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Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind was “surprised” – read underwhelmed – by the first tranche of Privacy Act legislation laid before parliament last month. But she says the hard stuff is still coming after the election, which means businesses now diverting budgets away from compliance to other activities may regret it, especially as the regulator has sharper teeth. Kind says firms are failing under the current Privacy Act – and they are in the regulator’s crosshairs. Tracking pixels are under serious scrutiny across the piste, as are companies using data beyond what it was collected for and potentially passing it to third parties. In that vein, Kind has “existing concerns” about loyalty programs, customer data enrichment businesses and data broking: “It’s something I’d like to look at again under the current framework,” she says, suggesting those operators “make sure that they’re watertight”. Likewise firms targeting via geolocation: “We’re looking at a case at the moment … We have some real concerns about how it’s being used.”

There’s a brand and business renewal going on at Bega as it cements its position as a consumer goods business with an iconic house of brands and a market cap of $1.64 billion. Former marketer and now EGM of beverages, Darryn Wallace, reveals the restructure and brand repositioning, agency switch outs and commitment to elevating consumer insights that’s helping Bega become more than the sum of its acquired FMCG parts.

News Corp-controlled REA Group is reaping the benefits of a long-term CX investment strategy, with some key metrics powering by an order of magnitude. The firm was the first to combine Tealium’s CDP and Braze’s customer engagement platform – and the likes of Kmart have since followed. As well as soaring conversions and clickthroughs – and the Holy Grail of personalisation at scale – Audience and Marketing GM Sarah Myers says the stack now driving earned media she estimates is worth circa $10m a year.  

Sensitive personal information regarding Australian defence personnel and political leaders is being leaked via ad exchanges and the digital advertising supply chain – and potentially accessed by foreign states and non-state actors, raising grave national security concerns.