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Three years ago, Australia was on “a CDP bender”, with marketers wooed by the prospect of a single source of truth linking disparate customer data and the ability to slash customer acquisition costs, activate more smartly and efficiently, delivering personalisation at scale while insulating against a twin pincer of a looming cookie cull and major privacy tightening. In other words, “invest in a CDP and – boom – the money rains down”, per one market observer. Three years on, the landscape has changed, use case development has often stuttered – and a lot of contracts are up for renewal. Sitecore CEO Dave O’Flanagan, mParticle CEO Michael Katz, Forrester’s Joe Stanhope, Adobe’s Gabbi Stubbs, Salesforce’s Leandro Perez and others weigh in on where next, and how.

ASX-listed fresh dairy milk producer, The a2 Milk Company, has a market cap of $5.8bn. Now it’s working through the upsides and challenges of partnering with paid influencers, often one-man bands ill accustomed to blue chip enterprise contractual rigour – but head of marketing Louise Tomkins is one of a swathe of marketers now recognising influencers as a new mainstream media channel, not just as next-gen paid ambassadors. Taking part in This is Flow’s recent Playgroup event series exploring how to make influencers part of the modern media mix, Tomkins shares with Mi3 why a2 Milk willing to place the bet even as it works to navigate its way through the assurances needed to truly embrace creators as a paid channel – and the challenge of metrics available right now through platforms such as TikTok.

Kim Kardashian ordering chicken schnitty powered Uber Eats to market dominance, eating rivals’ lunch via a powerfully effective campaign from Special Group. Then Uber flipped to broader, faster delivery of almost anything. Which meant killing the golden goose. But the new platform has since scaled to 17 countries, far beyond the original and all the growth signs are double-digit hot, per ANZ Brand Lead Channa Goonasekara. Meanwhile, the food delivery business is powering ahead of where it was at the ‘Tonight, I’ll be eating’ peak. Goonasekara and Special APAC Creative Director James Sexton lift the curtain on the workings that created a new brand platform – the pressure, the five-hour heated meetings, and the non-linear approach after first trying to crowbar the original platform to Uber Eats’ new mission, and why, despite curve balls, last minute asks and poo jokes, the partnership works – and the platform will never run out of road.

Australian brands last year poured US$520 million into influencer marketing and media agencies are lining up to help brands take their strategy full-funnel and deal themselves in. GroupM joined Hello Social as joint headline sponsor of AiMCO’s annual industry awards night, while indie shop This Is Flow is asserting authority via bespoke research and client education, AKA Playgroup sessions. Its latest findings suggest two thirds of those 19-39 are more likely to buy from brands that used influencer content across multiple channels. Meshki marketing head Alex Rushton backs that view, with the online fashion retailer driving product sell-through by adopting creator content across ecom, EDM, and now OOH – and watching sales grow via 500 influencers. “We can’t keep up,” per Rushton. Now agencies and platforms are eyeing revenue share models over flat fees.