Rebecca Alexander-Head has become the new general manager of customer insights at Super Retail Group.
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10x higher carbon emissions: Generative AI risks sustainability blowout for brands; Scope3 turns the spotlight on creative departments
The same search on ChatGPT uses 10x the energy of a traditional search, while generating a single image with AI uses more energy than recharging your iPhone from scratch. And other forms of AI such as that used for automated decisioning are chewing up increasingly huge amounts of energy and spitting out greenhouse gases as firms scale their ‘nudge’ systems to tens of millions of ‘next best actions daily’. If the programmatic ad tech supply chain is a carbon emissions train wreck, generative AI is an order of magnitude worse. Yet marketers, many of whom want to embed sustainability into their brand values are rushing in with little understanding of the implications for things like their company’s 2030 goals, or annual carbon reporting. Ironically the digital supply chain has started to improve thanks to work by associations like GARM. Now Scope3 and its founder Brian O’Kelley a key player in educating the market and who swapped from carbon poacher at AppNexus to now a leading carbon gamekeeper has set his sights on the emissions impact of the creative side of marketing.
Cue Clothing looks for combined marketing and digital director
Cue Clothing Co is on the hunt for a Marketing and Digital Director, a newly created role covering both omnichannel marketing strategies as well as its loyalty program and digital function management.
Flipping FMCG research: Ex-Edelman chief, Les Mills CMO bid to scale $500, 60-second consumer testing platform, take on SurveyMonkey, Kantar, save squeezed marketers, out-human synthetic audiences
Auckland-based B2B SaaS platform Stickybeak is bidding to disrupt FMCG consumer testing – saving crunched marketers and exasperated agencies from product and creative fails in the process. Giants like Unilever, Dole and Fonterra are customers. But the mid-market is where Les Mills CMO turned Stickybeak CEO Anna Henwood sees greatest need and fastest growth – because their marketing teams have neither testing resource nor know-how. Which is why so many FMCG product launches and market expansions fail. The platform recruits from TikTok, Meta and YouTube to fill the demo gaps that panels fail to reach – and has learnt which performs best, where. Co-founder and former Edelman chief David Brain claims it makes consumer research “drag and drop … as easy as ordering an Uber Eats”. Henwood says it can be “done in 60-seconds” with results in 48 hours max – and she isn’t unduly concerned by the rise of AI-powered synthetic audience platforms promising similar capability.
Unified Commerce identifies an untapped $19bn opportunity for Aussie retailers
A recent report, the Australian Unified Commerce Benchmark, reveals that only 42% of Australian retailers currently adopt unified commerce, despite its potential to boost revenue by $19m per billion annually. The study, a collaboration between Manhattan Associates, Google Cloud, Zebra Technologies, and conducted by Incisiv, evaluated 29 leading retailers across 290+ attributes. Top performers included Bunnings, Cotton On, Harvey Norman, and JB Hi-Fi.
Bega Group toasts to 125 years with a town-wide celebration
Bega Group, the Australian food company known for its iconic brands, recently celebrated its 125th birthday in a unique way. The town of Bega was transformed into ‘Toastie Town’ for the day, encouraging residents and visitors to enjoy a Bega cheese and VEGEMITE spread toastie together. The town’s name was changed to Toastie Town for the day, with signage in and out of the town reflecting this. Toasties were added to the menus at cafes, bakeries, and other venues around the town. A new ‘Toastie Hub’ even popped up at the Toastie Town Bega Heritage Centre, formerly known as the Bega Heritage Centre.
Kraken Black Spiced Rum and Australia’s skateboarding community illuminate the night in ‘Skatedark’ campaign
The Kraken Black Spiced Rum has launched a new campaign, ‘SkateDark’, in partnership with Australia’s skateboarding community.
Cartology partners with Commbank iQ to enhance non-FMCG campaign targeting
Cartology, Australia’s leader in retail media, has announced a strategic partnership with CommBank iQ to bolster its non-FMCG campaign targeting and measurement solution across retail out of home.
Adobe forecasts record $14bn online sales for Amazon Prime Day
Adobe has released its online shopping forecast for Amazon Prime Day, predicting a record $14 billion in online sales for US retailers. The forecast is based on data from Adobe Analytics, which analyses online commerce transactions, covering over one trillion visits to US retail sites, 100 million SKUs, and 18 product categories.
Frank Body CMO, other co-founders step back from executive team, focus on advising roles as brand hits its tween years
Frank Body CMO Jess Hatzis has stepped down from the marketing job 11 years after helping found the skin products business with four mates in Melbourne. More than 30 million product sales and 179 countries on from first launching with a coffee scrub, she’s one of three co-founders pulling back from day-to-day and moving into advisory and board-only roles. It’s a decision that comes three years after Frank Body sold a stake to Chinese equity firm, EverYi Capital which reportedly pegged its market value at $100m. It also comes amidst one of the bleakest times for retail – but Hatzis insists a purpose-led brand can navigate the storm even without its co-founders running the ship.