Westpac closes RAMS following strategic review Westpac is closing its RAMS home loan franchise business off to new loans following a strategic review exploring options including a failed attempt to sell the business.
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Google loses antitrust case. Judge finds it abused its market power in search
“After having carefully considered and weighed the witness testimony and evidence, the court reached the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.”
Principals revamps luxury sporting lodge Poronui’s brand identity
Branding design agency Principals has developed a new brand strategy, story, and identity for Poronui, a luxury sporting lodge located in the Taharua Valley. Poronui offers world-class hunting, fly fishing, and driven wing shooting, complemented by premium hospitality and gourmet New Zealand cuisine.
Market TV perceptions wayward: Ex-Seven CMO Mel Hopkins still backs TV, aligns with Nine CMO Liana Dubois warning marketers of ‘dangerous swing’ to platforms and dashboards over ROI
Six weeks ago Mel Hopkins was rolled out of Seven amid a clinical round of cuts that added further fuel to the narrative that TV is in trouble as audiences bleed and revenue follows suit. But Hopkins, who as Optus CMO dumped the lion’s share of her media budget into Meta and Google, remains convinced TV is undervalued and undersold, says BVOD metrics and reporting are as good as anything the platforms can provide, and that the global streamers are likewise racing to “manage out cost”. Revenue challenges should therefore not be conflated with audiences, which Hopkins and Nine CMO Liana Dubois insist remain healthy – Dubois said TV reached 24.2m Australians last month. While media buyers last year said 2022 had marked “the biggest audience decline in the history of TV” and correctly forecast a 10 per cent revenue hit for linear TV as a result, Dubois said industry needs to get its terminology straight – literally – because TV delivered over the internet can still be linear TV. However it is delivered and consumed, “television today is reaching the same amount of people that it did 10 years ago,” per Dubois – and those numbers “are holding”. She warns marketers pulling out of TV for digital platforms and their dashboards are “dangerously” risking marketing effectiveness and should instead look beyond the shallow metrics – and narrative – they are being fed.
Relaying confidence: Optus head of marketing on rebuilding the brand, choosing Goodrem and Donovan for its new campaign, and why he’s emphasising value and control
It’s a brave call – kicking off a nationwide campaign oozing with confidence about the quality of Optus’ network eight months after suffering a 14-hour network outage that gave the telco a second public smack and left the brand further bruised in the eyes of the Australian consumer. But for Optus head of consumer marketing, Cam Luby, and his wider team, the numbers are ticking upwards, product campaigning efforts in recent months are paying off, and the time is right for the brand to reclaim its challenger spirit and sense of optimism by shouting a loud ‘Yes’ to market that Optus is a worthy choice of telco for Aussie consumers looking for value. So the telco has launched a new seven-day, no-catch network trial to prove its infrastructure credentials, supporting it with a nationwide, full-funnel campaign featuring Aussie icons Delta Goodrem and Jason Donovan that’s part-brand, part-product lift and all-in on entertainment.
EarMax Media founders claim ‘scattergun’ media plans and ‘lowest common denominator’ creative give podcasts a bad rap; agencies and publishers fall short on ‘due diligence’
Andy Maxwell and Ralph van Dijk are out to undo the norms of podcast media planning, and they’re going in hard against the standards set at the big end of town. The duo last month hard-launched EarMax Media, a podcast-only media shop that promises to deliver meticulous podcast strategies via direct trade with publishers big and small. The plan is to turn around conceptions that podcast advertising just doesn’t work for some clients – a sentiment van Dijk says is courtesy of “scattergun media plans and grating, lowest common denominator creative” that has left some marketers burnt. Maxwell says a lack of knowledge on the sell-side hasn’t helped things either, but with time and plenty of “due diligence”, he’s confident EarMax can remind advertisers of podcast’s super power: Targeting engaged audiences in the context of their passions.
Former Movember director Troy Muir joins Lifechanger as marketing and tech executive
Troy Muir, former director of digital experience at Movember, has joined the ranks of LifeChanger, a not-for-profit organisation focused on preventative mental health and wellbeing. Muir will serve as the new marketing and technology executive, bringing his extensive experience in digital platforms and AI to the table.
7-Eleven Australia trials next-gen Pay & Go tech in 10 stores
7-Eleven Australia has launched a 10-store trial of its next-generation Pay & Go technology, in partnership with US checkout-free technology business Grabango.
Kogan.com reports steady Q4 performance amidst cost of living pressures
Australian e-commerce giant Kogan.com has reported a steady performance for the quarter ending June 2024, with a return to revenue growth despite a 1.5% year-on-year (YoY) decline in gross sales to $154.6 million.
CareSuper wins branding battle in Spirit Super merger
CareSuper and Spirit Super have revealed the name of the new fund that will be created by both businesses merger in November, creating a combined fund of 550,000 members and approximately $52 billion in funds under management.