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It’s a brave call – kicking off a nationwide campaign oozing with confidence about the quality of Optus’ network eight months after suffering a 14-hour network outage that gave the telco a second public smack and left the brand further bruised in the eyes of the Australian consumer.

But for Optus head of consumer marketing, Cam Luby, and his wider team, the numbers are ticking upwards, product campaigning efforts in recent months are paying off, and the time is right for the brand to reclaim its challenger spirit and sense of optimism by shouting a loud ‘Yes’ to market that Optus is a worthy choice of telco for Aussie consumers looking for value. So the telco has launched a new seven-day, no-catch network trial to prove its infrastructure credentials, supporting it with a nationwide, full-funnel campaign featuring Aussie icons Delta Goodrem and Jason Donovan that’s part-brand, part-product lift and all-in on entertainment.

Alinta Energy has seen simple call types to its call centre reduce by up to 50 per cent and customers increasingly turning to new-and-improved digital channels after kicking off a customer experience transformation 18 months ago. Behind the shift is a whack of technology migration and investment, including a digital platform and call centre overhaul, the introduction of the energy company’s first Web messaging bot, a huge voice of customer program shift - that almost didn’t happen – and increasingly tailored journey management for customers. But none of this would work without also instigating a cultural shift from the top down that’s seen digital, sales, service, and hardship all come together as one united front and measurement increasing moving from interaction to episode-based, says GM of engagement, Cindy Vandecasteele.

Right on cue, and little more than 18 months after the public release of ChatGPT, consumer backlash against artificial intelligence is growing. A new academic study from the US reveals consumers recoil from the inclusion of 'artificial intelligence' in product and service descriptions. Brands that have a strong emotional connection with their consumers can offset the effect, but as Apple learned to its chagrin, even this effect has limitations. And with regulators around the world starting to consider the implications of AI disclosure, get ready for some uncomfortable conversations with your compliance teams.

Tough cost-of-living conditions have put brand trust on a par with free shipping and promotions with consumers, Mailchimp’s global CMO, Michelle Taite admits. Speaking to Mi3 at the martech vendor’s Sydney conference last week, the self-professed “design for data” marketing leader says finding a way to connect as a brand that simultaneously encourages data sharing is critical at a time where consumers are questioning concepts of value against decisions they’re making about their finances. And the only way to do that is through hyper-personalisation and B2B creative that “makes you feel uncomfortable”, she says. Which is why Taite and her team are bringing the vendor’s ‘Email is Dead’ exhibition, which ran at the London Design Museum last year, to Australia for the second edition of South by Southwest Sydney this October. More cost-effective than a TVC, she says, the exhibit attracted 25,000 attendees and 5.7 million social media impressions. It’s just one example of how Taite is striving to unite a creative B2B brand approach with first-party data acquisition enabling Mailchimp to harness insights it then uses to fuel hyper-personalised experiences, connection and commercial outcomes for marketers.

Apple's privacy pivot in 2021 contributed to a collapse in revenues for ecom firms, especially DTC players over-reliant on Facebook for acquisition, per a major study across billions in spend and thousands of ecom business across fashion, consumer electronics, beauty and cosmetics, and general retail. The findings come as Australia's Privacy Act overhaul lands with lawmakers – and provide a glimpse of incoming hits across the market.

MediaMonks is the latest holdco-owned business to undergo convergence. It now goes by '.Monks' and has shifted its nine service units into two streamlined practices. It's the second major switch up for the business since it became the S4 flagship in 2018, with the MightyHive merger in 2021 laying the foundations for a model that meets client demands for a "one stop shop" with a single rate card. While the Australian business was not immune to a global round of cost-cutting, ANZ boss Kenny Griffiths says the integrated approach is landing with local clients – and earning a fatter slice of their budgets.

After a tough 2023, the CDP market seems to be getting its mojo back. Like much of the tech sector, it was affected by tighter economic conditions and a general decline in sentiment about the tech sector which saw valuations decline. But now, according to the CDP Institute's latest report, the sector's revenues and employment are both up, although capital raising and M&A activity remain suppressed. Gartner and Forrester have different perspectives on the direction, but David Raab, head of the CDP Institute, believes the market will still have plenty of space to grow.

Marketing investment analytics platform Mutinex officially has ex-Dentsu Media and IPG Mediabrands chief Danny Bass on board. He’s tasked with overseeing revenue growth across APAC and US – but fellow bosses Henry Innis and Mat Baxter are already talking about moving beyond market mix modelling (MMM) and into a “category of one” that Innis claims will unlock 10x investment across the board. Bass reckons the firm is pushing at an open door – with the power trio plotting a big reveal.

Australia's large publishers are citing the end of bargaining code cash from Meta as a key factor in staff cuts and restructures across the board. Meta insists it won't pay to play – and Canada's attempt to designate has crippled small publisher audiences and revenues and created a "bin fire" of misinformation. Some publishers think there is "chaos by design" in the lack of clarity from the platform about which sites would be caught up in a news ban. Others say government can't blink and must designate Meta, forcing it to pay news publishers – but crucially with an amendment to legislation that says a platform with such market power "must carry" news. The clock is ticking and the cuts are mounting.