Ogilvy has published its annual marketing and communications trends report, ‘The Future of Social’, investigating 11 key trends across social influence, social content, and social platforms, to provide insights for marketing and communications teams navigating the evolving social media landscape.
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Circana’s 2024 FMCG insights: AI, ‘funflation’ and the evolving concept of value
Circana has unveiled its first FMCG outlook report for the Australian market in 2024, delving into the trends that have carried over from 2023 and their impact on consumer behaviour, with a particular focus on the influence of economic challenges and the increasing use of AI in marketing.
Next wave: Everything marketers need to know about the streaming-TV-online video shake-out – audience forecasts, advertising shifts, where next: Ampere Analysis
Marketers and media companies had just about got to grips with audience fragmentation brought about by social media and online video. Now the next big wave is coming fast from global streamers piling into TV’s heartland with ad plays because their subscriber growth has maxed out. They’re targeting the young with localised reality shows, comedy and romantic dramas, and the old with documentaries and crime while taking aim at live TV’s biggest bastion by bidding for sports rights. That hasn’t always worked out for the likes of Amazon, which has pulled back from Premier League rights acquisition in the UK. But it has Disney, Fox Sports and Warner Bros. Discovery worried enough to try to get a combined sports platform off the ground in the US and over regulatory hurdles. Ampere Analysis veteran analyst Guy Bisson thinks similar collaboration from broadcasters locally may be required – and could be good for audiences. Across the piste, Bisson breaks down where audiences are going, how much time they are spending on each channel, and where the money’s headed – with Australia ahead of the global tipping point on streaming versus TV consumption, but not yet in terms of TV-video ad dollar reallocation.For broadcasters, the push by Amazon, Netflix and others into ads kills the old TV versus online video debate and removes the moat around ad-funded quality long form video. “It’s no longer about ‘should I do TV, or should I do online?’ It’s, ‘I can do everything I can do on TV on streaming’, says Bisson. He thinks broadcasters can compete on reach, targeting and content but need to accelerate streaming-first pivots to regain and retain audiences that definitely want free streamed TV versus the new pay TV – and strategically steal what they can.
Government weighs up next steps after receiving Optus post-incident review report
The Federal Government said it’s now considering recommendations made in the final report from its Optus Post-Incident Review, led by former Deputy Chair of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), Richard Bean.
Godfreys to close doors after administrators fail to find buyer
Australian retail group, Godfreys, is set to permanently close after administrators failed to secure a buyer for the business.
Lessons from an ‘old’ start-up: Frank Body revenues top $20m, led by product and performance marketing, now for the brand build but not as you know it
A decade after launching Australian beauty brand Frank Body and going global, co-founder Bree Johnson invested in the $20.5m Series A funding round last month of New Zealand brand tracking start-up, Tracksuit, along with a star line-up of Silicon Valley VCs and high profile investors. Tracksuit is taking on the global research giants and expanding into the UK and US markets with a faster and cheaper platform that sits inside companies – not research houses. Johnson’s investment was born out of her own experience – like many start-ups, Meta’s Facebook and Instagram used to be a powerhouse for customer acquisition but that lower funnel cash cow today has less kick.
Westpac’s ‘In the Moment’ was a $70m+ real time decisioning flop; the bank tried again in 2023 with a tender for an off-the-shelf solution, then ditched it – as Big Four rivals go all-in
Little did Westpac’s Executive Management Team (EMT) realise in 2019 when it ignored the advice of its own staff who told it to buy the Pega decisioning engine that five years later its choice would leave the bank trailing rivals in what has emerged as a key competitive capability — real time interaction management, often referred to as real time decisioning. Commbank now has a decade’s head start, while ANZ and NAB are bidding to catch it. Likewise Suncorp. Instead the EMT backed a management decision to accept a pitch from EY to build the bank a decisioning solution from scratch in a project code-named In the Moment. The circa $70m project failed. Much of the work was written off in 2021, buried amongst almost $344m in software impairment charges that hit the balance sheet that year. However, due to the commercial terms of its agreement with the bank, EY owned the IP and has subsequently launched EY Data Cloud IQ. Five years after In the Moment first began, and despite Westpac footing the bill for another company’s product development, there is still no real-time decisioning solution in place with capabilities comparable to its competitors’ Pega-based platforms.
Proof is in the pudding: Intrepid’s global brand bet delivers much-desired brand awareness lifts; while improved digital interactions and personalisation help drive 40% revenue growth
It’s been a big flip from performance-led marketing to global brand play, but 12 months on, the results are showing it’s paying off for Intrepid. Lifts in brand awareness, brand search and engagement across markets are on the scorecard, and there’s record revenue of $621m – the majority of which comes through owned channels – on the balance sheet. Not bad for a ‘phantom brand’ and tour operator that has been helping deliver experiences for 35 years but hasn’t always had the logoed T-shirt, branded bus or social feed recognition to prove it. While climbing that brand mountain, Intrepid chief customer officer, Leigh Barnes, has been working on his bigger, multi-year plan to firstly get to know customers better, then drive more ways for them to interact, engage and book. It’s a strategy fuelling digital and personalisation investment, as well as diversification outside tour products into accommodation – and the latest foray, book publishing.
Lexus drives into luxury cinema with Gold Class partnership
Automotive brand, Lexus, has partnered with Event Cinemas and Village Cinemas as the presenting partner of Gold Class, delivery a luxury experience to cinema audiences.
Aussies sacrifice brand loyalty amid cost of living crisis: M&C Saatchi
M&C Saatchi Group has published the third wave of its ‘Cost of Living Crisis and what Australians want from brands’ research report, revealing that brand loyalty has taken a hit as Australian consumers face mounting financial challenges.