Earlier this year, News Corp Australia announced the launch of The Growth D_Stillery, a dedicated research and intelligence service offering consumer insights to help marketers navigate brand challenges, anticipate consumer trends and understand where best to invest.
See Also: Behind The Growth D_Stillery: News Corp’s newest research and intelligence offering
The Growth D_Stillery amplifies key research insights on trade marketing platforms, and on News Corp Australia channels. As a part of its release into market, the platform has launched a series of vodcasts hosted by News Corp Australia’s director, Growth Intelligence Centre Dan Krigstein, with guests from all corners of the marketing world.
Dan Krigstein
The most recent lot of Growth D_Stillery vodcasts were recorded at Sydney’s Luna Park as part of the 2023 Advertising Week conference, and Mediaweek was on the ground to catch up with those recording episodes.
This week, Mediaweek spoke with Sherilyn Shackell, founder and global CEO of The Marketing Academy.
“I love AdWeek, I go to them all over the world. I’ve been a speaker in New York, I’ve done stuff with them in London. I’m a massive, massive fan,” Shackell said.
“It is absolutely essential, I think, especially at the moment that our talent gets to see things that really, really inspire them and excite them. The world out there is a bit shit at the moment, and you could have a very negative, cynical view, but coming to something like this fills your cup a little bit more, and sparks a little bit of inspiration. I am a massive fan, and I will go to an AdWeek wherever I am.”
Sitting in the main street of Advertising Week, you’ll hear people talking about how well the industry is currently doing, and others speaking about how the doom and gloom predictions are coming true. When asked for what her take is on the state of the industry, Shackell says that the different perspectives show just how confused people are.
“I think it’s more fearful than optimistic. Our industry is a wonderful industry – it’s exciting, it’s dynamic, it’s fast moving, it’s hard to feel really depressed for in our industry. The world out there, though, is going a bit grey and so I do believe that there is quite a bit of fear, and a lack of courage in the industry at the moment.
“Whenever things get really tight in the world, people start feeling like they can’t risk wasting money, or time, or resource, so there’s a lot of that reluctance. That’s a shame in an industry that really can push forward on the front foot to help change, and have an impact on the world.”
One of the biggest hurdles Shackell said the industry is currently facing stems from the pressures C suite executives – particularly CMOs – are feeling, with that pressure trickling its way down the line.
“We’re not in recession, but we’re all talking it up. What I’m seeing is a lot of the CEOs are acting as if we are, and they start putting on the brakes on things instead of doing what they should be doing, which is quite the opposite: investing in growth.
“The tenure of a CMO is really short, it’s now 33 months, which is shit. But what that does is that creates a fear in the CMO that they have to prove their worth in a really short period of time, quarter by quarter by quarter. Therefore, the pressure they put on their media agencies, their creative agencies, and their research agencies, means that they’re all paying for that fear and risk. That’s a race to the bottom, that’s not a good healthy place to be. I’m worried about that.”
Ultimately, Shackell says that she hopes listeners take a bit of her passion for what the industry does away from her episode of The Growth D_Stillery Vodcast.
“I’m really passionate about the power that this industry has to change the world. I’m really passionate about the fact that CEOs and industry leaders in the C suite really need to be investing in the industry, especially now. I am hoping that it might make you think a bit differently, and that you enjoy it!”
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Top Image: Sherilyn Shackell