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Retail media may be the fast-rising star among advertising channels, but too many brands remain fixated on ROAS as the single metric. There are several reasons, starting with a tight economy, but a lack of technological sophistication is also a problem for many brands, according to panelists at an IAB event last week which included Roger Dunn, global head, retail media & performance media, Diageo, Hope Williams, head of ecommerce at Kinesso, and Andy Ford, head of data intelligence and measurement for Coles360.

Australia's biggest companies are using AI to do everything from improving advertising targeting and generating news content to enhancing customer experiences in medical imaging and improving brand sustainability by cutting water and electricity costs according to their financial filings. Anyone involved in the preparation of a Board pack for an ASX 50 company understands how carefully curated the choices are about what to include. That's why the prominence of artificial intelligence - and increasingly generative AI - in the latest round of reports from Australia's largest listed businesses makes such interesting reading. Australia's Big Dogs see big gains in operational efficiency,  customer experience, cybersecurity, and productivity, and indeed many are already realising gains. And those advantages are found across the board, in banking, mining, retailing, health, and energy. The only sector holding back on the AI braggadocio was the telco sector. But there are also concerns about ethics and responsible AI, and a focus on equipping staff for the next wave of innovation.

Brands are taking on more of the media buying remit, including TV, cinema and out of home – and that's set to continue over the next 12 months, according to latest data from the In-House Agency Council (IHAC). But Treasury Wine Estate's Ben Oliver and ex Commbank and Optus in-house media lead Vinetha Manthena say cost-savings aren’t guaranteed – though gains in productivity, agility, data capability and transparency can make it worthwhile. Just be prepared for long months of trial and error, "effing hard work" and some interesting requests coming down the line.

IPG Mediabrands Chief Data & Technology Officer Clay Gill has jumped camps to join supply side platform OpenX as APAC Regional VP for Buyer Development. The move, he said, was due to a fast and material swing away from Demand Side Platforms by agencies and holding companies as they realise SSPs are closer to publisher advertising inventory supply with faster, more transparent visibility, control and reporting of digital inventory. It also will see downward pressure on the transactional fees and taxes many intermediaries feed off in the billions traded daily in digital media globally. 

The first tranche of Privacy Act reform finally hits parliament today with serious breaches of personal information, child protection and automated decisioning transparency top of the list. But the marketing and advertising industry remains severely short on how to move forward as key areas of reform, including the ‘fair and reasonable’ test for how to use personal information, targeted advertising, consent models and SMB exemptions get kicked down the road.

It feels like every newsroom on the planet has asked itself at one time or another whether it can dump Google’s ad server, and the answer invariably came back as no. On the second day of the ad tech anti-trust case, News Corp revealed the steps it took to find a way out of Google's ad tech ecosystem but realised any change would ultimately cost it as much as $9 million in revenues a year, according to testimony from the former VP for ad tech at the global news media giant. She said Google shoved its products down her throat and dismissed her as emotional when she complained, that the company was impossible to negotiate with, and in a line that would have thrilled the DoJ which brought the case, she also said they were impossible to avoid.

Snooze is among a relatively small group of Australian retailers who’ve made it to 50 years and the company is celebrating the milestone with a through-the-line campaign program that straddles brand and retail, nostalgia and future potential, short-term gain and long-term consideration, say marketing and ecommerce leader, Doni Davies, and head of CX, Penny Watson. In a retail market suffering its way through soft economic conditions and a cost-of-living crisis, the name of the game has to be about adding value for customers, the pair say – not more discounting. And the latest campaign provides a good opportunity to score an extra value point with customers and franchisees alike by connecting in a contextually relevant way that leverages brand equity and trust in market.

Google spent the first day of its latest trial brought by the US Department of Justice attempting to argue that open web display ads no longer exist and that the DoJ is stuck in the past. Yet Google made $31.3bn from network display ads per its latest earnings report – and the department is pushing for a break-up. Here's what happened on day one as attack and defence lines were drawn.

A 25 per cent increase in capacity thanks to significant workflow management and prioritisation investments has led Foxtel Group’s in-house agency, Balboa, to take the plunge and begin competing with external agencies for sport and entertainment work. It’s already managed to pluck Kayo Sports from the external hands of Special Group the back of the recent ‘Get on Board’ campaign that led to double-digit improvements to brand positioning, appeal, likeability and consideration, says Foxtel executive director of marketing and creative, Michael Nearhos. While he’s not looking to displace McDonald’s major agencies, Nearhos is bullish about Balboa’s prospects in the open market given its scale and full-service approach. This is no B team, he says, but one that can compete creatively – and cost-effectively – with the best standalone agencies given his team’s passion for the key categories it’s operating in.