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The emergence of ‘fractional’ and ‘composite’ CMOs is spinning off multiple iterations but for the former CEO of Virgin Mobile, ex-Telstra marketing boss and one-time global head of CX at SAP, David Scribner, the underlying challenges are for marketers to have the required “composite skills” to have influence across an organisation to drive business growth – not just brand and communications. 

Fifty per cent of consumers participating in Walmart’s car seat recycling program were net new customers for the retailer. BiC’s writing instruments and Royal Canin’s pet food packaging recycling programs opened up access and engagement with hard-to-reach but critical stakeholders. That’s the kind of demonstrable customer and sales value TerraCycle CEO and founder, Tom Szaky, says more marketing teams could be capturing if they leaned into waste management and recycling as less of a regulatory sustainability activity and more of a brand and business growth opportunity.

The government has yet to decide whether to create a single centralised system that all social media platforms would need to integrate with, although that would be unusual according to Tony Allen, the executive leading the consortium overseeing the trial. Meanwhile a scientist tasked with assessing the rigour of the results of the trial says stopping people under 18 from accessing porn is definitely in play, although there are question marks over gambling content. For its part the government is waiting until the results of the trial before determining the design of any age assurance process, as well as policy questions such as to whether every Australian with social media accounts will need to authenticate – not just kids – and whether to ban will apply to the current accounts of children and teens on social media. The proposed ban comes in light of a parliamentary committee report revealing that over 90 per cent of Australian adolescents use social media daily. Artificial intelligence is expected to play a key role.

GroupM is making a major play for commerce revenues as retail media continues to rise. Ex-Amazon and IPG Mediabrands' Cadreon boss, Marc Lomas, is spearheading the play – along with former Goodman Fielder marketer Leah Jackson, who in her previous gig played a key role in handing trade marketing budgets as well as media to Initiative. Now at GroupM Commerce, the duo will be aiming to convince more brands to take a similar approach. But that requires proving incrementality – i.e. that media investments are leading to new sales and hard growth outcomes and linking measurement across all digital channels directly to the in-store shop floor. No mean feat, but Lomas, Jackson and Mindshare CEO Maria Grivas say they can do it.  First port of call? Busting measurement mind-sets away from “dumb” ROAS metrics, per Lomas. Then convincing more brands that an integrated operating model that aligns sales, marketing, brand, ecom and retail media should no longer be an outlier.

Virtual professor Mark Ritson reckons key strategic marketing planning functions face automation within five years or so. Marketing and its supply chain should prepare accordingly, though Ritson thinks creative agencies may survive a cull coming faster than many realise. With a hard swing to the right globally, he suggests sustainability and purpose are being rapidly downgraded – and only the "naive" now position the latter as a revenue driver. Big platforms have likewise pivoted to mass reach over pure personalisation – hoovering up what the virtual professor sees as an investment swing back to brand. Hence TV, especially locally, being overlooked despite continuing to deliver the goods, per Ritson: "I've never seen a bigger delta or disparity between how the tool [TV] continues to work very well for brands and how marketers look at it ... It's still a very strong medium."

Dentsu Creative ECD Sarah McGregor has parted ways with the business, meanwhile Kmart might be ending its on-again-off-again relationship with the agency as a creative pitch looms.

Edible Beauty, a skincare brand founded by naturopath Anna Mitsios, has experienced a remarkable transformation. A recent proof-of-concept trial delivered an 18 per cent conversion rate improvement versus the average over the previous 12 months of a third-party chatbot and enabled the company to shift to 24/7 sales and service without having to add three full-time staff. The results underscore the efficacy of its AI-driven chatbot named Ava, says Mitsios. And the chatbot is a better salesperson, outperforming human chatterers in sales by over 50 per cent. This success has not only enhanced customer engagement but also positioned Edible Beauty for greater growth. The success of the proof of concept also prompted Live Verdure, a strategic partner and shareholder, to secure a memorandum of understanding with Decidr for further investment, potentially expanding funding from AU$2.5 million to $10 million.

Singles' Day, originally Alibaba's strategy of transferring Amazon's Black Friday sales to China, and now likely the biggest shopping down in the world, has gained significant traction in Australia, becoming a key player in the retail landscape as consumers gear up for the holiday shopping season. In 2024, retailers across the country capitalised on this growing trend, offering substantial promotions and discounts, thereby marking the event as a critical milestone in the festive shopping calendar. Despite its rising popularity, Singles' Day still lags behind Black Friday in consumer awareness, but retailers are steadily making their mark with enticing deals and early promotions.

Suncorp’s CMO Mim Haysom confirmed the now insurance pureplay had consolidated its nine insurance brands with Publicis-owned Leo Burnett after a sweeping review of its creative and production partners in a strategic overhaul following the sale of Suncorp Bank to ANZ.