tourism Northern Territory, Northern Territory Major Events Company, Darrell Lea, Victoria University, My Muscle Chef, Vet Partners, Adyen and UKG.

Atomic 212° won Global Independent Agency of the Year (Media) and Global Digital Innovation Agency of the Year in Campaign’s Global Agency of the Year Awards announced in June 2024, and won Best Agency Culture and Talent (more than 100 awards) at the 2024 MFA Awards in September.

It also ranked #1 among independent agencies in Australia in new business wins, including client retentions, according to the FY 2023 report from COMvergence.

See also: Claire Fenner resigns from Atomic 212° as national chief executive officer: ‘It’s a decision that doesn’t come lightly’

Nine wined and dined media buyers and advertisers on Thursday, showing off the best of what’s to come at the network in 2025.
 
The network’s executives, such as Liana DuBois, Nick Young, and Michael Stephenson, took to the stage to highlight the new and returning programming, innovations in measurement and an industry-forward project.
 
Stephenson told Mediaweek that over the last two years, $600m of advertising bought by media buyers has been moved out of the total television ecosystem and reallocated to performance-based channels.

Michael Stephenson

He said he hopes media buyers “see the rationale for re-optimising back towards the top of the funnel to create demand generation, which flows all the way through and will fuel the long-term growth of the brands that they represent.

“Hopefully, what we (presented) is enough evidence that total television plays a critical role in full-funnel advertising and that they understand and appreciate the significance of us investing heavily into MMM modelling to independently prove the power of total television to deliver better business results for brands.”

See also: Nine Upfront 2025: Nine unveils Market Mix Modelling project to prove ‘the power of total television’

Mediaweek caught up with media buyers who attended the event to get their thoughts on offerings and what piqued their interest.

Lorraine Woods

Lorraine Woods, chief investment and trading director at Atomic 212°, called Nine’s advancements in tech and data “leading and exciting” and noted the partnership expansion with Adgile and DataCo. and enhancements of 9tribes “only strengthen an already impressive data stack.”
 
She told Mediaweek that Nine has addressed the balance and scrutiny of campaign effectiveness with measurement and attribution by creating “sophisticated data-led solutions for us to identify and reach our target audiences more effectively, but also allowing us to measure and optimise campaigns based on real results.”
 
“Their collaborative approach with MMM is particularly intriguing. It shows that Nine is truly committed to proving the effectiveness of their total TV product, willing to put skin in the game and invest in partnerships that provide measurable outcomes and hold Nine accountable. We will be very interested in working with them on this.”

 
Woods highlighted advertising on Stan Sport as a “smart move” by the network to reclaim some revenue growing on streaming platforms.
 
Woods also noted the launch of 9Galaxy+ as “really progressive and exciting”. She said: “The ability to manage campaigns and audiences across platforms and devices will be a game-changer. This, combined with the efficiencies 9Galaxy+ promises, will undoubtedly improve campaign performance and ROI.”
 
On the programming, Woods said the network showcased a significant suite of sports, including the Melbourne Cup, tennis majors and the British & Irish Lions rugby tour.
 
For general entertainment, she noted Nine’s focus on owning the early evening with new trivia show, The Floor, and a dating show, The Golden Bachelor.
 
Meanwhile, Woods said the launch of the Good Food app “will likely be well-received, offering exciting opportunities for brands in the food and lifestyle sectors to engage with a highly targeted audience.”

Chris Nolan

Chris Nolan, founder and CEO of Principle Media Group, said Stephenson’s offer to partner with Nine to prove the return on investment of Total TV was “well received in the room.”

He called the introduction of sport into Stan an interesting move for Nine and offers a “premium viewing experience and ultimately the ability to trade across Nine assets”. However, he noted that it will depend on what sports inventory is made accessible as to its appeal for marketers.

“The ability to connect real-time audiences to sales data is something that we have seen in other offerings; for some marketers, this connectivity to purchase data will provide another entry point into understanding video influence on outcomes.

“In addition, good to see they are introducing connectors in addition to the Adobe CDP which will no doubt open up that opportunity,” Nolan added.

Marco Norder

Marco Norder, group investment director – OMD Melbourne, said that Nine’s presentation aimed to deliver its long-standing pitch to the market – “that shifting ad spend from bottom of the funnel back to the top will result in driving better business outcomes for advertisers.”

He called Nine’s $30m commitment to the MMM project with reputable partners as a “brave move” to prove the power of TV and its ability to impact and drive positive business outcomes.

“This is a market-leading approach and a step in the right direction in attempting to break the trend of ad spend shifting towards performance-led channels and an initiative that is likely to benefit everyone, including broadcast competitors, with its ability to deliver proof points to benefit the collective total TV landscape.”

Norder added that for brand-conscious marketers, the project is an additional data-backed proof point that demonstrates total TV is still a powerful tool to deliver business outcomes. For advertisers, he said that the project, along with VOZ, provides the full view of consumption.

Nine’s new content for 2025

For Norder, the presentation was an insight into Nine’s medium to long-term focus, which he noted skewed strongly to digital and data activation capabilities with enhancements of previously announced products and less focus on content compared to previous years.

“A likely attempt at positioning the network as a market leader as the industry navigates its way through the new era of Total TV and the push towards converged trading models.”

Norder said the Stan Sports ad model was a “long-anticipated move” for Nine’s total video ecosystem, but what is yet to be seen is how the ad tier model will be managed with existing customers and how the potential CX conflict of ad revenue against user experience will be managed over a longer term.

Jonatan Morales

Orange Line senior strategy director Jonatan Morales highlighted Nine’s “surprising 9% growth in broadcast TV audiences, bucking trends of TV decline,” which CMO Liana Dubois credited to the network’s strong content offerings across news, sports, and reality TV.

Morales said he was surprised that Millennials now represent 34% of Nine’s audience, followed by Gen X and Gen Z. He noted that Suzie Cadwell, Nine’s chief data officer, reiterated how its database of over 22 million registered users gives advertisers reach to targeted segments across platforms.

Morales noted the new Nine Ad Manager announcement seems to fall short in comparison to the rapid advancements in the programmatic industry.

“As programmatic evolves with greater automation, data-driven targeting, and omnichannel strategies, Nine’s updates, though important, may struggle to compete with the flexibility and precision offered by larger programmatic platforms,” he said.

Suzie Cardwell

Morales noted that “the elephant in the room” was the recent independent review into Nine’s workplace culture. He said it “was only briefly acknowledged in what seems to be a crucial missed opportunity.”

“While they’re doing a lot to retain advertising budgets, failing to tackle these concerns directly could erode confidence with media partners and advertisers—the very people investing in their platforms.

“Without a clear plan to resolve these systemic issues, Nine risks a damaged reputation despite its efforts to compete with streaming platforms and performance channels,” he added.

For Morales, the event offered valuable insights into what’s coming in 2025, including renewed confidence in TV advertising and the upcoming mix-model attribution analysis. 

Stefan Boden

Stefan Boden, marketplace group director at EssenceMediacom, said Nine’s presentation articulated its offering as well as its scale and diverse portfolio of brands that advertisers and agencies could align with to achieve “Better Business Results”.

Boden said that Nine aims to be seen as a growth partner with the introduction of the AVOD platform, and 9Predict used to forecast on 9Now as changes that will breakthrough for the industry and clients.

“This aligns strategically with EssenceMediacom’s proposition which is to deliver breakthrough solutions that reach precise and distinctive high-value audiences (HVAs), providing a commercial advantage to advertisers.”

From a content perspective, Boden said Nine offers consistency, reliability, and trust with proven sporting codes (NRL, SOO, AO) and general entertainment programs (MAFS, The Block).

MAFS

Boden highlighted advertising on Stan in 2025 as a “standout announcement” and a “logical move.” He added that it will be the first time advertisers can plan and execute a single campaign across Nine’s entire television platform.

“While a good development, I feel they could have launched earlier, as the AVOD space is now a cluttered and saturated market.

“Ultimately, I don’t think there is enough room for Prime Video, Netflix, Paramount+, BVOD, CTV, YouTube and more in 2025, so there will be consolidation and stunted growth unless streamers can provide consumers with a very compelling offering.

“TV and total TV are still important (the ability to grow reach quickly and attention metrics), but its position has diminished. Clawing back part of the $600m is going to be some task as the horse has bolted. Nine’s measurement offering is interesting and will be compelling for some, although won’t address the total picture outside of Nine’s ecosystem.”

Boden said the introduction of Nine’s prime-time television inventory into the 9Galaxy platform will ensure 100% guaranteed campaign delivery with no shortfalls or makegoods.

“This allows Nine to introduce converged trading across all television platforms. Testing this opportunity against its competitive set will be intriguing to analyse.”

Boden highlighted Nine’s wide and diverse range of touchpoints, including new additions such as the Good Food app. He also noted Nine’s new data stack, particularly the DataCo partnership, as well-received and allows for creating rich consumer profiles, which Boden said “is very compelling given the scale of their ad supply.”

Boden concluded: “Overall, it was a strong presentation that hit the right notes, leaving agencies and advertisers eager to delve into the details of the announcements and explore how they can leverage these opportunities to break through and engage HVAs at scale.”

Sarah Thom

Sarah Thom, general manager of Nunn Media, said the network has cemented itself as a “formidable force” with its strengths in content, data, and technology, underpinned by innovative products and programming.

“While this year’s presentation lacked some of the glitz and star power seen in the past, the message was unmistakable: Nine is laser-focused on delivering business outcomes.”

Thom highlighted the emphasis on data and technology with 9Galaxy+ and noted the $30m investment in an MMM project on effectiveness and ROI of its media channels as “widely welcomed by the industry.”

She said: “This strategic focus on accountability not only sends a strong message to advertisers but also represents a deliberate move to shift investment from lower-funnel tactics to emphasise the broader impact of brand-building initiatives.” 

Kevin Fernandes

Kevin Fernandes, national head of partnerships and AdTech at Havas Media Network, told Mediaweek a key highlight from the Upfront was the power of Total TV, as Nine noted over $600 million was migrated from traditional TV to lower-funnel tactics, reflecting marketers’ demand for better return on investment (ROI).

“To address this shift, Nine announced a $30 million investment aimed at demonstrating the efficacy of Total TV,” a collaboration which will include MMM partners such as Mutinex, Analytic Partners, and Annalect.

“These initiatives are already in place for 14 Australian brands, underscoring the belief that investment in upper-funnel TV and long-term campaigns will yield greater benefits compared to a short-term focus.”

Nick Young

Fernandes also highlighted the new shows have all been crafted “to engage a unified audience of over 16 million” and “align with Nine’s commitment to innovation and personalised content delivery at scale.’

He also noted the incorporation of advertising in Stan’s sport content as a “strategic move” that enhances business outcomes for advertisers and expands reach within Nine’s ecosystem.

“All these initiatives and partnerships are exactly what brands and agencies are asking for. I’m excited to see how Nine continues to push boundaries, offering an end-to-end perspective on effectiveness and driving impactful outcomes for clients and partners alike,” he added.

Has the launch of any radio show into a new market ever been analysed as much as The Kyle and Jackie O Show arriving in Melbourne?

Probably not. And this is one more feature story to add to the flood so far this year.

There is a not-so-secret weapon that could lead to a change of sentiment surrounding KIIS FM’s plans to roll out its Sydney breakfast show into Melbourne. The Victorian capital needs to be conquered first, presumably Brisbane and Adelaide then could follow.

However, that ambitious move by ARN, accompanied by a mega $200m talent deal, hit the rocks this year as Melbourne audiences turned their backs on the imported stars.

It’s not just the audience that ignored the show. The arrival of Kyle, Jackie O, newsreader Brooklyn Ross and Intern Pete triggered a negative wave of media that hasn’t abated in the Melbourne market.

A number of things have happened during October that could make listeners re-think their breakfast radio habits. But the audience won’t want it rammed down their throat, it will need to happen organically. Word of mouth could trigger this change of attitude.

I’m not talking about Kyle Sandiland’s moderated sex talk either. He has backed off a little though. It got pretty dirty for a while. So much so that when he drops a “suck my @#$%” now and then, it almost goes unnoticed.

Leading the program refresh is the show’s co-host Jackie Henderson. She’s always been a critical part of the attraction for the audience of course, but her star has been allowed to shine a little bit more recently.

Nat Penfold

Other changes for the better is a new executive producer with the promotion of Nat Penfold to the top job. She replaces Pedro Vitola who flagged his departure some time ago, but departed swiftly recently.

Penfold and show director Bruno Bouchet, and the wider team, have been delivering a better product. That was highlighted last week when the stars aligned for the breakfast show on Thursday.

Bruno Bouchet

That was the day Jackie read from her new autobiography to be released this week. That alone would have made for a memorable show. But also happening that day was one listener taking home $100,000 plus an interview with Lidia Thorpe just days after she confronted the King in Parliament House.

But it’s the arrival of Jackie’s book The Whole Truth that could lead a reappraisal of the program. Her decision to work with Nine Publishing author and journalist Konrad Marshall helped secure Nine Publishing coverage on Thursday and Friday ahead of a much sort after Good Weekend cover.

See also: Jackie O’s book bombshell – The Whole Truth reveals visit to Betty Ford Centre

The downside for such a deal though is Nine’s arch enemy, News Corp, will be lukewarm with its coverage. You’ll find it hard to track any mention of the book so far in News Corp publications.

Not all books need to choose one media partner over another though. Just this weekend, the new book from cricketer Glenn Maxwell had excerpts in both News and Nine newspapers. Working with Maxwell on his book was podcaster and commentator Adam Collins.

Also helping build the KIIS FM radio show’s audience is Jackie’s new podcast with her “bestie” Gemma O’Neill. Living Her Best Life has quickly found an audience and sits Top 10 in the Apple Podcasts Society & Culture category. It delivers another way for listeners to find The Kyle and Jackie O Show.

See also: Meet Jackie O’s Bestie Gemma O’Neill – Media executive as reluctant podcast star

Seven has announced the departure of Rachel Page as digital sales director.

A Seven spokesperson told Mediaweek the company wishes her success for the future.

“Rachel has made a great contribution to Seven since she joined us in May 2023,” they said.

“We are building and evolving our digital sales team to capitalise on and enhance the ongoing growth of 7plus and our other digital brands. In early September, we announced the appointment of Jordan King. He starts with us on 4 November as national digital sales director.”

King joins Seven from Nine, where he was director of programmatic and digital sales for three years. His previous roles at Nine include director of audience and automation and head of audience and automation. He has also held senior roles at Unruly and News Corp Australia, and is a member of IAB Australia’s Executive Technology Council.

Reporting to group managing director of Seven Digital, Gereurd Roberts, King will work with Seven’s sales and digital business leadership to define its future-focused go-to-market strategy, product portfolio, programmatic approach and tech stack.

Roberts said: “We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Jordan to the team. He is widely regarded as one of the best digital sales talents in the country and will play a leading role as we accelerate Seven’s digital growth and ambitions.

“With the onboarding of both cricket and AFL digital rights later this year, alongside our unbeatable slate of premium on-demand content, it is the perfect time to bring Jordan on board. 7plus is primed to deliver high-value audiences at scale, and Jordan will work to ensure that equals efficient and effective results for our partners.”

Before joining Seven in May 2023, Page was general manager, sales – AUNZ at Yahoo. She worked at Yahoo since late 2017 and previously held the roles of national sales director and sales director. 

Australia has crowned FIFO worker and father-of-three Reuben De Melo winner of The Voice 2024.

The 32-year-old soulful performer from Perth was taken aback when host Sonia Kruger announced the life-changing result.

Reuben exclaimed: “I never thought I’d get this far, this is crazy.”

Thrilled, his coach LeAnn Rimes said: “I’m so proud. You deserve every bit of this moment and I’m so honoured that I could be on this journey with you. You are incredible.”

Alongside the coveted title, Reuben won $100,000 in prize money plus a money-can’t-buy music masterclass and industry recording development package.

From his first Blind Audition, Reuben captivated Australian audiences with his soulful voice, impressing superstar coaches Adam Lambert, Kate-Miller Heidke, LeAnn Rimes and Guy Sebastian.

Eager to have him on her team, LeAnn used her Ultimate Block, stating: “I knew as soon as he opened his mouth, and I heard him sing. There was just so much feeling there. There was no way I was letting any of the other coaches get to him before I did.”

In a breathtaking final solo performance of House Of The Rising Sun by The Animals, Rueben left all four coaches in awe, with Kate praising it as “exceptional”.

LeAnn added: “I can’t stop smiling. You just gave it your all. That was just insane.”

LeAnn also joined Reuben for a heartfelt duet of Fix You by Coldplay.

Prior to the Grand Finale, the coaches had plenty to say about their finalists.

Adam declares: “Annie, you get up there and something really magical happens. You take the energy in the room, and you make magic with it.” Annie admits: “Being the youngest artist is crazy. I am so grateful that I’m here right now.”

Kate says: “Jaedyn, you are an incredible singer. I love your voice. I want to just dive into it, live there forever.” Jaedyn added: “I’m so grateful. I’m so excited for us to continue to work together.”

LeAnn shares: ‘Reuben, you are the epitome of an artist. You really have such soul. I’m blown away every time you walk on stage.”

“A couple of months ago, I wouldn’t even have thought I’d be here. I’m pretty stoked,” Reuben adds.

Guy says: “SKŸE, there’s something special, something unique, something magical and that’s been really exciting for me as a coach.” SKŸE responds: “Thank you for betting on me, for taking a chance on me.”

See also: The Voice 2024 promising viewers the ‘biggest transformation’ of coaches yet

Much of the 2025 AFL pre-season action will be coming from the respective commentary booths for TV rights holders Seven and Fox Footy.

With the start of a new rights agreement, the FTA and subscription TV broadcasters are overhauling both their game coverage and their weekday programming.

Under the new rights deal, Fox Footy will be mounting its own commentary for all nine AFL games each round.

Seven has already embarked on a hiring spree that will impact its match coverage on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, but also what is expected to be an expanded schedule of analysis shows on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

To date, Fox Footy hasn’t made many moves ahead of next season, apart from revealing Mark Robinson had been dropped from AFL 360.

That changed on the weekend with news that Fox Footy had poached one of Seven’s key AFL analysts.

Decorated four-time AFL Premiership champion-turned-analyst Shaun Burgoyne will join Fox Footy in 2025, coinciding with the start of a rights deal signed by the Foxtel Group.

Most recently, Burgoyne, who played 407 games for Port Adelaide and Hawthorn, has been providing special comments for Channel Seven.

The Foxtel Group reported that Burgoyne is the first of several experts expected to sign with Fox Footy in new roles next season as they bolster their ranks to maximise the opportunity the 2025 rights afford them.

One major change in 2025 impacts the first eight rounds nationally and at least the first 15 rounds in Victoria. The only place fans will be able to watch AFL live on a Saturday will be on Kayo Sports or Foxtel. Fox Footy is marketing this exclusive coverage as Super Saturday Live.

Fox Sports managing director Steve Crawley commented: “Shaun is a straight shooter with a trusted opinion and has earned the respect of all football fans. He is football royalty and he wants to work at Fox Footy.”

Burgoyne will take his place at Fox Footy next season alongside its existing lineup which includes Garry Lyon, Nathan Buckley, Jonathan Brown, Jason Dunstall and many more.

During the 2025 AFL season, Fox Footy commentary and production will be available on all games for the first time along with no ad-breaks during play and every match will also be made available in 4K on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.

See also: Bombshell footy trade – Kane Cornes quits Nine, signs with Seven for 2025 and beyond

Kayo Sports has unveiled an Indian-inspired iteration of its ‘Get on Board’ campaign in anticipation of its biggest ‘Summer of Cricket’ ever.

The 2024/25 Summer of Cricket is headlined by a battle between the top two Test sides, India and Australia, for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with every game of the Five-Test series live and in 4K on Kayo Sports.

Concepted and produced by BALBOA, the Foxtel Group creative agency, the campaign features the largest cast ever assembled for a Kayo Sports campaign and is packed with cricket talent including star athletes of today such as Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Alyssa Healy and Tanveer Sangha, cricket legends and Kayo Sports ambassadors Brett Lee and Adam Gilchrist, as well as talent from the Fox Cricket commentary team including Isa Guha, Ravi Shastri, Mark Waugh and Michael Vaughan.

Against a backdrop of ‘Little India’ converted from a former backlot movie set located in Western Sydney, the TVC also features professional Bollywood dancers and dhol drummers, celebrating Indian culture.

Kayo Sports executive director, Cate Hefele said: “Australia and India share a rich history in cricket and we wanted to celebrate this friendly rivalry through our latest ‘Get on Board’ campaign.

“Around four per cent of Australians are of Indian descent* and our new campaign gives us an opportunity to engage with this important demographic, highlighting that Kayo Sports will be home to what will be an epic Test series between Australia and India. The Kayo Sports coverage will be anchored by a dedicated commentary team featuring much-loved experts of the sport, and we’re also pleased to be including a Hindi feed on the platform to further deepen the connection we are building with India fans.”

BALBOA executive creative director Guy Sawrey-Cookson said: “The Kayo Sports ‘Get on board’ campaign has been a huge success in opening up the brand to new sports fans across Australia. The objective of the new summer campaign was to get all cricket fans, from purists to passers by, to get on board our epic ‘Summer of Cricket’, headlined by the India series. To do this, we invited fans to join the best commentary team in the world, including Adam Gilchrist, in a float full of cricket and sports legends, towed around Australia by Brett Lee’s supercharged Rickshaw. In the words of Ravi Shastri, it was ‘Masti!’”

Other talent featured in the TVC include AFL’s Chad Warner, AFLW’s Ruby Schleicher, NRL’s Pat Carrigan and NRLW’s Tiana Penitani. Foxtel Group staff were also invited to feature in the crowd scenes along with their family and friends.

The new ‘Get on Board’ campaign launched on Sunday 27 October and will feature on TV, radio, social and outdoor. The radio ads will also include spots in Hindi and Punjabi.

Credits:

Client: Kayo Sports
Creative & Production: Balboa, Foxtel Group Creative Agency
Production Company Partner: Austin Studio, Producer: Celia Nicholas
Post-production VFX: Alt.vfx
Sound Design and Music Production: Uncanny Valley
Media: Foxtel Group Media & Mindshare

Body+Soul and Chemist Warehouse’s The House of Wellness have partnered to accelerate digital growth.

The House of Wellness website has been integrated into the Body+Soul digital assets. With this new platform, bodyandsoul.com.au will become the core component of The House of Wellness retail media strategy. Body+Soul is the number one health and wellbeing media brand in Australia, with an audience of 1.47 million.

It will amplify and expose audiences to The House of Wellness health, wellbeing and beauty content via Body+Soul’s UX capabilities and promotional channels. Suddenly, News’ content marketing agency, will lead the consumer strategy and deliver The House of Wellness editorial and commercial content on bodyandsoul.com.au.

Kerrie McCallum & Mario Tascone

News Corp Australia managing director client partnerships Lou Barrett said: “We’re thrilled that Chemist Warehouse has entrusted News, home of the nation’s leading health and wellbeing news source, to amplify The House of Wellness content to nearly 1.5 million Australians monthly. This partnership is a testament to the collaborative spirit fostered by Body+Soul and our newly formed Growth and Experience team. Together, we are creating a powerful, integrated platform that will grow The House of Wellness’ reach and impact, while delivering meaningful value to our audiences and to Chemist Warehouse.”

Chemist Warehouse director Mario Tascone said: “This partnership significantly expands our wellness platform, allowing us to meet the needs of our engaged audience and drive growth even more effectively for our brand partners. We are excited for The House of Wellness to be part of the Body+Soul network which brings together both companies’ expertise and capabilities with a shared commitment to being Australia’s #1 destination for health and wellness.”

News’ head of Food, Travel and Health Kerrie McCallum said: “We’re delighted Chemist Warehouse chose bodyandsoul.com.au for this one-of-a-kind partnership with The House of Wellness. It is deeply embedded in content expertise and our ‘best in-class’ publishing tools and data analytics, to support Aussies at each step of their journey to a happier and healthier life.”

By Caspar Yuill, senior strategist at AFFINITY

The IPA Awards has always been the bellwether for brands and effectiveness. And from what we’ve heard from our friends in London, is that it’s a less than sunny outlook. (But isn’t that always the forecast in the UK?)

Catherine Kehoe, the CMO of Nationwide, gave a blistering opening address noting that the top 100 brands were 20% less valuable than a year ago according to Kantar. If we, as marketers, are supposed to drive growth and value for brands, this means we’re getting worse at what we’re meant to be doing. 

The good news? There is no shortage of brilliant ideas to help reverse this trend, as evidenced by some of the work being celebrated. The upshot is that to be more relevant and effective, your brand should look to the exemplars of great marketing and see what lessons can learned.  

Break Rules. Honour Traditions.

Every category has norms, rules and traditions. Differentiating between what’s a valuable tradition to uphold, and what rules you can break, is the art.  

Take Lucky Saint, for example, the non-alcoholic beer brand that has enjoyed 180% year-on-year growth. Kerttu Inkeroinen, Marketing and eCommerce Director, spoke at length about how Lucky Saint have stayed true to the tradition of quality beer brewing, but have broken several beer marketing rules along the way. The brand started with a Dry January partnership and negotiated inclusion in Sainsburys’ £3.50 lunch meal deals. They targeted active sport “doers” rather than viewers and focused on draught distribution. So, by breaking old beer category rules that only a non-alcoholic beer can, they’ve continued to be distinctive, interesting, and desirable.  

Takeaway: Zig when others zag. What are the category rules? Which ones should you break? 

Worry About Creative Wear-In, Not Wear Out  

Consistency was the word du jour this year. Andrew Tindall from System1 presented some blockbuster research revealing the shocking statistic that inconsistency cost UK brands £474 million in extra media spend per year.  

How? Because creative inconsistency means that brands need to spend more in media to “make up” the loss of effectiveness that comes from running the same creative, over and over. Creative wear out seems to be yet another marketing myth, and marketers should be more concerned with creative wear in.  

A more consistent approach to marketing generated 27% more very large brand effects (substantial shifts in awareness, perception, or loyalty) and 28% more business effects (substantial shifts in sales, market share, or profit) when the same creative was used year in and out.  

Consistency was also the no-so-secret ingredient in McCains’ Grand Prix win. Over 10 years, McCain produced work that had a consistent creative flavour. By doubling down on their distinctive brand assets, like music, visuals, branding, and messaging, McCains created long-term brand growth. Consistent client and agency teams no doubt helped maintain the single minded approach to their success too.  

Takeaway: What are your distinctive brand assets and how can you keep these consistent across campaigns?  

The Value of Experimentation 

It’s easy to be consistent when your ads are working. But what if they’re not? What if you don’t have a great creative platform to start with?  

That’s where experimentation comes in. Laithwaites’ Gold IPA-winning paper showed how a rigorous testing approach could measure the impact of a brand-building campaign. Laithwaites’ sales were in continual decline since COVID. To reverse them, they committed to a brand-building campaign. And to convince the business that this was a good investment, they set up a rigorous testing approach by allocating regions to either a test or a control. The test was exposed to brand ads, and the uplift was measured to build the case for results and further investment. 

At the conference, Head of Brand James Morrison emphasised the importance of committing to the experiment at an organisational level and always having a control group. Perhaps more importantly, marketers need to be okay with failure — even failed experiments can provide valuable insights. 

Takeaway: Be bold. Answer the right problems and always have a control in place when running experiments to measure your impact properly. 

Validate. Then Scale 

How do you know when an idea is good enough to invest in long-term? The answer is to validate it with short-term tactics. If a low-cost campaign drives sales, brands can take cues from that and use to accelerate longer-term growth campaigns.  

The relationship between the long and the short term isn’t as different as people may think. Take Cadbury’s Secret Santa, for example. The campaign cleverly prompted short-term behaviour by allowing consumers to anonymously gift chocolate through a poster. So, it had a clear short-term sales increase, but it also built a long-lasting brand impact, resulting in Cadbury’s investing in the strategy for years to come.  

AFFINITY’s very own Concierge Car Wash case study proves the point from a more immediate, 12-month period. Our team used a limited budget and existing customer data to re-engage car wash visits. Through meticulous analysis of weather patterns, customer behaviour, and the most effective communication days, we created a personalised, hand-crafted text message campaign to customers.  

And the use of the humble text message as a marketing channel ultimately delivered an additional $3.7 million in revenue and increased average transaction values, demonstrating the power of data-led, shorter-term tactics when executed with precision. 

Takeaway: Use your most effective short-term activities to inform your long-term strategy. 

Getting CFOs Onside 

One of the biggest hurdles for marketers is often securing budget approval from CFOs, who don’t (often with good reason) trust that “brand awareness” will actually deliver results for the bottom line. To overcome this, marketers need to do two things. They should understand the commercial imperatives and work with CFOs rather than against them. Building business cases and speaking the language of finance always helps. CFOs are constantly balancing funding requests from many areas of the business and they’re most likely to invest in projects that can prove a strong return on investment. 

McCains provided a perfect example of how to dovetail marketing metrics with financial ones. By demonstrating that their campaign reduced price elasticity and therefore increased profit over the long-term, they made it easier for CFOs to see the value in continued investment over the ten years of their marketing activity.  

Takeaway: Understand the needs and demands of a CFO and then ask help them to make educated investments in the right projects.  

Conclusion 

The insights from the IPAs 2024 are clear and prescient. In a world where marketing effectiveness is declining, it’s more important than ever to take a strategic and informed approach to accelerate growth. (Which is not-so-coincidentally something we at AFFINITY pride ourselves on.) 

And by breaking the right rules, staying consistent, experimenting with controls, validating ideas before scaling, and collaborating with finance teams, marketers can turn the tide and see both short and long term results. 

See also: Caspar Yuill: New Balance’s resurgence from daggy to desirable

Multi-agent AI platform, Decidr, revealed how its business solutions have helped clients like CareerOne and Edible Beauty triple their efficiency during its inaugural Discovery Day, presented yesterday to a sold-out room in Sydney and via webinar with more than 1,300 registrations.

CEO and founder, Paul Chan, said: “AI isn’t just about incremental improvements – it’s about redefining how businesses function at every level. With Decidr, we’re not just talking about theory. Our platform is a working, scalable solution that’s driving real results for businesses right now.”

The day drew attendees from Australia, the US, and the UK, and featured insights from Decidr’s clients.

Edible Beauty founder, Anna Mitsos, shared how Decidr’s AI assistant, Ava, has become an essential part of their customer engagement strategy: “With Decidr, we’ve been able to offer personalised, data-driven recommendations to customers 24/7, scaling our operations without losing our brand’s personal touch.”

The implementation of Decidr’s AI helped increase Edible Beauty’s customer orders by more than 50% and improved customer conversion rates by 18%, all while maintaining brand authenticity and the company’s tone of voice. 

CareerOne is working with Decidr to transform how job seekers and employers connect. By harnessing Decidr’s AI-driven technology, CareerOne can now analyze over 300,000 live job listings in real-time, matching them with millions of candidate profiles, and increasing successful job matches by 30%.

CareerOne CEO, Moussa Namini, said: “The AI-powered platform enables us to treat every candidate as an individual, delivering a personalised experience at a scale that was previously unimaginable. It’s not just an improvement; it’s a transformation of the entire recruitment process.”

CareerOne COO, Tome Acevski, added: “It’s made the job market accessible on an unprecedented level. Decidr is helping us do in minutes what used to take weeks.”

Chan revealed that 2025 will see the rollout of new platform features, including a self-service portal, which will allow businesses to onboard and connect their data seamlessly.

“With AI, businesses can now deploy autonomous processes that run 24/7, delivering scalable, smart solutions for every business function. It’s all about moving from humans working with AI to AI working with humans.”

Australia’s most prestigious media event, the Mediaweek 100 lunch, returns for 2024 at the Pearl Ballroom, Crown Sydney, on November 22.

The Mediaweek 100 celebrates the leaders who are at the top of their game, alongside the teams driving their success at Australia’s leading media companies.

After what has been a turbulent year, this annual event attracts the industry’s most influential people.

You can buy your tickets here. 

This year’s list is set to look quite different from previous years as there have been many big changes in the industry. In 2023, spots #1 and #2 were taken by former Seven CEO James Warburton and former Nine CEO Mike Sneesby, respectively and both are no longer in those roles. 

Warburton placed in the #5 spot on 2022’s list while Sneesby placed #1 that year.

Other execs who appeared in 2023’s top 10 lineup included Nova’s Peter Charlton, oOh!media’s Cathy O’Connor, Are Media’s Jane Huxley, Paramount’s Beverley McGarvey, ARN’s Ciaran Davis, SCA’s John Kelly, Foxtel’s Patrick Delany and News Corp’s Michael Miller.

See the full list of names for 2023 here.

James Warburton, former CEO of Seven West Media

You can view the full criteria and enter the Mediaweek 100 here.

While you don’t have to be nominated to make the list, our application portal is open to encourage submissions. 

KEY DATES

Submissions close: Tuesday, 12 November 2024 (11.59pm AEST)

Event Date: Friday, 22 November, 2024 (12pm AEST)
Location: Pearl Ballroom, Crown Sydney

Tickets are available here.

Thursday 24 October 2024: VOZ Total TV Ratings Overnight Top 30 – Programs ranked on reach

Total People TV Ratings

Nine’s RBT recorded a total TV national reach of 1,406,000, a total TV national audience of 626,000, and a BVOD audience of 45,000.

Nine’s 9News recorded a total TV national reach of 1,800,000, a total TV national audience of 1,097,000, and a BVOD audience of 88,000.

Seven’s Seven News recorded a total TV national reach of 1,978,000, a total TV national audience of 1,226,000, and a BVOD audience of 62,000.

Also on Seven, Home and Away recorded a total TV national reach of 1,411,000, a total TV national audience of 797,000, and a BVOD audience of 94,000.

10’s airing of Top Gear Australia recorded a total TV national reach of 671,000, a total TV national audience of 205,000, and a BVOD audience of 9,000.

People 25-54

Nine’s RBT:
• Total TV nation reach: 479,000
• National Audience: 207,000
• BVOD Audience: 25,000

Seven’s Seven News:
• Total TV nation reach: 511,000
• National Audience: 290,000
• BVOD Audience: 32,000

Seven’s Home & Away:
• Total TV nation reach: 456,000
• National Audience: 234,000
• BVOD Audience: 51,000

10’s Top Gear Australia:
• Total TV nation reach: 249,000
• National Audience: 84,000 
• BVOD Audience: 5,000

People 16-39

Nine’s RBT:
• Total TV nation reach: 193,000
• National Audience: 80,000
• BVOD Audience: 13,000

Seven’s Seven News:
• Total TV nation reach: 196,000
• National Audience: 111,000
• BVOD Audience: 16,000

Seven’s Home & Away:
• Total TV nation reach: 215,000
• National Audience: 108,000
• BVOD Audience: 31,000

10’s Top Gear Australia:
• Total TV nation reach: 85,000
• National Audience: 27,000 
• BVOD Audience: 2,000

Grocery Shoppers 18+ TV Ratings

Nine’s RBT:
• Total TV nation reach: 1,116,000
• National Audience: 497,000
• BVOD Audience: 36,000

Seven’s Seven News:
• Total TV nation reach: 1,575,000
• National Audience: 987,000
• BVOD Audience: 50,000

Seven’s Home & Away:
• Total TV nation reach: 1,079,000
• National Audience: 620,000
• BVOD Audience: 75,000

10’s Top Gear Australia:
• Total TV nation reach: 522,000
• National Audience: 156,000 
• BVOD Audience: 7,000

Data © OzTAM and Regional TAM 2024. Not to be reproduced, published or communicated (electronically or in hard copy) in whole or in part, without prior written consent of OzTAM and Regional TAM.