News

News Corp went large on tech at its D_Coded event, touting new data and targeting tools that it says will have advertisers future-proofed for life after cookies and an accelerated privacy overhaul that now has brands scrambling. A new customer insights unit is at the forefront of its big play, with segmentation capabilities buoyed by data interoperability partnerships with Google and LiveRamp, and sporting a clutch of new features including location targeting, programmatic booking, a new analytics dashboard and an AI concierge. Magna boss Lucy Formosa Morgan reckons it's going to land with agencies – but stopped short of saying it puts daylight between the publisher and its local rivals.

MasterChef has debuted a ‘carbon neutral’ renewable gas kitchen this season, courtesy of a two-year partnership with Australian Gas Networks. But what might seem like a win for sustainability has been slapped with greenwashing claims from climate groups claiming Network Ten has sold out to a gas industry determined to delay the transition to an electrified economy. While that claim is on one hand justified, it overlooks the fact that the single largest component in Australia's power generation mix is coal, but it's just one case in what is an ongoing debate of where the line lies for the advertising industry when it comes to fossil fuels. Despite efforts by the AANA and ACCC to crack down on bad behaviour, critics say regulators are not equipped to deal with the nuances of some environmental claims. That leaves it down to the industry’s leadership to take a stance. Former OMD, Ikon and Mindshare boss turned net zero consultant James Greet says that’s just not happening in Australia, claiming some are "peddling the same pile of shit as the people that they’re working for". But the Albanese government is now backing hydrogen in a big way.

Consumers and politicians may be grumpy about prices at the grocery checkout, but that hasn't stopped Flybuys and Woolworths Everyday Rewards from locking in their spots atop the For Love or Money SPV Index in this year's loyalty study by Adam Posner. Wesfarmers OnePass was a strong third. And while direct comparisons with last year's index are not possible due to the changing mix of companies, it's also clear that Adair's Linen Lovers – one of the wooden spooners last year – has achieved a big improvement in its relative standing. The report this year unpacks issues such as emotional loyalty and the returns it brings to brands, as well as the impact of loyalty on the experience of a brand. 

The CEOs of some of the world's most respected brands including Delta's Ed Bastian, American Express's Steven Squeri, and Hilton's Chris Nassetta, stress the importance of managing customer and employee experiences and of understanding the crucial link between them. They also caution that the experience is the product and such recognition is necessary to avoid a trend towards commoditisation that only leaves price as a differential. Technology plays a key role, and corralling customer and employee experiences at scale, according to the CMO of Porsche, the CEO of Qualtrics and the CTO of OpenAI, in this second conference wrap from QualtrcisX4.

When it comes to the technology supporting B2B sales, sales leaders' priorities look very similar to those of marketers. CRM is king, data analytics are critical, and integration is essential. But there is pressure to consolidate the stack, staff lack training or even training budgets, and there is the additional concern the tech might overwhelm salespeople, distracting them from their all-important facetime with clients.

This year’s Royal Easter Show somehow managed to buck the projected downward trend of shrinking discretionary spend to generate an 8 per cent lift in average spend to $461 per family/group. It’s a positive in the midst of some pretty tough conditions that confronted the show’s head of marketing, Frances Jewell, who has presided over the last three show editions. In consistent fashion, she’s battled her way towards uniting a previously disconnected team while improving ageing digital capabilities, overhauling creative and advertising – and traversing post-pandemic sentiment, dire cost-of-living conditions and constantly changing Easter dates every year.

“Signal loss” is a term gathering rapid pace in North America and Europe as brands, tech and media under tighter privacy regimes and the rapidly eroding reach of third party cookies face a collapse in quality online user data that can be tapped to track and target users. Upwards of 40 per cent of browsers worldwide – except Google Chrome – already ban third party cookies. “All of those things are already impacting European markets, American markets around this concept of signal loss,” says News Corp’s Head of Commercial Data, Video & Product, Paul Blackburn. He confirmed the publisher would announce a “more advanced, privacy compliant audience intelligence platform” during its annual D-Coded national roadshow next week that he claims is performing so strongly in pilots with retail and travel companies that the publisher will match the budget of any advertiser conducting a test and learn trial of News Corp’s “Intent Connect” platform. Managing Director of National Sales Lou Barrett said that pledge would hit seven figures in equivalent ad budgets.

Agencies have brushed off brands in-housing threat for years, but its continued rise spells margin danger and is forcing some shops to focus on higher value projects over retainers while staffing up with more seniors and fewer juniors. Latest research from the In-House Agency Council (IHAC) suggests 78 per cent of marketers are using some kind of in-house agency, and they’re quickly siphoning work away from their external partners – now doing the bulk by volume. In 2021, agencies had 70 per cent share of the workload, but IHAC’s latest 2023 data suggests the ratios have now flipped with agencies taking just 30 per cent. That reversal should have agencies scrambling, but bosses are playing it cool. They claim IHAC is overcooking the numbers and predict reverse swing as in-house shops come under cost scrutiny and bloated workloads. Hybrid models, per both sides of the divide, retain both clients and balance. Ogilvy, Hardhat, The Media Store, Treasury Wine Estates, Half Dome, Bank of Queensland, The Hallway, Moose Toys, Today the Brave, IHAC and Tumbleturn weigh in on where next.

The quagmire of doing good: Consumers want brands to do more, but there are contradictions galore in the way they expect ‘good’ to manifest. In the latest Leo Burnett The Good Study, authenticity and operating with integrity show up as table stakes for brands. Yet overt political participation and support and advocacy around societal causes can have very different affects on an increasingly woke consumer culture. Speaking on the report findings on a panel last week, UTS Business School dean, Carl Rhodes, former Domino’s CMO, Adam Ballesty, and activist, author and brand strategist, Azure Antoinette, presented conflicting views on how ‘greed-flation’, Australian belief in getting a fair go, war, politics, economics and the hip pocket are influencing the way consumers perceive how businesses should be doing good.