Guide Dogs NSW/ACT is set to launch its ‘Boundless’ Workshop series, aimed at transforming the online industry’s approach to digital accessibility.
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How brands, agencies can give a XXXX by reframing climate change narrative
There’s an urgency to dealing with the world’s climate crisis, but can the ad industry drive actual change? At SXSW, 42North Consulting’s Kiranpreet Kaur Dhillon and B Lab Australia’s Andrew Davies shared why they don’t believe the compulsion for claims is a good idea for brands anymore – and what they believe is the story necessary for advertisers and agencies to tell when it comes to climate.
NRMA Insurance amplifies ‘Help Nation Preparedness Month’ as Australia gets ready for extreme weather
NRMA Insurance is set to launch ‘Help Nation Preparedness Month’ in October, as part of its ongoing ‘Help Nation’ initiative. The program, which has reportedly led to over 300,000 Australians taking action to prepare for extreme weather since its inception in November 2023, aims to educate Australians about their local weather risks and help them prepare accordingly.
UPDATED: Dan Lacaze shares why he’s shifting gears from Optus to Telstra
Dan Lacaze, a former key player at Optus, is set to take on a new role at Telstra as the General Manager of Retail Marketing & Merchandising.
Aussies kickstart festive shopping early amid cost-of-living crunch: Shopify study
New research from Shopify has revealed that Australians are increasingly starting their festive shopping early due to a prolonged cost-of-living crunch. The study found that 53% of Australians plan to finalise their shopping lists by October, with 58% intending to do the bulk of their shopping by November. This trend is particularly pronounced among Australians with children living at home, with 70% finalising lists by October and 68% completing the majority of their shopping by the end of November.
Robot chicken: Qantas exec reveals three AI customer experience experiments
Qantas’ brand has taken a roasting in recent years. But thanks to artificial intelligence, it’s no longer serving up dry chicken. Since taking the helm from Alan Joyce, new chief Vanessa Hudson has made customer experience key to the trust rebuild – and AI is playing an increasing role. Scott Wilkinson, executive manager, digital and direct customer experience, outlined three early CX use cases during a panel discussion at SXSW this week: Ticketing; giving customer agents additional firepower; and spotting and solving problems and complaints – e.g. paltry poultry – as they emerge rather than months later.
99 Bikes pedals to 8% revenue boost in three months with personalised campaign effort
Australian bike retailer, 99 Bikes, has reported an 8% increase in revenue within three months of adopting new AI-based omnichannel and personalised campaign efforts.
Gaming overtakes AFL as top passion point for Australians: M&C Saatchi report
New research from M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment has revealed a significant shift in the passion points of Australians, with gaming now surpassing AFL. The findings, part of the ‘Passion Pulse’ 24 Report, indicate a change in media consumption patterns, particularly among Gen Z, with digital and social platforms eclipsing traditional media for engagement.
Commbank’s household spending index dips despite AFL and NRL finals
Commonwealth Bank’s Household Spending Insights (HSI) Index experienced a 0.7 per cent dip in September, settling at 146.7. This decline occurred despite increased recreational spending around the AFL and NRL Grand Finals, which failed to significantly boost the overall index.
‘Really mediocre outcomes’: Oxford Uni professor says Byron Sharp and Ehrenberg-Bass’ marketing science rules no longer hold – 1,000 campaigns, 1 million customer journeys as evidence
Associate Professor Felipe Thomaz, of University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School, suggests Professor Byron Sharp’s best known book, How Brands Grow, is a misnomer – it’s actually about how big brands keep big marketshare, not how they got there. He also says it’s based on flaws within Andrew Ehrenberg’s earlier work, primarily static markets and a requirement not to differentiate. Thomaz suggests that’s why big FMCG firms adhering to those rules were caught napping by more nimble differentiated start-ups.Reach “sufficiency”, or optimising media for reach, no longer works, he suggests, because all reach is not equal – and reach alone doesn’t deliver business outcomes. “There is a missing dimension,” per Thomaz. He’s out to prove it with a peer-reviewed paper that analyses 1,000 campaigns and a million customer journeys via Kantar and WPP. The upshot? “None of it holds … I’m seeing that 1 per cent of campaigns are actually getting exceptional money, while the vast majority are choosing to get some really mediocre outcomes.”That’s partly because audience reach doesn’t account for their ability to be influenced – and different media, different categories and consumer types have varying degrees of impact in different moments. Reach, he says, is proving a misleading media proxy for business impact – the variances of consumer receptivity to switching is different by category. Personal care, for instance, has less consumer preparedness to trial alternatives once they’ve established their preference – they’re harder to “manipulate”, Thomas posits, but some media channel characteristics stand a better chance. TV versus influencers in lower funnel strategies will likely surprise many. Which has knock-on impacts on channel effectiveness and weighting. Thomaz says that’s good news for media owners – if they can stop selling on impressions and start selling on functionality. “For some categories, there might be a premium they can charge.”The need to reach all potential buyers in the category, he says, “has not changed in the least … Reach is important, and you still need that scale. However, you also need [to optimise to] the business outcome. But he still thinks it’s “really bad to waste your money on people who will never buy you”.In short: “If you’re managing your company’s marketing on simplistic and reductive laws, you might want to revisit those, because you’re leaving money on the table or leaving yourself open to very simple counter-plays. It’s dangerous.”