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Wheelchair Rugby Australia has come a long way since it split away from a multi-sport governance system five years ago, and CEO Chris Nay counts a commercial broadcast partnership with Foxtel Group as the key lever in that trajectory. Foxtel Media’s Mark Frain and Martin Medcraf have pulled strings behind the scenes to put Nay and his team in front of big name clients, with the countdown on to WRA’s biggest milestone yet – a major international competition hosted in Adelaide next year. With the sport’s high costs and difficult logistics to contend with, securing a full slate of sponsors on board will be critical to fuelling future growth. Which is why Foxtel is spreading the play, and per Medcraf, the opportunities for brands to score some big wins are plentiful.  

Electric vehicle sales are decelerating while competition intensifies. Polestar has to cut through as a three-year-old brand amid free-spending century-old auto heavyweights while charging top dollar for its cars. Yet local boss Scott Maynard reckons it will double sales within the next two to three years – with bonafide sustainability creds doing heavy lifting. But he says the cars have to be hot and sexy too, otherwise nobody will buy them. Luckily Polestar is ramping up production and the new models – the SUVs Australia has gone nuts for – are hitting the streets with performance that blows most petrol sports cars away. Meanwhile tax and emissions rule changes could refuel electric vehicle growth next year – and maybe see competitors topping up its marketing budget.

The Government has gone all out to make its $22.7bn Future Made In Australia plan land with a splash. On paper a $45m campaign budget – with $4m for The Monkeys – should be a recipe for success. The challenge is getting voters to give a toss about a vision of future prosperity years away from today’s long-running wallet squeeze and spiralling bills. Whether Australians are willing to pay more to support beefed-up local industries over cheaper imported alternatives will determine the policy’s success or failure. Consumer researchers say it comes down to collective willingness to put the bigger picture over our own back pocket. The data says it’s highly unlikely – and the odds of an ad campaign moving the needle are pretty long.