Unmade: media and marketing analysis

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade.Today, we talk to Clive Dickens, one of media's innovators, about what he'll be doing next.To get maximum value from a paid membership of Unmade, sign up today.Your annual membership gets you tickets to September's REmade conference on retail media; to October's Unlock conference on marketing in the nighttime economy; and to Unmade's Compass end-of-year roadshow.You also get access to our paywalled archive.Upgrade today.Clive Dickens unveils his plans for Meliora, something that's a little more than a typical media consultancy After some big digital roles at Southern Cross Austereo, Seven West Media and Optus, Clive Dickens launching a media advisory service seems a logical next step. Particularly when you factor in some big radio jobs in the UK along with proximity to some successful audio startups.But Meliora appears to be a little more than your typical one-person, stay-occupied-until-something-else-comes-up advisory. Dickens says that he's recurited another five partners to eventually join the business, and in the meantime identified another 10 “associates” to fill the gap in the mean time.He also plans an investment arm which will focus on startups, and additionally a creative IP fund to put money behind interesting creators.Dickens expands on his plans in the podcast interview with Unmade's Tim Burrowes.He says: “They're not just investments. They're partners. The significant number are in the AI space. And we want to bring and leverage some of those products and services to our clients as well to help them unlock that AI value.”The conversation also touches on his plans around media equity - working with media companies to offer distressed inventory in exchange for stakes in busiensses that need to build their profile. It was a model he successfully applied on behalf of Seven West Media with Airtasker.And he says that his plan to invest in creative work is in part at least a response to the disruption being caused by generative AI. “In a world where there's going to be less traditional jobs because of gen AI, we wanted to invest in jobs that we believe only humans will be able to do.”More from Mumbrella…* Getting ahead and the importance of progress to brands* Brittany Higgins joins Third Hemisphere* Free TV chair Greg Hywood steps down* Is the PR industry still a great place to work?Today's podcast was edited by Abe's Audio.Time to leave you to your evening. We'll be back with more tomorrow.Have a great dayToodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmade + Mumbrellatim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade, recorded earlier today live on stage at Mumbrella360. To get maximum value from a paid membership of Unmade, sign up today.Your annual membership gets you tickets to September's REmade conference on retail media; to October's Unlock conference on marketing in the nighttime economy; and to Unmade's Compass end-of-year roadshow.You also get access to our paywalled archive.Upgrade today.Radio salaries; the rise of LinkedIn video, Google's AI video magic and the Mumbrella360 origin storyToday's podcast was recorded live on stage at Mumbrella360 this afternoon.In a panel anchored by Abe's Audio's Abe Udy, editorial director Hal Crawford, head of curation Cat McGinn and Tim Burrowes were joined by Genero marketer Christie Poulos.We chewed over highlights from Mumbrella360 including creator Rob Mayhew's assertion that LinkedIn and YouTube provide the greatest opportunity for B2B video creators. We also discussed this week's ranking of radio salaries, the impact of Google's new video generation offering Veo 3, and the development of Mumbrella360 over the last 14 years.More from the Mumbrella departure lounge…* David Droga steps down as Accenture Song CEO* Justin Graham to step down as APAC CEO of M+C Saatchi Group* Coles' chief customer officer Amanda McVay to depart amid overhaulToday's podcast was edited by Abe's Audio. Time to leave you to your afternoon. We'll be back with more tomorrow.Have a great dayToodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmade + Mumbrellatim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today's Unmade podcast was recorded at last month's AI conference HumAIn, with a panel of practitioners exploring the evolving role of AI chatbots in media and marketing, highlighting the wide spectrum from chatbots as utility, and chatbots as personality.Today is a good day to upgrade to a paid membership of Unmade. Your annual membership includes:* A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade's events, including our retail media conference REmade (September 23), Unlock (October), and Compass (across November)* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade.Upgrade today.As a member of the Unmade community you have unlocked exclusive ticket savings to attend Mumbrella360, taking place at Carriageworks Sydney next week, May 27-29.Simply enter code 20UNMADE360 to save 20% on any ticket type, whether that's the all-access pass or the 'conference only' two-day pass.From sludge to snark: the divide between form and function in AI chatbotsCat McGinn, curator of HumAIn, writes:With generative AI finally giving brands the opportunity to roll out chatbots that work, we tackled the topic at HumAIn.The discussion features Foxtel's head of marketing operations and strategic programs Aaron Mitchie, Bastion's AI consultant Shaun Davies, columnist and strategist at Agency C, Parnell Palme McGuinness, and creative director Emma Barbato. McGuinness and Davies discussed the development of “Yell At Parnell”, a chatbot trained on McGuinness's published columns, and designed to replicate her editorial tone and views. The aim was to extend engagement beyond the limitations of comment sections and to experiment with scaling an opinion columnist's voice. Davies noted that prompt engineering required over 4,000 words to capture not only factual grounding but also the columnist's personality, including humour, tone, and political perspectives.“There is a desperate desire to engage, and this is another opportunity for people to engage. I think that they would also like that opportunity to be supported by the media outlets they're engaging with; I think that it would reverse in some degree the decline in users,” said McGuinness, pointing to closed comments as a missed opportunity for newsrooms.Creative director Emma Barbato took it further, introducing Bruce Ryder, Australia's first fictional AI celebrity, a 1970s larrikin launched as a synthetic brand ambassador (see video below). Audiences bought into Bruce rather than the product: “The intrigue was the storytelling, and him as the product,” she said. Barbato highlighted the creative opportunities available to brands when working with immersive, character-led AI tools, particularly in environments unconstrained by conventional briefs.In contrast, Foxtel's Aaron Mitchie outlined a strictly functional approach. His team is rolling out a bot to eliminate internal admin, trained on corporate policies. “We're purposely trying to be boring,” he said. “The idea is eventually everyone's going to get back a day in their week back from admin.”The panel also raised questions around the ethics of disclosure with users, synthetic identities, emotional attachment to bots, and the future role of anthropomorphised AI in consumer engagement. Barbato ended the panel with a rallying cry for the creative industries, saying, “For the first time in my time in the creative arts, we have no hierarchy of anyone being better. We have zero gatekeepers, and it has attracted a brand new creative. And that's what I'm the most excited about: the community that is coming together. I don't know how long we've got. But right now, it's a garden of Eden with no weeds.”More from Mumbrella…* Mumbrellacast: ABC, SBS and the gender pay gaps data; inside outdoor media; marketers and Google's AI Mode; Resolution Digital's new chapter* SBS beats ABC as gender pay gaps revealed* Catalano slams SCA activist investor over vote meddling* Tropfest organisers hint at ‘epic comeback'* Google launches AI Mode, marketers ponder impact* M+C Saatchi CEO Michael McEwan joins Droga5 MelbourneToday's podcast was edited by Abe's Audio.We'll be back in your inbox tomorrow or on your podcatcher next week. Adios amigos,Cat McGinnCurator - HumAIncat@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. In today's edition of The Unmakers we talk to creative legend Chas Bayfield about his new venture 21 Madison, fixing the mistakes made by AI. Plus, Seven West Media shares continue their surge on the Unmade IndexTo get maximum value from a paid membership of Unmade, sign up today.Your annual membership gets you tickets to September's REmade conference on retail media; to October's Unlock conference on marketing in the nighttime economy; and to Unmade's Compass end-of-year roadshow.You also get access to our paywalled archive.Upgrade today.Introducing 21 Madison: Fixing ads knocked up in Canva by the business owner's talented nieceIn today's audio-led edition of Unmade, we talk to an adland legend who quietly slipped into Australia under cover of Covid and now does global work from his home in Hobart.Bayfield has a world-beating portfolio. His work is still instantly recognisable to anybody who grew up in the UK. Blackcurrant Tango's 1996 90-second epic, ‘St George' won most major advertising awards.Now a freelance creative, Bayfield lives in Tasmania with most of his work for overseas brands.This month Bayfield has launched a new business, 21 Madison. Recognising the fact that AI and tools such as Canva have made it possible for anyone to create an ad, even if they lack the skills to write a message that sells, Bayfield aims to overlay his human talents onto the machinery.In the podcast interview with Unmade's Tim Burrowes, Bayfield describes his target market as those who cannot afford to commission an ad agency: “It's people who, for whatever reason, are self-generating their advertising. Potentially AI, potentially Canva. It might just be that they've got a talented niece or nephews, knocked something up in their year seven graphics class. Largely, I'm guessing it's going to be AI.”Bayfield sees 21 Madison's role as stepping in to turn the copy into something that sells. Recognising that these are not the big budget players, he adds: “These are people who are going to be putting ads out on Facebook and Instagram.”According to the 21 Madison website, prices start from a $79 “quick fix” to $999 per month for a virtual creative director helping create eight ads per month.Bayfield says 21 Madison is his attempt to make the best of the disruption being wrought by the likes of ChatGPT:“We can sit around and shake our fists at the system and the way it is, a bit like blacksmiths in the early 1900s, just angry at cars. And where does that get you?“So you have to work out, what can I do to move it on? I've never been one just to sit back and go, ‘this is always going to be the same forever.'”During the interview, Bayfield also tackles the most controversial period in his career, when he and a colleague won a sex discrimination claim against ad agency JWT alleging that they lost their roles because the agency wanted to lose its reputation as “a boys club”.Despite winning the case, Bayfield suffered a brutal social media backlash.He reveals: “The backlash that came afterwards was off the scale.And I got a monstrous amount of social media hatred and people telling me that I wasn't going to work. And I certainly wasn't going to work in Australia.“I won a works tribunal. It was all I had done.“It was nasty. That was pretty tough. Especially as I've always felt that I've been the one looking at what's next in advertising. To be cast as this washed up dinosaur was horrible.”Seven extends its ASX chargeSeven West Media continued its charge on the Unmade Index, rising another 6.9% yesterday to a market capitalisation of $247m. The stock has now risen by more than 10% over the last week. However, in the bigger picture the stock is still trading close to a historic low.Meanwhile it was a down day for the two major audio stocks with Southern Cross Austereo losing 5.9% and ARN Media losing 1.9%.The Unmade Index, which tracks the performance of media and marketing stocks, lost 0.6% to land on 551.5 points.More from Mumbrella…* Stop calling us influencers, says influencer* GroupM workforce braces for major restructure impacts* AI is no longer a disruptor, it's part of the process: D&AD report* CNN and Fox take on their own legacies with new streaming services* SBS goes fully nude in streaker ad campaignTime to leave you to your Friday.We'll be back with more tomorrow.Have a great dayToodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmade + Mumbrellatim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today we hear from Getty Images' global creative boss Rebecca Swift, on the impact and risk of AI on creative industries. Today is a good day to upgrade to a paid membership of Unmade. Your annual membership includes:A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade's events, including tomorrow's AI conference HumAIn (May 6), REmade (September 23), Unlock (October), and Compass (across November)Member-only content and our paywalled archives;Your own copy of Media Unmade.Upgrade today.‘Business loves bargains': Rebecca Swift on how generative AI could undermine creativity and consumer confidenceThe growing wave of low-quality, mass-generated imagery is threatening both brand trust and the long-term viability of creative industries, warns Rebecca Swift, senior vice president of creative at Getty Images. Dr Swift warns that what she terms “AI slop”is on the rise.In the podcast conversation with Unmade's Cat McGinn, Swift said the deluge of generative content risks homogenising brand expression, eroding legal safety, and discouraging future talent from entering the creative workforce.“AI slop” refers to the easily created, highly distributed output from generative AI tools, which is often divorced from original intent, training data transparency, or creative integrity. While acknowledging that the issue predates AI, Swift argued that the explosion in tools has made the problem more visible—and more dangerous.Swift said Getty has deliberately kept its content library free from AI-generated assets to ensure provenance, avoid contamination of training sets, and protect creator rights. “It would be easy to follow the money. But we chose to follow our values.”She also warned that some large models are now training on content that is itself AI-generated, compounding quality and IP risks.“For global brands, there's no guarantee that marketers in different regions aren't using content that breaches trademarks or contains copyrighted elements,” Swift said. “There are real legal and reputational implications.”Consumer trust is also on the line. Getty's research shows that while AI-generated content has become harder for the average consumer to spot, the appetite for disclosure has increased. More than 90% of survey respondents said they want to know when an image is AI-generated.“We're seeing consumers approach images with a default mindset of distrust,” Swift said. “That has implications not just for media, but for any brand that trades on authenticity.”Unmade's AI conference for media and marketing, humAIn, takes place tomorrow. Tickets are still available. Correction: Dr Swift refers to Getty's consumer research as beginning in 2003; the research began in 2023. Today's podcast was edited by Abe's Audio.See you at HumAIn - or in your inbox - tomorrow.Have a lovely day,Cat McGinnCurator - HumAIncat@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today we hear from adland satirist Rob Mayhew about making it in the creator economy, why he loves TikTok and LinkedIn, and how Facebook is just too greedy.Today is a good day to upgrade to a paid membership of Unmade. Your annual membership includes:A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade's events, including HumAIn (May 6), REmade (September 23), Unlock (October), and Compass (across November)Member-only content and our paywalled archives;Your own copy of Media Unmade.Upgrade today.‘We need a new playbook' - Rob Mayhew on how agencies are failing to make the most of the creator economyIn the extremely niche specialty of advertising industry satirist, Rob Mayhew is the leading light.The agency creative turned TikTok and LinkedIn creator has amassed a dedicated following in the English-speaking marketing world.Mayhew started his career in the UK in a below the line agency, before cutting his teeth as a social media strategist. He found his place as a content maker during Covid lockdowns by satirising adland and agency culture.He now mainly works with B2B brands including Adobe, WeTransfer and Sitecore looking to tap into his burgeoning followings particularly on TikTok and LinkedIn.In the podcast conversation with Tim Burrowes, Mayhew discusses his forthcoming keynote at next month's Mumbrella360, what marketers are getting wrong when they jump on social media trends, and why he is no fan of Facebook.He explains: “I'm a huge fan of TikTok. It's my favorite platform, closely followed by LinkedIn and then YouTube. Meta, Instagram, I'm kind of not really a fan of… I just feel like they're greedy.”* Mumbrella360 is from May 27-29. Find out more here.Time to leave you to your day. Today's podcast was edited by Abe's Audio.If you'd like more from me in your ears, last night's edition of the Mumbrellacast is now in your favorite podcatcher. Hal Crawford and I discuss Facebook's ghost stores; Ben Shepherd's proposed walled garden for premium advertising; and Albo's love of newspapers.I'll be back on Saturday with Best of the WeekToodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Mumbrella + Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an end-of-week update from Unmade.In today's audio-led post we share the panel discussion from the launch of the Edelman Trust Barometer. And further down on the Unmade Index, three minnows see price jumps while Enero slumps some more.Unmade's AI event for the media and marketing industry, HumAIn, is coming fast. Our annual paying members are entitled to a free ticket. It's just one of the benefits of a paying membership. Upgrade today.‘Is it fragmented? Absolutely. Is it going to improve? I can't see it.'In today's podcast we share the panel discussion that accompanied the launch of the Edelman Trust Barometer.In a key statistic, of the four key Australian public institutions surveyed, public trust in media is the worst, with just 37% now saying they trusted the media. That was behind government (47%), business (54%) and non-governmental organisations (56%).The podcast features the event's introduction from Tom Robinson, CEO of Edelman Australia, ahead of the panel led by Unmade's Tim Burrowes.The discussion featured:* Terry Flew, Professor of Digital Communication and Culture, The University of Sydney and Co-Director, Centre for AI, Trust and Governance;* Kim Portrate, previously CEO of industry body Think TV;* Gen Z strategist Milly Bannister, founder and CEO of the ALLKND charity focusing on mental health for young Australians;* Jared Mondschein, Director of Research at the United States Studies Centre. The questions tackled included the challenges to societal cohesion as trust in institutions fades, geopolitical headwinds, and why the next generation is losing trust so badly.Portrate, who departed Think TV at the end of the year amidst obvious divisions between her TV network stakeholders, told the room: “Is it fragmented? Absolutely. Is it going to improve? I can't see it. Not in the current environment and not when you've got the competitive pressure and don't abide by any of the legislation that protects the population at large.”Read more on the barometer:A good day for the little guys of the Unmade IndexThree of the smaller stocks on the Unmade Index enjoyed sources in their price yesterday, although none of them released new updates to the market.Out of home advertising company Motio saw its share price jump by 18.5%, taking it up to a market capitalisation of $8m. Boss Adam Cadwallader is due to give a trading update on Tuesday.Sports Entertainment Group, owner of radio network SEN, rose by 13.6% to a $70m market cap. And Pureprofile rose 9.1% to a $47m market cap.Enero Group, owner of agencies including BMF and Hotwire, continued to tank, with the price losing another 4.3% to what is its lowest point in almost a decade.The Unmade Index, which looks at the movements of all the locally listed media and marketing companies, ended the day in equilibrium, remaining on 526.2 points.Declaration of interest: My travel and accommodation to take part in the Trust Barometer event were covered by Edelman. Editing was courtesy of Abe's Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Time to leave you to your Friday. We'll be back with Best of the Week tomorrow. Have a great day.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmade + Mumbrellatim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio edition from Unmade.Today: humAIn curator Cat McGinn talks to Jodie Sangster about her new co-venture aimed at upskilling CMOs with AI, the Australian Centre for AI in Marketing, and what's stopping marketers from getting on board with AI transformation.If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade's events, including HumAIn (6 May 2025), REmade (23 Sept), Unlock (Oct 2025), and Compass Australia (Nov 2025);* Member-only content and our paywalled archives; * Your own copy of Media Unmade.Are marketers being left behind on their AI journeys?A new industry initiative, the Australian Centre for AI in Marketing, snappily abbreviated to ACAM, has been launched by four senior marketing leaders, including former ADMA CEO and IBM CMO, Jodie Sangster. In today's audio-led post, HumAIn curator Cat McGinn sits down with Sangster to find out more about ACAM, its purpose, and whether success means being out of a job for the four founders. According to Sangster, despite the increasing availability of AI tools and investment in AI infrastructure, most marketers are not ready to implement AI in practice. Common barriers include a lack of time, limited understanding of how to apply the technology, and a general sense of scepticism after marketers have been burnt by years of overhyped digital solutions.ACAM's founders claim it has been designed to address these issues by offering education, peer learning, and access to practical tools. Its structure includes a Pioneers Circle—a group of CMOs from a range of industries and AI maturity levels—created to facilitate open sharing of implementation experiences, challenges, and outcomes. The founders also offer a consultancy arm, but are at pains to distinguish the “for-purpose' initiative, which Sangster describes as “a calling,” from the for-profit division. Sangster is clear that ACAM will not act as a policy maker or regulatory body, but will focus on translating evolving frameworks into practical guidance for marketers. “Our role is to help marketers understand how AI applies to their work and how to use it responsibly,” she said.Sangster doesn't see the risk of ACAM putting itself out of business as an imminent threat. “We're still at the very start of AI adoption,” she says. “This is about making sure marketers don't get left behind.”Time to leave you to your Thursday.Good luck at tonight's CommsCon Awards, for those who are in the running.We'll be back with more soon.Have a lovely evening.Cat McGinnHead of Curated Content - Unmade cat@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to a midweek update from Unmade, on the morning after News Corp's main marketing-industry focused event of the year, D_Coded. Yesterday's big announcement was Tubi. Two months after announcing the sale of Foxtel, News Corp is back in the TV business.Also today, Enero's sinking share price hits the lowest point in more than a decade.News Corp Australia gets back into TV with TubiFor a while now, I've been puzzled by Tubi.It's the biggest asset in the extended News Corp universe not to have a presence in Australia. In the US, Tubi is a big deal. Its share of total TV viewing is nearly 2% and it's bigger than Peacock, Paramount+ and Max. In some quarters it's been bigger than Disney+.Actually, it's not entirely true to say that Tubi has not had a presence in Australia. Tubi has been here all along and repped by Foxtel Media. But it didn't receive much love, even as it built towards 1.3m active monthly users locally.When I interviewed Foxtel boss Patrick Delany this time last year, I told him I was surprised they were not doing more with Tubi.At the time, Delany argued that the reason for Tubi's success in the US is the fact that it's entirely free to its audience. While Australia's free to air networks are available over the airwaves, US viewers are used to paying for everything they watch via cable. So Tubi was a bigger point of difference, he argued.However, I suspect that was not the only reason. With Foxtel about to pass into the ownership of DAZN, Tubi now represents News Corp's seat back at the table of television. It didn't make sense for News Corp to go hard until the Foxtel deal was done.Tubi has a straightforward business model. There's no paid membership tier. It's pureplay FAST - free ad-supported streaming TV.That puts Tubi in the same space as 7plus, 9now, Tenplay, along with global players like Paramount's Pluto TV. And of course, with the FAST services being offered by the connected TV providers.Incidentally, Tubi lives within the other half of the Murdoch empire, Fox Corp. News Corp is effectively a local rep.In today's podcast I interview News Corp's executive chairman Michael Miller. He pushes back against my assumption that Tubi lacks premium content. And while it's true that Tubi has a deep archive, a look at the home page this morning reminds me of the experience of standing in the discount section of my local video store. They looked like blockbusters, but I just hadn't heard of them.(Titanic 2, anyone? Jack's back… and he's got a score to settle about the whole floating door episode.)Tubi's secret weapon is the world's favourite price point: free. There are plenty of Australians who can't or won't afford to pay for their streaming.And its not-so-secret weapon is the marketing firepower of News Corp. Would Kayo or Binge have grown without the company's cross promotion?In my conversation with Miller, he places Tubi as a “top three or four” marketing priority for the year.And News Corp is backing the push with an aggressive price point - a launch price of a $15cpm.Considering that's likely to be big brand advertising on the main lounge room screen, that's an aggressive price.By the way, in case you can't read the small print on the screen behind sales boss Barrett in the photo above, the price is for campaigns with a minimum spend of $20,000, running before June 30. And “independent measurement unavailable”.The rest of today's conversation with Miller spans the other announcements around D_Coded, including marketer-friendly expansions of its Intent Connect planning system, and the company's continuing efforts to make the concept of engaged reach a thing.Miller also makes it clear that News Corp still views the coming election and US trade war concerns as a delay, not an end to the News Media Bargaining Code framework. “We have been patient,” he says.Unmade Index fights off Trumpcession fears as Enero sinks to decade-long lowDespite an early selloff triggered by global concerns over a looming Trumpcession, the Unmade Index bounced back in later trading yesterday to finish flat.The biggest local weight on the Unmade Index, Nine, was lifted by its majority-owned real estate platform Domain. Nine was up by 1.3%, while Domain rose 1.8%.ARN Media was up by 4.9%, taking it back above a $200m market capitalisation.Among stocks moving in the other direction, print and marketing group IVE lost 8.6%, while Seven West Media lost 3.2% to land on its lowest point since January. Southern Cross Austereo was down by 3.6%.Enero Group, owner of ad agency BMF among others, slumped by 6.7% to land on its lowest share price in more than a decade.The Unmade Index ticked up by a fraction, rising by 0.09% to land on 551.2 points.Time to leave you to your Thursday. We'll be back with more tomorrow.Editing was courtesy of Abe's Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.We'll be back with more soonHave a great day.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmade + Mumbrellatim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to a Best of the Day wrap from Unmade.Today: We share the highlights from Compass Auckland, Ooh Media finally discovers some momentum, and big moves on the Unmade Index.If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade's events, including HumAIn (6 May), REmade (23 September), Unlock, and Compass (November), all returning in 2025.* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade.‘Embrace AI, or face an extinction-level event'The final episode of the 2024-25 series of Compass rolled into Auckland last week.The audience at the iHeart Lounge heard from Matt Martel, managing editor for audience and platforms at the New Zealand Herald, Jo Mitchell, CMO of The Warehouse Group; Paul Pritchard, group CEO of Overdose, and Angela Watson, CEO of Colenso BBDO on some of the key topics getting adland out of bed and keeping it awake at night.The topics ranged from the impact of last year's closure of Newshub to the disruption being wrought by AI, to whether it's time for marketers to dial back on their platform spend.Pritchard told the audience that the biggest challenge he saw the industry face last year was “lack of control”. He added: “I felt like things happened to us, not because of us.”According to Martel, the closure of Newshub should be taken as a signal for action. “It was a strong and important part of New Zealand media. It's now gone.“We need to act. Because if we don't act, we can see the train that's coming down the tracks at us.“The problem is not the quality of what we do, it's the monetisation of what we do. If we don't change what we do now, if we don't embrace AI, if we don't embrace different ways of doing what we've always done, then there will be an extinction-level event for everyone in this room in ten years, if not sooner.”And Pritchard urged a rethink for where the industry spends its marketing budgets: “We spent a lot of time letting international technology players come to every market and sell, sell, sell at really low costs. And that disrupted the media. It challenged the content and the quality of that content. And then when they disrupted it, they decided to put the prices up.“And it's a pretty simple economic environment that we're all facing. The thing we can do to counter it is we can own our own content. We can own our own customer.“We decided that it was just better to throw money at something that continually worked, right? Those metrics of return on ad spend and cost of customer acquisition -they were really attractive for a long time.“Now they're less attractive, but everyone's hooked on it. So maybe we need to go cold turkey for a little bit.”The event was organised by Unmade with the support of NZME, Lumo and Scentre Group's BrandSpace.Ooh Media's turnaround beginsOoh Media will likely soon make it official with its acting chief revenue officer Mark Fairhurst after his first two months in the chair sparked a turnaround in the company's sales trajectory.The emergency appointment of Fairhurst, previously executive general manager of QMS, came in December following the exit of chief revenue officer Paul Sigaloff after just 19 months.In its full-year results released this morning, Ooh Media's revenue and profits were virtually flat for the year, up by 0.3% to $635.6m and 3% to $287m respectivelyOoh Media's 2023 and 2024 results were almost identical. However the company's momentum entering the first quarter has radically improvedOoh Media is on track to bring in 14% more revenue in the current quarter compared to the same time last year.CEO Cathy O'Connor again acknowledged that Ooh Media's sales operation has been slow and hard to deal with. She told today's analysts' call: “We heard from the market that we were slow to respond.”Ooh Media's said its new offering Reo - which assists mid-tier retailers enter the retail media space by outsourcing sales operations and assisting with the digital side - is also picking up momentum. Newly announced clients include Officeworks, Petbarn, and Australia Post, with others in the pipeline.Unmade Index buoyed by Ooh Media and IVE Group resultsOoh Media's improved performance saw it lock in a hefty 15.6% jump in market capitalisation during an action-packed day on the Unmade Index.IVE Group, which also reported solid results today, rose by 6.4% while Seven West Media gained 2.9%.Meanwhile, Nine lost 5.8% as the market continued to digest news of CoStar's bid to buy its majority-owned real estate platform Domain.As a result of the decline of Nine - the biggest weighted stock - the Unmade Index sank by 0.3% to 560.6 points.Best of the Day: News winners; Clems loser; Slater & Gordon's strugglesABC back at the topABC News moved back past News Corp's news.com.au as the site with the biggest audience. According to Ipsos Iris, the ABC's monthly audience grew to 12.5m in January, ahead of news.com.au which lost 3.4% to land on 11.8m.Another Omnicom ad restructureDani Bassil became the latest Clemenger Group CEO to be ousted after failing to recapture the creative brand's glories of previous decades. Omnicom announced that Clemenger, Traffik and CHEP Network will all be folded into the Clems brand. Under chief creative officer Ant Keogh, who departed in 2017, and CEO Peter Biggs, who left in 2014, Clemenger Melbourne was regularly the world's most awarded agency.Too little, too SlaterLaw firm Slater & Gordon was criticised for failing to adequately handle a PR crisis after a critical all-staff email leaked the salary details of employees along with criticism of management.Meanwhile IVF clinic Genea was tonight dealing with an even bigger PR crisis after revealing that a data leak has seen hackers seize highly personal patient details.Today's podcast was edited by Abe's Audio.Time to leave you to your evening.We'll be back with more tomorrow. Have a great night.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmade + Mumbrellatim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade in which we talk to the two key players behind Publicis Group's purchase of independent Media agency Atomic 212. If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade's events, including Compass Auckland (February 18), HumAIn (May 6), REmade (September 23), Unlock (October), and the Compass Australia series (throughout November);* Member-only content and our paywalled archives; * Your own copy of Media Unmade.Capabilities and conflict: Why Publicis bought Atomic 212Last week's news that Australia's biggest media agency Atomic 212 had been sold was not a huge surprise. The agency had been rumoured to be considering offers for some time.What was a little more surprising though was the buyer. Despite rumours that consultancy Accenture was in the frame, holding company Publicis Group emerged as the winner.It ran counter to the trend of holdcos in retreat and consolidating their number of agency brands.In today's audio-led conversation, Atomic 212 chairman Barry O'Brien and Publicis Group's ANZ CEO Michael Rebelo discuss with Tim Burrowes the rationale for the deal.O'Brien acknowledges the ups and downs of the agency's journey, including when Atomic's client, retail chain Dick Smith went into administration, leaving its agency potentially owing media companies millions of dollars.“When we first kicked off, Dick Smith went belly up and left $400-odd million of debt right around Australia.“As a young agency, we were left with a considerable amount of that. That was a pretty dark time.”The agency also faced a reputation crisis when Mumbrella revealed that former boss Jason Dooris had been cheating in award entries. Dooris eventually left the business. O'Brien says, dryly, “It was not a highlight.”Meanwhile, Rebelo explains the rationale for the acquisition at a time when many groups are trimming their rosters. Capabilities and client conflict are two of the factors. When he built a three year plan for his group in 2023, “acquisition of a media agency like Atomic was literally one of our top strategic priorities,” reveals Rebelo.“What we were looking at with Atomic was how can we supercharge what we've already got? What we like to curate and cultivate in the group are specialized weapons in terms of the agencies in how they can help our clients solve their marketing problems. And Atomic represented an independent agency with really sophisticated capabilities.”Rebelo, insists that unlike previous acquisition Match, which is these days folded in to Spark Foundry, Atomic will remain as its own brand. “Conflict and managing conflict is still a big part of the market and the industry. So we are fortunate to have those independent brands that can manage different agencies across the verticals. Having another media brand to take on and help us manage that is certainly a benefit to this.”Time to leave you to your Monday. Today's podcast was edited by Abe's Audio.We'll be back with more soon.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade, taking in the Melbourne edition of Compass. And below, a down day on the Unmade Index.You should be at next year's Compass. If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the day to make a decision. If you sign up for an annual membership before the end of today you'll get a $50 gift voucher.Your membership includes:* A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade's events, including HumAIn, REmade, Unlock, and Compass, all returning in 2025.* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade.‘We should be prepared for rage' - Compass Melbourne on the rise of activismThe final stop on Unmade's six-state Compass tour of Australia was Victoria, for a feisty conversation around the state of the industry, the Campaign Brief imbroglio and the state of the Melbourne radio wars.Today's podcast features highlights. The speakers were Gold's breakfast host Christian O'Connell, NAB's CMO Thomas Dobson, CHEP's executive strategy director Nomfundo Msomi, and Kimberlee Wells, CEO of TBWA.As has been the case in several states, the topic of Campaign Brief's all-male coverage of the creative industry was nominated as the industry's worst moment of the year. Wells told the audience: “The industry's biggest loss, controversial, I know, is Campaign Brief.”In October the publication experienced a fierce backlash after publishing a review on Australia and New Zealand's top creative talent featuring 20 men and no women. It triggered a debate about the masthead's behaviour over many years.Many agency groups took the decision to stop submitting their work for publication on the Campaign Brief blog. The controversy appears to have given momentum to the local operation of Little Black Book to fill some of the void.Wells, also a board member of industry association the Advertising Council, went on: “And it is not because of the changes that are being made, but I think there's a lot of questions being asked at the moment around what becomes the central dialogue for creativity in the industry.“And it's something that I know we're certainly grappling with at the Ad Council. So there are a lot of changes that needed to be made, but we need to make sure as a result of that, we're not actually losing creativity and a space for creativity to be elevated and to be celebrated across the board.”Msomi added: “As far as our biggest gain, it's the opportunity to have difficult conversations as an industry. So we've been talking about representation and opportunities for women, minorities, people from different ethnic groups, diversity within our industry.“I'm really hoping that after we go away for the two mandatory weeks where Australia shuts down, that we come back with that same fervor in place.“This is an opportunity. It's uncomfortable for some people, and for others, it is exhausting. We've gained the chance to really talk and to be vulnerable if we want to save the industry.“We've lost, and we continue to lose women. Let's acknowledge that it's happening under our watch. But more than just losing women, I think we're losing the trust of women as an industry to make change.”On the topic of advertising creativity, Melbourne was another edition of Compass where panellists nominated Telstra's work this year as a plus for the industry. Msomi told the room: “I'm going to take the biggest win as being Telstra. I think there's a lot of lessons in that for all of us around the importance of brand, the importance of craft the importance of getting back to creativity - and the importance of not listening to everyone in your organization who wants to have a point of view on the work, but actually backing your own gut.”Melbourne has also been home to the biggest radio story of the year - ARN Media's decision to network the Sydney-based The Kyle & Jackie O Show into the city on Kiis. While maintaining its lead in Sydney, the show has failed to find an audience in Melbourne.ARN stablemate O'Connell, whose own show on Gold has regularly topped the FM ratings, argued that while the battle has been great for drawing attention to radio, some stations have been wasting money on short term promotions rather than focusing on the quality of their shows. He said: “It's just really interesting - people are talking about it. Breakfast radio still matters to people which I think is really great for my industry.“The loss for the industry is how a lot of the other shows I go up against are chucking so much money at buying listeners - big, noisy cash giveaways. I understand why they do that; I've never done that - I think it's about deepening the connection you have with the audience. I think it's transactional and I think actually it's hurting radio.“The big noisy cash giveaways to me is dumb, moronic radio.”The panel also tackled the rise of retail media (Dobson was sceptical); rebuilding business confidence in a tough economy, the next wave of agency consolidations, and predictions of a rise in consumer activism.In prescient comments which she made before the assassination of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thomson in New York, Msomi warned: “I think we should be prepared for rage. I think the bubbling under, and now bubbling over, of the real palpable rage that we feel in our industry and in our society, I think it's not going to die down.“With anger comes activism, and with activism comes change.“There's this misnomer that people who are activists and people who are trying to change things are always upset and that their anger is not productive. But that's how you get International Women's Day, that's how you get Black History Month, from organizing and from actioning that rage into something more.”* The next stop for Unmade's Compass roadshow is Auckland on Tuesday February 18, at NZME's iHeart Lounge on Graham Street. Tickets are on sale now.How Unmade's 2024 Compass tour has unfolded:Unmade Index sinks The Unmade Index retreated by 0.48% yesterday, to land on 431.7 points.Among the worst performers was Nine's real estate platform Domain, which lost 1.2% yesterday. Domain's market capitalisation has sagged by 17% since the ousting of CEO Jason Pellegrino two months agoAudio stocks Southern Cross Austereo and ARN Media both went backwards yesterday, by 0.9% and 0.7% respectively.Ooh Media beat the wider trend, rising by 1.7%Time to leave you to your Thursday.Today's podcast was edited by Abe's Audio. We'll be back with more tomorrow.Have a great day.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today: Hugh Marks firms up for the ABC as Matt Stanton makes an inside run on Nine; Plus, what we learned this year, and what we're expecting in 2025.This is the perfect time to upgrade your Unmade membership* A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade's events, including HumAIn, REmade, Unlock, and Compass, all returning in 2025;* Members-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade.Do it before the end of next week, and we'll give you a $50 gift voucher of your choice too. Upgrade today.Hugh Marks for the ABC?; Matt Stanton tightens grip on Nine; James Manning returns; and our 2025 predictionsThe Australian seems confident Hugh Marks is about to be named managing director of the ABC. As its Media Diary column puts it today: “Here's one rumour that just won't go away, and we reckon it's true: Hugh Marks will be the new managing director of the ABC. As far as media rumours go, we're almost certain it's rolled, gold, wheat.”Marks was a transformational boss for Nine, overseeing its evolution from a TV network to Australia's largest media company via the takeover of Fairfax Media. In the podcast we discuss whether there's room in the ABC management for both Kim Williams as chair and Marks as MD.Also today: we discuss acting Nine CEO Matt Stanton's tightening grip on the role, and the return of former Mediaweek owner James Manning to media after a long absence of 17 days.We look back on a year of AI ubiquity and a media downturn. And in our predictions we talk about taming the platforms, the return of jingles, and the rise of AI agents.Today's episode features Tim Burrowes, Abe Udy and Cat McGinnEditing was courtesy of Abe's Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design, and podcast production. The cicadas were not their fault.Time to leave you to start your week. We'll be back with more tomorrow.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today's episode of the Unmade podcast features the fifth stop on our Compass tour, when we visited Adelaide. Plus, further down, the Unmade Index sinks further while Vinyl Group buys Concrete Playground.You should be at next year's Compass. If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, why not do it today? Your annual membership includes:* A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade's events, including HumAIn, REmade, Unlock, and Compass, all returning in 2025* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade.* PLUS: If you subscribe before the end of next week, you'll also receive a $50 gift voucher of your choice“A big disappointment” to cancel Campaign Brief?; Uncredentialled CMOs; and too many client pitchesUnmade's Compass roadshow rolled into Adelaide last month for a lively discussion on the big industry topics.Our speakers were: Taylor Martin, chair of the Adelaide Advertising and Design Club Awards, and GM of Simple integrated marketing. She's also on the committee of She Creates championing women working in the communications industry here in AdelaideDavid Penberthy, co-presenter of 5AA's Breakfast with David & Will and News Corp columnist .Erik de Roos, Executive Director of Marketing for South Australian Tourism Commission. And Jamie Scott, Managing Director, of Showpony and former AADC co-president.Among the debate points, Taylor Martin flagged the controversy over Campaign Brief - which was slated for only featuring men in its rundown of creative talent - as the industry's loss of the year.But Jamie Scott argued that the debate that followed was a lost opportunity for the industry to commit to real change. He added: “When Campaign Brief apologised and said they would commit to change, they were still cancelled by half the industry. So the very behaviours the industry was looking for was then punished. People said ‘Oh we're going to cancel our subscription anyway'. So that was a big disappointment.”Meanwhile, Erik de Roos called out the rise of uncredentialled marketers calling themselves ”chief marketing officer”.“I could start a company tomorrow and hire some kid from the street and call them chief marketing officer, and that's fine. It's a conversation we need to be having as an industry.”Unmade Index takes another hitThe Unmade Index had a second day of triple basis point decline on Wednesday, losing another 1.62% to land on 438.7 points.Amongst the larger stocks, Ooh Media had the worst of it, losing 3.3% despite the good news that it has won a stay of execution on its Auckland Transport contract, which expires on December 31. Auckland Transport has decided to restart the tender process, meaning the contract, which Ooh Media was likely to either lose or renew on much less profitable terms, will be extended.Meanwhile Nine is once again trading below a $2bn market capitalisation.* As Unmade was about to go out of the door, Vinyl Group announced it had agreed to buy Concrete Playground for $3.5m in cash and $1.5m in shares. It said Concrete Playground had made EBITDA profits for the year of $1.5m on $4m turnover. Concrete Playground founder Rich Fogarty will leave the business.Time to leave you to your Thursday.Today's podcast was edited by Abe's Audio. (Special thanks to Team Abe's for doing an amazing editing job on cleaning up our back-up recording)We'll be back with more tomorrow.Have a great day.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today: We analyse the big news that Omnicom is set to take over Interpublic Group in a giant deal which would remake the advertising industry; Should Nine sell its radio stations?; and is the government about to finally make up its mind about designating Meta?If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade's events, including HumAIn, REmade, Unlock, and Compass , all returning in 2025.* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade.Here comes IntercomNews broke last night of a deal which would remake the agency landscape. Omnicom is negotiating a takeover of Interpublic. It would create a new industry leader. We consider the global and local implications, and ask whetehr it will change the timeline for the replacement of Omnicom Media Group's outgoing CEO Peter Horgan.Also today, we discuss whether Nine should sell its radio network.And are we finally going to see movement from the government on its decision whether to designate Facebook owner Meta under the News Media Bargaining Code.Further reading: * Wall Street Journal: Advertising Firms Omnicom and Interpublic Nearing Merger That Would Reshape Industry* Madison & Wall: Omnicom-Interpublic M&A Report: Analysis and Considerations* Mi3: Kristiaan Kroon firming as successor to Omnicom Media Group CEO Peter Horgan* Unmade: The fateful eight: How Publicis, WPP, Omnicom, Dentsu, Havas, IPG, S4 Capital and Enero rank* Australian Financial Review: Exits, cuts and Smooth FM: Nine mulls future of 2GB, 3AW, 4BC and 6PR* The Australian: D-day on the horizon for Meta: Stephen Jones set to make a call on news media bargaining code* Capital Brief: Google renews news deal with Country Press Australia* Unmade: How Google bought the silence of Australia's media establishmentToday's episode features Tim Burrowes and Abe Udy.Editing was courtesy of Abe's Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Time to leave you to start your week.We'll be back with more on Wednesday.Have a great dayToodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmade This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today's episode of the Unmade podcast features the fourth stop on our Compass tour, when we visited Perth. Plus, further down, bad news on the economy tanks the Unmade Index.You should be at next year's Compass. If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, why not do it today? Your membership includes:* A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade's events, including HumAIn, REmade, Unlock, and Compass, all returning in 2025* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade.Taxing the platforms, shaking Perth out of creative complacency, and the ‘b******t' about what it really takesThe fourth stop on Unmade's end of year Compass tour took the team to Perth, for an entertaining panel featuring five veterans of the WA media and marketing scene.Clive Bingwa became MD of Nine Perth six years ago after a media agency career including 303 and IPG Mediabrands. Steve Harris is CEO of Perth's biggest agency, The Brand Agency, as well as being a board director of the Chamber of Commerce & Industry of WA and of Fremantle Football Club. Taryn Hare is Executive Manager, Brand and Customer Strategy at Bankwest and was previously at 303, and part of the Brand Agency team that launched Bunnings Warehouse into the UK. Meg Coffey is the Founder of State of Social and managing director of digital marketing agency Coffey & Tea. And Amber Martin is the cofounder of the Hypnosis creative agency after stints at Wieden + Kennedy in London, and Host in Singapore.The conversation ranged from the lessons to be learned from the elites sidelining Donald Trump to what it really takes to succeed in the industry, and the barriers that creates for mothers.The lessons of the US electionOn Trump, Harris - who traveled to the US to watch the election unfold - argued that the media failed to capture some of the nuance. “Trump is grossly misrepresented by the Australian media. I think it's a sport to show the 10-second sound bite where he said something and not show the 30 seconds or the 60 seconds around that. And so I think everyone missed it.”Hare observed: “The fact that someone with that history is leading the free world is because Harris and her team potentially underestimated the needs of common people and campaigned on things that weren't that relevant Listening and truly understanding customers and what they need is the real lesson here.”Coffey argued that poor media literacy contributed to the result. She said: “I think media literacy has never been more important, and I think that we've lost track of that.”Whi is Google getting a free pass?The debate moved to the topic of Australia's relationship with social media. Harris pointed out that the negative impacts of social media only moved up the news agenda once Meta had decided to stop paying publishers.He said: “If you look at the big media war on social media, particularly the big major media companies, it wasn't really an issue until Facebook stopped paying under the Media Bargaining Code. When they were taking several hundred million dollars from Facebook, then it was okay. Well, it wasn't okay, but it wasn't an issue.”Harris suggested that Google is getting preferential treatment in news coverage of the social damage it contributes to because it still gives money to publishers. He said: “I'm not a big fan of Facebook for a range of reasons, but I just think it's worth noting everything you read is about Facebook. Google's getting a free reign because Google maybe still pays the money towards the media bargaining code.”He added: “Why don't these companies pay their fair share of tax? We wouldn't need a media bargaining code if they paid proper tax and they were structured correctly.”Raising the bar on creativityThe dual themes of the economic slowdown and the level of advertising creativity in the Perth market came together after Hare nominated raising the bar as a key topic that needs to be discussed. She said: “The issue that I talk about a lot is how we raise the creative quality in a market like Perth, where there are so many forces working against us.“It's very small. There are lots of businesses here that are the sole business in their vertical. They don't have to try as hard.”Harris agreed: “I think Perth is very comfortable. It's been easy to make money. It doesn't matter if you're selling coffee, selling cars, building homes, selling real estate, whatever you do in Perth in the last 15 years, it's an easy, easy economy.“And we've become a bit lazy.”The painful truth about finding career successMeanwhile Harris nominated his own unspoken conversation: “I don't think honest conversations are had about what it takes to be really, really successful. Everyone sits around and talks about your doona day, your mental health day, your right to disconnect.“And it's all b******t. If you want to be really, really successful, you don't see any Olympic gold medal winner saying, ‘I didn't train because I wanted a doona day'.“If you want to be really, really successful, you're going to have to make sacrifices, you're going to have to work harder than other people, it's going to hurt, it's going to be painful. There are things that aren't going to be nice but you'll get to be really, really successful. And I just don't think those conversations are had in any sense because they're just politically incorrect and everyone shies away from them.”Bingwa, agreed, saying” It's a tough industry, it's very competitive and there are no short cuts.”Amber Martin took a different tack, arguing that the industry loses women who become mothers. She said: “An important conversation that we need to have is around how hard this industry can be though when you're a woman and you have a baby and you try and come back into this industry, which does expect you to work really, really hard to reap the rewards.”She went on: “In our industry we're not seeing very many women at the top despite them making up the bulk of this industry that we work in, and I wonder if that's because we have this culture of ‘you have to work really hard to reap the rewards' which I agree with, but what does that look like? Is that about presenteeism, is that about being in the office all the time? What can we do to make that an easier transition for women once they've had children?“It's just too hard to have work-life balance and come back and work in a job like this. “I get a lot of satisfaction out of my baby, but I get a hell of a lot of satisfaction out of working in advertising as well. I don't want to give it up, but gosh, it's hard.”Slowing economy drags on Unmade IndexThe Unmade Index sank by nearly a full percentage point yesterday as the market digested implications of new numbers indicating slumping gross domestic product growth.Advertising spend is disproportionately affected by economic performance, and the Unmade Index fell more badly than the wider ASX All Ordinaries which lost 0.3%Nine fell back below a $2bn market capitalisation after losing 0.8%. Southern Cross Austereo had the worst day on the index, losing 3.7%.ARN Media moved in the other direction, improving by 3.6%Time to leave you to your Thursday.Today's podcast was edited by Abe's Audio. (Special thanks to Team Abe's for cleaning up what was poor audio recorded at the venue.)We'll be back with more tomorrow.Have a great day.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead.In today's audio-led edition, the government helps the ACCC muscle up against the platforms as Meta belatedly acts on scammy celeb ads; The Monkeys nostalgia as they rebrand to Droga5; acting on AI content kleptomania; and the end of the TV ratings year, but did anybody notice?If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade's events, including HumAIn, REmade, Unlock, and Compass , all returning in 2025.* Member-only content and our paywalled archives; * Your own copy of Media Unmade.It turns out Meta thinks it can do something about scam celebrity ads after allIn today's conversation: the government says it will give the ACCC more powers to take on the platforms; a fortnight after promises of a duty of care law, Meta discovers that there is more it can do about scam ads on its platform after all; Disrupt Radio makes its monthly pledge that more funding is on the way; Seven claims victory in the annual TV ratings.Further reading:* Australian Financial Review: Labor targets Meta, Apple, Amazon and Google with tough new rules* The Australian: Labor grants ACCC new powers to crack down on digital platforms* Unmade: End of term, end of government?* The Guardian: Meta to force financial advertisers to be verified in bid to prevent celebrity scam ads targeting Australians* The Australian: Disrupt Radio in final talks to resume live broadcasting* The Australian: Seven gets the eyeballs, but not the advertising dollars* The Australian: The Monkeys: From congealed blood to the world stageToday's episode features Tim Burrowes, Abe Udy and Cat McGinnEditing was courtesy of Abe's Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design, and podcast production.Time to leave you to start your week. We'll be back with more tomorrow.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today's episode of the Unmade podcast features the third stop on our Compass tour, when we rolled into Sydney. Plus, further down, the board of radio network SEN signal that they want to be dealt into the deal-making action.You should be at next year's Compass. If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, why not do it today? Your membership includes:* A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade's events, including HumAIn, REmade, Unlock, and Compass, all returning in 2025* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade.Transparency deprioritised: 'If there are dodgy agencies out there, those two probably deserve each other'The third chapter of this year's expanded six-state Compass Roadshow rolled into Sydney earlier this month with four of the industry's most high-profile people.Telstra CMO Brent Smart has been the client behind some of the industry's most talked-about advertising work this year. Peter Horgan chairs the Media Federation and is the outgoing CEO of Omnicom Media Group. Lou Barrett leads sales at News Corp Australia. Jasmin Bedir is CEO of creative agency Innocean and founder of gender equality initiative Fck the CupcakesAn early topic was the price of not doing distinctive work.According to Smart: “I think the really brave marketers are the ones who create boring things. That's super brave.”Later in the conversation, he expanded on the point: “The bravest markers are the ones doing boring, invisible marketing.” Of the Telstra work, Smart said: I don't think it's brave, I think I'm commercially smart. I do it to drive a commercial result. I don't do it for vanity or to win awards. I do it because it's more commercially effective to be creative.”Meanwhile Horgan flagged the challenge of procurement departments driving down agency remuneration. He told the room that his challenge of the year was : “Pushing back on weaponised procurement, which means we don't need humans any more in the communications ecosystem, trying to push back on that reductive narrative.”He added: “Two years ago the revenue was easy… and the humans were hard. This year, humans aren't easy, but the revenue is bloody hard.”Smart argued that it is in brands' best interests to avoid simply chasing the lowest cost with agencies.. “Screwing down your partners is not how you get discretionary effort from your partners. A lot of clients forget we can pay an agency a fee, but the bit you can't buy is their passion and how much they care, and that's a good commercial decision.”For Bedir, a theme of the year was the rise of generative AI. “I am deeply concerned about gen AI. What I hear from clients is there's a lack of governance in most organisations. There's so many suppliers trying to peddle you stuff that magically makes your problems go away. That's the latest gold rush.”Accountants on the marchAnd Barrett warned of a media landscape dominated by CEOs who had come up through finance. Recent months have seen Seven West Media, Nine and Southern Cross Austereo all put their chief financial officers in the top chair Asked to nominate a challenge for the industry, Barrett said: “The rise and rise of the CFO. With so many CFOs running media companies now, I worry we're going to end up with a lack of creativity.”Bedir also warned that the industry is struggling to find diverse new talent: “I'm concerned about the pathway of getting people in to the industry. If you've got the same group of people we end up with the same outputs.”And Horgan also flagged as a problem for the industry, the issue of brands investing less in understanding their media investments, He said: “Transparency is a double edged word, which needs to be owned on the client side as well."It's not the focus that was. There's a bell curve of clients out there who have ten person team, haven't been able to sell expertise they need to board and are not able to sell the expertise to the board. You do the maths. If there are dodgy agencies out there, those two probably deserve each other.And Barrett added as an issue: “Over reliance on social and platforms. These guys are not paying taxes in Australia. They are not paying for content.” She added: “I'm not talking about Google, I'm talking about Meta.”Smart also acknowledged that he had learned a new lesson this year, having not previously given enough priority to influencing the staff of the brands where he has worked. He said: “Something that is often overlooked by marketers is, make your staff proud to work for the brand. That has an incredible impact on how they show up. I wouldn't have thought as much about that in the past. But I've seen some incredible impact.”Unmade Index rises as SEN tells the M&A market: Deal us inThe Unmade Index nudged upwards for a second day on Wednesday, while SEN Radio's owner Sports Entertainment Group used its AGM to signal that it wants to be a player in media deal making.SEG's chairman Craig Coleman told shareholders that the company has been tidying up its balance sheet including selling Perth Wildcats and its New Zealand station SENZ. SEN has reduced its net debt to $13.3m and delivered an EBITDA profit of $9.6m in the last financial year.Coleman told investors: “We are now well positioned to be an active participant in beneficial media consolidation moves.”However, although SEN said it was on track to improve its profitability in this financial half, it said the radio market remains tough. “Our media division is seeing a tightening in the economy with businesses feeling the impacts of a lingering slowdown which is not isolated to any particular industry.”SEG is the smallest of the ASX-listed audio players with a market cap of $64m, compared to ARN's $225m and Southern Cross Austereo's $130m.SEN's share price did not move after the update yesterday, after seeing a drop of 8% the day before.The Unmade Index closed 0.41% down on 451.6 points.Time to leave you to your Thursday.Today's podcast was edited by Abe's Audio. (Special thanks to Team Abe's for cleaning up what was poor audio recorded at the venue.)We'll be back with more tomorrow.Have a great day.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today: The marketing industry reels at the sudden death of Lisa Ronson; How much more will get done on media policy as Canberra enters its final sitting week?; ARN Media prepares to make mischief at today's Southern Cross Austereo AGM; and we explore the theory that Paramount should buy SevenIf you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade's events, including HumAIn, REmade, Unlock, and Compass;* Member-only content and our paywalled archives; * Your own copy of Media Unmade.Industry in shock at sudden death of marketer Lisa Ronson; SCA faces bumpy AGM; what next for Seven?In today's conversation:* The marketing community was shocked to learn yesterday afternoon of the sudden death of Lisa Ronson.* SCA's AGM is likely to be a tricky one today, with shareholders including rival ARN Media set to turn the heat on the board;* With just one more week left in Parliament, most mooted media reforms are likely to fizzle out;* Here's a theory: Could the best owner for Seven Network be Paramount?Further reading* Mi3: Vale Lisa Ronson: Former Medibank, Coles, Tourism Australia CMO dies* Unmade: Canberra time* Australian Financial Review: Big tech's warning on rushing teen ban on social media* Michelle Rowland press release: Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024 will not proceed* Australian Financial Review: ‘Vested interests' frustrate gambling ad reforms* The Australian: SCA to be hit with ‘first strike' at AGM* Australian Financial Review: Southern Cross hit with first strike, with chairman under pressure* Sunday Telegraph: Channel 7 discuss hosting a rugby league show in 2025* The Australian: Seven West Media: could this be as bad as it gets?Today's episode features Tim Burrowes and Abe Udy.Editing was courtesy of Abe's Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Time to leave you to start your week.We'll be back with more on Wednesday.Have a great dayToodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmade This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition. Today's episode of the Unmade podcast features the second stop on our Compass tour, where we took the temperature of the Brisbane media and marketing community. Plus, further down, in the Unmade Index, SCA's share price spike begins to unwind.If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, why not do it today? Your membership includes:* A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade's events, including HumAIn, REmade, Unlock, and Compass, all returning in 2025* Member-only content and our paywalled archives; * Your own copy of Media Unmade.Trust, finding consensus in the fractious TV market, and Facebook's declining relevance for marketersLast week saw Unmade's Compass tour hit the Eastern seaboard with the Brisbane edition of the event delivering an excellent conversation.Among the topics was the opportunity that a more complicated marketing environment creates for brands that are good at what they do. Jonathan Kerr, Chief Growth Officer of Budget Direct observed: “I like complexity. I'm tired, but I like complexity because best navigator wins.”Meanwhile Cath Brands, CMO of B2B pricing specialists FlintFox, raised a topic that has come up a number of times during Compass: growing scepticism towards the effectiveness claims of some of the global digital platforms. She observed: “As a marketer, Facebook is so 1980s in my mind. I'm over it as a platform from an advertising perspective.” However she acknowledged that other Meta brands are still drawing audiences: “The cool kids aren't on Facebook but they are on Instagram.”Michael Crutcher, now a PR executive and a former editor of the Courier Mail said the industry needs to start talking about “the looming war between social media and mainstream media in Australia”, with Meta and potentially Google dropping out of their news funding deals. He added: “And 2025 is going to be nuclear for that.”Meanwhile, Simon Murphy, chief strategy officer for Publicis Worldwide Australia, suggested that social media is benefitting from a decline in public trust in established news outlets. He warned: “There's a crisis of trust and social media definitely plays into that space. They're filling that void.”Kerr, who is one of the biggest buyers of TV advertising in the country also had a warning for the TV networks: “I am annoyed with TV. It's really sad to see the way they can't come together. I always say ‘never be hard to buy'. We're at the point where it's worth coming together to make it so that it's a much more tradeable, understood medium. TV is such a wonderful medium if you want to deliver a brand narrative and a story so I think it would be truly wonderful if they said ‘Let's save this together'.”* Jonathan Kerr, Chief Growth Officer, Budget Direct* Cath Brands, CMO, FlintFox* Michael Crutcher, Director, 55 Comms* Simon Murphy, Global Strategy Director, Publicis* Jennifer Garner, Senior VP of sales, EpsilonUnmade Index flattens as SCA recovery runs out of steamA day after Southern Cross Austereo's share price unexpectedly spiked upwards by 12.6%, it lost 5.2% yesterday, taking it back down to a market capitalisation of $130m.It was a mixed day for Australia's listed media and marketing stocks. Nine gained 0.4%, while Ooh Media lost 0.4%.Among the broadcasters, ARN Media had the best day, gaining 2.9%.The Unmade Index finished the day flat on 447.5 points.Time to leave you to your Thursday.Today's podcast was edited by Abe's Audio.We'll be back with more tomorrow.Have a great day.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead.In today's audio-led edition, we prepare for a big week of media legislation in which the government will try to make the social platforms responsible for those scammy crypto ads featuring deepfake David Koch, and to push through its age-gating legislation. We also recap the week in AI and ask whether new platform Bluesky is about to hit critical mass as a Twitter replacement.If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade's events, including HumAIn (2025), REmade (2025), Unlock (2025), and Compass (November);* Members-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade. Welcome to the human race: How Bluesky is taking offA key fortnight for media law lies ahead in Canberra. The government will attempt to legislate around age limits for social media, and to force the platforms to take more responsibility for scam ads. The timeline is tight, with just two more sitting weeks of Parliament before the long summer break.Also in today's podcast: Coke turns to AI for a reboot of its Christmas ad, and Perplexity starts to monetise its search. And as X is increasingly recognised as a tool in Donald Trump's victory, the exodus to Bluesky is under way.Further reading:* Minister for Communications: Minimum age for social media access to protect Australian kids* Australian Financial Review: Why this former TikTok executive wants a strict social media ban* Minister for Communications: New Duty of Care obligations on platforms will keep Australians safer online* Unmade: Why the sudden hurry on social media?* Forbes: Coca Cola's AI-Generated Ad Controversy, Explained* TechCrunch: Perplexity brings ads to its platform* ABC News: Why X users are jumping across to new platform Bluesky in the wake of US electionToday's episode features Tim Burrowes, Abe Udy and Cat McGinnEditing was courtesy of Abe's Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design, and podcast production.Time to leave you to start your week. We'll be back with more tomorrow.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today we share the highlights from the opening chapter of this year's Compass roadshow. And further down, the Unmade Index's green streak comes to an end.If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade's events, including HumAIn (2025), REmade (2025), Unlock (2025), and Compass (November);* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade. Brand fame, burnout and doing more with lessUnmade's six-state Compass roadshow kicked off in Hobart last week.Today we share highlights from that first session. The discussion, recorded in front of a live audience, featured Ally Bradley, GM of Southern Cross Austereo in Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria and the NT; creative Chas Bayfield; Lindene Cleary, CMO of Tourism Tasmania, Abe Udy, founder of audio production house Abe's Audio; and Simon Crerar, editor-in-chief of SmartCompany.The evening kicked off with a warning from Bayfield that timidity from brands in their advertising is a far bigger risk than controversy because unremarkable advertising will not be seen. “The big challenge is invisibility,” Bayfield warned.Other topics in the debate, moderated by Unmade's Tim Burrowes, included the journey of Tourism Tasmania's ‘Come Down for Air' positioning, the business challenges being faced by SmartCompany and other publishers, the effects of burnout on over-stretched teams, and the threats and opportunities offered by AIFor those curious about the reference to Blackcurrant Tango, this was Bayfield's famous 1998 ad, ‘St George':The Compass roadshow continues next week. We're in Perth on Monday, Adelaide on Tuesday and the tour concludes in Melbourne on Wednesday. Tickets are on sale via this link.Unmade Index slips back into the redThe Unmade Index's four-day winning streak came to an end yesterday with falls almost across the board for media stocks.Among the larger businesses, Southern Cross Austereo has the worst of it, losing 2.8%. Audio rival ARN Media dropped 2.1%The Unmade Index lost 0.69% to land on 429.8 points.Time to leave you to your Thursday.Today's podcast was edited by Abe's Audio.We'll be back with more tomorrow.Have a great day.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead.In today's audio-led edition, we ask whether Donald Trump's podcast strategy will signal an advertising shift; we look back at the Seven and Nine AGMs, and forward to the ABC, Seven and Are Media upfronts.f you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade's events, including HumAIn (2025), REmade (2025), Unlock (2025), and Compass (November);* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade. Did Joe Rogan put Trump over the top?Just a week ago, the consensus was that the US election was too close to call. Now, everybody is an expert on why a Donald Trump victory was inevitable.One underplayed factor was the strategy of Donald Trump's team to make him available on several podcasts including The Joe Rogan Experience. With podcasts skewing younger and more male than most mainstream media, will Trump's victory change how marketers see the medium?Also today, Seven West Media and Nine set very different tones at their AGMs; and we look forward to the ABC, Are Media and Seven's 2025 scene setting upfront events.Further reading:* Google Trends: ‘Did Joe Biden drop out?'* Unmade: Index bottoms out as TV networks share a gloomy outlook* The Saturday Paper: ‘The mighty and powerful Joe Rogan'* Pivot: How Trump will impact media* Joe Rogan Experience: #2219 Donald TrumpToday's episode features Tim Burrowes and Abe Udy.Editing was courtesy of Abe's Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Time to leave you to start your week. We'r taking a scheduled publishing break tomorrow while I travel to Compass Brisbane. We'll be back with more on Wednesday.Have a great dayToodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmade This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today's interview features Australia's most talked about business writer, Joe Aston, whose book on Qantas has dominated the political cycle for the last ten days.Also today, in the Unmade Index, Seven and Nine held their AGMs, taking different approaches to acknowledging their failings.If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* Complimentary tickets to all of Unmade's events, including HumAIn (2025), REmade (2025), Unlock (2025), and Compass (November);* Member-only content and our paywalled archives; * Your own copy of Media Unmade.‘No amount of PR can fix the operations of a company that is failing': Joe Aston on how profit-chasing caught up with the Qantas brandToday's conversation with Joe Aston takes place where brand, business, and lobbying collide.His book The Chairman's Lounge contains the most detailed examination yet seen of the Qantas-operated network of invitation-only lounges for politicians and the business elite.Across Australia's capital cities, alongside the well signposted Qantas Club and Qantas Business Lounges, is a third type of lounge, hidden behind mirrored doors, with word ‘Private' written on them. The Chairman's Lounge isn't just a space with an a la carte menu and top shelf wine; being invited to become a member means a range of travel perks. No matter what type of ticket they buy, a Chairman's Lounge member will likely be upgraded when they fly.At the very least, they'll be sitting in the front row of economy. Ever noticed those smartly dressed people enjoying the extra leg-room of row 4, being greeted by name by the cabin crew and handed a glass of something nice from the business trolley? Chances are they're CL members.And for influential politicians travelling internationally, CL status means buying an economy class ticket and sitting in a first class seat.The Chairman's Lounge has been an incredibly effective lobbying tool, allowing Qantas more access to politicians than any other business in Australia. Says Aston: ”What the Chairman's Lounge does is make Qantas the most powerful lobbyist in Canberra.”And that's without taking into account the bosses who bend their company travel policies towards Qantas, even if other alternatives are cheaper. As Aston puts it: “It's worth every cent. The operating costs aren't that high compared to what it gets people to do, and that is spend millions and millions more than they otherwise would”.Aston's book covers the period where underinvestment in operations began to catch up with the Qantas brand. He is critical of the board for failing to hold former CEO Alan Joyce to account as the brand deteriorated. That includes Australia's most famous adman Todd Sampson. “I do think it is ridiculous that he's still on the Qantas board - he proved to be completely useless when it mattered.Not, by the way, more useless than than anyone else, and not less useless: just as useless.Theres a risk of burying the lede in this interview. His Rear Window column in the Australian Financial Review was often an agenda setter. So what will he do next?Aston hints that he may launch a newsletter of his own: “Doing my own reader-funded content is something I've thought about.”He acknowledges that his style of writing on the edge puts him in danger of attracting threatening letters from defamation lawyers. “It's all a risk calculation,” he says. “It's how much revenue you can generate and is it enough to just pay for whatever litigation costs come your way. “Index bottoms out as TV networks share a gloomy outlookThe Unmade Index recovered marginally on Thursday after hitting another all-time low the day before.Yesterday saw The Unmade Index lift by 0.15% to land on 424.2 points. The Index, which tracks the value of Australia's ASX-listed media and marketing sector, began at the start of 2022 on a nominal 1000 points.Both Nine and Seven West Media held their annual general meetings yesterday.Nine's chair Catherine West used a significant her address to shareholders to acknowledge that the company still needs to do more to address its problematic culture within its newsrooms.SWM's chair Kerry Stokes dedicated one paragraph of his address to tell his shareholders that his company has now modernised its culture, and four paragraphs to complaining about the ABC's coverage of the problem.Nine told the market that after an Olympics boost, TV revenues have returned to the 10% rate of decline seen in the previous financial year. It warned “we are seeing no tangible signs of improvement to date”.Seven said its revenues are likely to be down about 6.5% for the half.Nine's market cap grew slightly yesterday, up by 0.9% to $1.75bn. Seven West Media lost 3%, to land on $239mMeanwhile, Ooh Media recovered by 2.1% and Southern Cross Austereo was up by nearly 1%. ARN Media went in the other direction, losing 4.2%.Time to leave you to your Friday.I'll be back tomorrow with Best of the Week.Have a great day.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead.In today's audio-led edition: Can a loveable monster make Myer's Christmas?; The launch of AI-driven search in Australia creates a new peril for news publishing; and Nine's chair faces a shareholder rebellion.If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes a complimentary ticket to this month's Compass roadshow, plus all of Unmade's 2025 events, including HumAIn, REmade and Unlock (2025).You also get our member-only content and our paywalled archives; and your own copy of Media Unmade. As Myer parts with Clems, it launches their last Christmas campaign; Zero click comes to Australia; and Nine's board readies for rough AGMWith the Christmas retail season more crucial than ever for the advertising sector, Myer has launched its Christmas effort, featuring a bovver-boot wearing monster called Humbug. And will the decision of Myer to pitch its creative account open the door for a reunion?Speaking of bovver boots, we also discuss Google's local launch of AI Overviews and OpenAI's decision to turn on web search.And we discuss today's report in Capital Brief that Nine's chair Catherine West faces a shareholder vote against her reappointment.Further reading:* The Australian: Myer kicks off Christmas season with playful campaign* Little Black Book: Myer Pitches Creative Account* Little Black Book: Ant Keogh, Paul McMillan, and Michael Derepas Leave The Monkeys Melb to Launch Agency* Unmade: Can ChatGPT's new search offering see past paywalls?* Unmade: News Corp kicks off its first big AI legal battle* Google: Introducing AI Overviews in Australia, a new generative AI experience on Search* The Australian: Nine chair Catherine West set for re-election at AGM this week* Capital Brief: Nine shareholders urged to 'hold directors accountable' for toxic cultureToday's episode features Tim Burrowes, Abe Udy and Cat McGinnEditing was courtesy of Abe's Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Time to leave you to start your week. We'll be back with more tomorrow.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today, ahead of his visit to Australia for next month's IAB Leadership Summit, we talk to IAB Tech Lab's CEO Tony Katsur about the state of play in digital advertising. And the Unmade Index approaches a new low.Only Unmade's paying members get full access. They were entitled to a ticket to today's inaugural Unlock conference in Sydney. They also get an invitation to our Compass: Reflections and Projections event, taking place across six states throughout November. Next year they'll also be able to join us at our AI-focused conference HumAIn (Q2 2025) and at our retail media conference REmade.They get full access to our archives, which go behind the paywall after two months. Feeling jealous of all that access? Maybe that should be you. Upgrade today.‘Data provenance is going to be one of the top issues in 2025 and 2026': What IAB Tech Lab CEO Anthony Katsur worries aboutBeing the boss of IAB Tech Lab, the standard setting body of the digital advertising industry, must be a frustrating experience. With more responsibility than power, the IAB attempts to shepherd its members towards agreed tech standards including around audience measurement.In the rise of the open web, the industry broadly agreed about specs like standard ad sizes and audience measurement. In Australia, the IAB endorses Ipsos as preferred currency, and before that Nielsen.In CTV (connected TV) though, in Australia and around the world, there's no such consensus. That includes Foxtel at the centre of a coalition of streamers pushing for a solution from Kantar, while OzTAM, owned by Seven, Nine and Ten, takes a different direction with VOZ (Virtual Australia).Then there's the issue of global platforms who want to apply their own measurement and standards to their walled gardens, which tends to deliver them the results they want.Today's podcast guest is IAB Tech Lab's New York-based Tony Katsur, talking to Unmade's Tim Burrowes. Katsur be speaking on standards at the IAB's Leadership Summit in Sydney on November 20.Katsur is a veteran of the digital advertising economy having worked for some of the industry's formative players including DoubleClick, MediaMath and Rubicon Project before joining IAB Tech Lab three years agoIn the wide ranging conversation, Katsur describes himself not so much as a sherrif of what was a wild west, but a constable, imploring his constituents to do the right thing.On CTV he observes: “There are companies that may believe that they're a walled garden, but they're not. Therefore they think they can go it alone with their own proprietary forms of measurement.“There are a lot of companies out there that think they're a bigger deal than they are, and think they can measure themselves or have their own proprietary measurement standard.”Among the other topics discusses are the threat that the large language models of AI pose to the intellectual property of media owners; why data provenance will be the key phrase of 2025 and 2026; whether the preparation for cookie deprecation that never came was wasted effort (he argues not); and reasons to feel optimistic for publishers.* Tony Katsur will be speaking at the IAB Australia Leadership Summit on November 20Unmade Index hovers over the trapdoorThe Unmade Index slipped to within a fraction of a percentage point of a new all-time low yesterday. The index, which plots the movement of Australia's ASX-listed media and marketing companies, lost 0.51%, to land on 437.7 points. It's previous all-time low of 437.4 points came six weeks ago.The index was pulled down by shifts at the top of town, with Nine losing 1.3% and its majority owned real estate platform Domain dropping 1.7%. Nine is now trading at its lowest point since April 2020.It was a better day for the audio players, with ARN Media gaining 2.8% and Southern Cross Austereo up by 3.1%.Today's podcast was edited by Abe's Audio. The Unmade team are all in Sydney today for our Unlock conference. And we'll be back with a text-led edition tomorrow.Have a great day.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead.In today's audio-led edition, Seven West Media and News Corp lobby for government help on funding; households make the switch to ad-funded tiers, and we look ahead to the final upfront events of the year.If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade's events, including Unlock (this Thursday October 31), Compass (across November), HumAIn (Q2 2025) and REmade (Q3 2025);* Member-only content like this post; and all of our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade. Fighting disinformation by funding news: Media bosses stop up the rhetoric; Ad-supported TV back in vogueAfter last week's softener from the Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australian Society, Australia's big media players are moving into lobbying overdrive. Seven will argue this week that the giant digital platforms are a force for evil; while News Corp's boss is arguing that the little end of town cannot be the solution.Instead, Seven and News Corp are lobbying for the government to support the not-too-big, not-too-small Goldilocks solution of companies like, well, Seven and News Corp.As the Australian reports, the editor-in-chief of Seven West Media, Anthony De Ceglie, will tomorrow use a Melbourne Press Club speech to attack the platforms including Elon Musk's X, and Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, saying: “Elon Musk doesn't care about the truth. In fact, he revels in peddling lies and boasts about using his bin fire of a site to influence the US election.“Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg is seemingly happy for Meta to profit off the page impressions that child sex offenders create when they routinely use his site to prey on their next victim.“Against these evil forces — and calling them that is not an exaggeration — there is only one true antidote. The news. The truth. The fourth estate.”De Ceglie will also champion the idea of a tax break for producing news and current affairs content.And News Corp's executive chairman Michael Miller argues in The Australian today that the government should try to force Meta to go on supporting the big media players it did deals with three years ago:“The government is at risk of abandoning the engine rooms of Australian news, which is where the bulk of the jobs are and where the bulk of important Australian stories are told,” he said.“The parliament's primary focus should be those deals Meta has walked away from.As well as discussing De Ceglie and Miller's arguments, today's edition of Start the Week examines new numbers from Kantar which suggest a big jump in household penetration of ad-supported streaming services - up from 10% of homes to 25% in just a year; and looks across the agenda of media events over the next couple of weeks.Further reading:* The Australian: Seven boss Anthony De Ceglie slams government for not supporting media* The Australian: News Corp boss Michael Miller urges government to prioritise survival of mainstream media outlets* Unmade: Landing lights glimmer for a digital levy to fund news* Mi3: Meta barked, Australia blinked: News Bargaining Code to be shelved as Feds prepare possible digital ad tax* The Australian: Viewers are increasingly signing up to streaming services with advertising, Kantar research showsToday's episode features Tim Burrowes and Abe Udy.Editing was courtesy of Abe's Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Time to leave you to start your week. We'll be back with more tomorrow.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmade This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Along with revealing the lineup for the Brisbane edition of our Compass event, we today feature an in-depth interview with Mark Frain, CEO of Foxtel Media, recorded around last week's Upfront event. Plus, a further dip in the Unmade Index.If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade's events, including Unlock (October 31), Compass (across November), HumAIn (Q2 2025) and REmade (Q3 2025);* Members-only content; and all of our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade.  Budget Direct Chief Growth Officer, Nine MD, Publicis strategy chief and comms veteran to bring Compass to Brisbane Cat McGinn writes:We can today reveal the leadership panel for the Brisbane Compass event, Unmade's annual industry meet-up, this year taking place in six states. The panel features Jonathan Kerr, Chief Growth Officer of Budget Direct; Michael Crutcher, PR professional and former editor of the Brisbane Courier Mail; Simon Murphy, chief strategy officer for Publicis; and Kylie Blucher, managing director of Nine Queensland & Northern NSW.The panel will be moderated by Unmade's Tim Burrowes and the discussion will later be featured as an Unmade podcast.Unmade's paying members are entitled to a complimentary place at Compass, and tickets are on sale here.Unmade's Compass roadshow takes place across six states.* Wednesday November 6 - Hobart, The Hope and Anchor;* Tuesday November 12 - Brisbane, The Prince Consort;* Wednesday November 13 - Sydney, The Sporting Globe;* Monday November 18 - Perth, The Globe;* Tuesday November 19 - Adelaide, Elephant British Pub;* Wednesday November 20 - Melbourne, The Garden State Hotel.‘We agitated for change and we didn't get the answers we were looking for': Why Mark Frain created the VFCFrom his opening words on stage at last week's Foxtel Media Upfront event, it was clear that boss Mark Frain hasn't made peace with the decision made by Seven, Nine and Ten to refuse him a place at the ownership table for measurement system OzTAM.Instead, he has gone it alone, with Foxtel building its own measurement system powered by Kantar, and inviting a coalition of streamers to join them in the Video Future Collective.Frain sees it as the free-to-air networks' loss: “It's been cathartic” he tells Unmade's Tim Burrowes. “We did request to become officially part of OzTAM from a shareholding perspective. We also discussed the opportunity to provide our data to that business where we thought we could enrich and improve the service. And unfortunately, the shareholders said no. So from there, that forced us down a different direction.”The biggest downside of the schism is that for media agencies and brands they now have a second measurement system to contend with. Frain is unapologetic. “Any change causes some unrest”.This new direction includes the creation of a coalition of streamers under the banner of the Video Futures Collective, chaired by Foxtel's Toby Dewar. Alongside Foxtel, the VFC membership now consists of Amazon Advertising, Disney Advertising, Samsung Ads, SBS On Demand, Vevo and YouTube. Frain says, pointedly, “Everyone's got an equal share of voice.”* Declaration of interest: Foxtel provided my travel and accommodation for the upfront event, and they've been advertising with us this week. The podcast interview was not part of any commercial arrangement.Unmade Index continues downwards driftTim Burrowes writes:The Unmade Index's slow stall has stretched into a week after losing another 0.74% yesterday. That followed a drop of 0.73% on Tuesday. The Unmade Index, which tracks Australia's listed media and marketing companies has been losing ground since last Tuesday. It closed on 444.7 points last night.Yesterday saw Vinyl Group grow by 4.6% to a market capitalisation of $111m, just behind Southern Cross Austereo's $112m.Ooh Media's slide also continued, losing 2.5% yesterday to land at $641m. The company has lost nearly 9% over the last month.Today's podcast was edited by Abe's Audio. We'll be back with more tomorrowHave a great day.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead.In today's audio-led edition: We reflect on the industry's move against Campaign Brief; And Nine is hit with a historic rape claim after publishing its culture report.We've upgraded Unmade's membership. Annual members now get a free ticket to all of our events. That includes Unlock on October 31; our Compass series in November; and REmade and HumAIn next year.If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership also includes members-only content, access to our paywalled archives and your own copy of Media Unmade. Upgrade today.How Campaign Brief contributes to the problemThe dominos have continued to fall for Campaign Brief after a backlash against its perpetuation of a creative club dominated by middle aged white men.In today's conversation, we explore why Campaign Brief isn't just reporting a problem, but is actively contributing, by using its power and influence to support the same club.And also today, a new challenge for Nine, as The Australian breaks news of an alleged rape after a Christmas party.Further reading:* Unmade: Why won't Campaign Brief acknowledge women (and why do male execs still support them)?* Unmade: Campaign Grief* The Australian: Advertising's gender representation debate heats up as agencies boycott trade title* Unmade: Truth and consequences at Nine?* The Australian: Former Nine junior female staffer reports alleged sexual assault involving senior male managerToday's episode features Tim Burrowes, Abe Udy and Cat McGinnEditing was courtesy of Abe's Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Time to leave you to start your week. We'll be back with more tomorrow.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today's edition features a fascinating exploration of how Four Pillars Gin became such a huie brand success, with an in-depth conversation with co-founder Matt Jones. Also today, we share details of the Sydney panel for Unmade's Compass roadshow.If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade's events, including Unlock (October 31), Compass (across November); HumAIn (2025), and REmade (September 2025).* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade. Smart, Barrett, Horgan and Bedir revealed for Unmade's Compass Sydney panel next monthCat McGinn writes:We can today reveal our Sydney panel for our annual industry meet-up Compass, which will travel to six states for the first time.The Sydney edition, taking place on November 13, will feature Brent Smart, CMO of Telstra; Lou Barrett, managing director of client partnerships at News Corp; Jasmin Bedir, CEO of creative agency Innocean; and Peter Horgan, outgoing CEO of Omnicom Media Group, for a lively discussion of the year just gone and outlook on 2025.The pub conversation will also be featured as an Unmade podcast.Unmade's paying members are entitled to a complimentary place while tickets are also on sale here. Unmade's Compass will for the first time take place across six states. We'll be announcing each state's speaker lineup across the next few days* Wed 6 November - Hobart;* Tues 12 Nov - Brisbane: The Prince Consort;* Wed 13 Nov - Sydney: The Sporting Globe; * Mon 18 Nov - Perth: The Globe; * Tues 19 Nov - Adelaide: Elephant British Pub; * Wed 20 Nov - Melbourne: The Garden State Hotel.Love and craft and marketing - how Matt Jones helped create the legend of Four Pillars GinA year on from a $100m exit, Four Pillars Gin co-founder Matt Jones has written a book about the business discipline behind the creation of one of the great Australian brand success stories.Unusually for the author of a business book, Jones is not just a strategist, but one who put his money where his mouth was. Along with partners Stuart Gregor and Cameron Mackenzie, he made the decision to create a luxury gin brand, and then executed it brilliantly.Lessons From Gin: Business the Four Pillars Way tells the story of how they did it, and offers a series of insights that anybody building a brand could borrow from. The book breaks the story into four stages - thinking, crafting, sharing and growing.In today's Unmade podcast, Jones shares with Unmade's Tim Burrowes some of the lessons applied, and learned, along the way.He makes the case that many business are underpowered in having marketing brains at the top. Like Jones, Gregor came from the communications world as owner of the PR agency Liquid Ideas. Mackenzie was the only working directly in the production of alcohol.Says Jones: “We were far heavier in terms of creative industries, creative mindset, brand mindset, marketing mindset than 99% of leadership groups out there in the world.“My perspective on the whole is that businesses are underweight when it comes to those voices around the leadership table. And I think that is something that we absolutely benefited from, that we valued these things that we might call brand leadership. We valued them at the heart of the business, not just the marketing strategy.”Lessons from Gin will be published by Wiley on October 30 and is available on presale. On October 31 Jones will deliver the keynote at Unmade's Unlock conference in Sydney where he will discuss the role of telling stories in building brands. Tickets are on sale now, or complimentary to Unmade's paying members.SCA moves back past VinylTim Burrowes writes:The old order reasserted itself on the Unmade index yesterday with Southern Cross Austereo moving back past Vinyl Group.SCA lost 1.1% to land on a market capitalisation of $111.5m, But Vinyl Group lost 4.4% to land on $111.1m.Most acitvity on the Unmade Index was negative yesterday with Domain losing 1.3% and parent company Nine dropping 0.8%.Seven West Media bucked the trend, growing by 3%The Unmade Index fell 0.67% to land on 454.1 points.Today's podcast was edited by Abe's Audio.I'm about to hop onto a flight to Sydney to cover tonight's Foxtel Upfront event. I'll let you know how it went in tomorrow's newsletter.Have a great day.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead.In today's audio-led edition: With Campaign Brief under fire for continuing to focus only on male creatives, the industry reacts; AI exhumes movie stars; the ACCC's exposure of Coles' and Woolworths' shady pricing hits their brands; and Seven defends yet another legal case.We've upgraded Unmade's membership. Annual members now get a free ticket to all of our events. That includes Unlock on October 31; our Compass series in November; and REmade and HumAIn next year.If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership also includes members-only content, access to our paywalled archives and your own copy of Media Unmade. Upgrade today.Why won't Campaign Brief acknowledge women (and why do male execs still support them)?The scandal of the last few days has been playing out on LinkedIn as the industry questions Campaign Brief's ongoing emphasis on the talents only of male creatives Campaign Brief's latest ranking of creatives in NZ and Australia - in the gift of publisher Michael Lynch - focuses mainly on men. Even agencies featuring on the list, including Thinkerbell, appear to be asking themselves whether it's a good idea to be there.Thinkerbell was among the agencies highly placed. CEO Margie Reid, who is also a director of Support The Girls Australia, took to LinkedIn over the weekend to distance her agency from the ranking, writing: “Thinkerbell has not paid, created or had any part to play in the list that appeared in the latest edition of the Campaign Brief magazine or the BestAds ranking list. Nor were we contacted when the list was published.”Creative Jet Swain put it more succinctly yesterday: “Shame on you Campaign Brief. Nothing has changed in the three decades I've witnessed this blatant misogyny. Your NZ lists had no women, and Australia only has Tara Ford.”Also in today's podcast: AI can bring dead actors back to life; but should it?; Coles and Woolworths have seen tangible brand damage from the ACCC prosecution new data from Roy Morgan Research shows; and Southern Cross Austereo is accused of ‘mocking' its local TV news obligations.Further reading* LinkedIn: Thinkerbell's Margie Reid on the Campaign Brief sexism row* LinkedIn: Darren Woolley of Trinity P3 on the Campaign Brief sexism row* LinkedIn: Jet Swain accuses Campaign Brief of misogyny* Australian Financial Review: Think you know that voice? Dead celebrities are working again* The Australian: Aldi nabs ‘most trusted supermarket' title as Coles and Woolies suffer* The Australian: An absence of local news in the regions is denying a voice to the people whose lives are affected* The Australian: Seven blocks release of ‘humiliating' docs in case against ex-producer Amelia Saw* Australian Financial Review: Inside ARN's Melbourne gamble on The Kyle and Jackie O ShowToday's episode features Tim Burrowes, Abe Udy and Cat McGinnEditing was courtesy of Abe's Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Time to leave you to start your week. We'll be back with more tomorrow.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today's edition features one of the highlights of last week's REmade - Retail Media Unmade conference, our leadership panel. If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade's events, including Unlock (October 31), Compass (across November); HumAIn (2025), and REmade (September 2025).* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade. Growing pains, data gains, and techy brains: retail media's leaders reflect In today's audio edition, we hear from the retail media leaders in a session which concluded our retail media conference REmade last week.Dan Ferguson, chief marketing officer for Adore Beauty Group, Sarah Minassian, head of retail media at Metcash and Marc Lomas, MD of commerce for GroupM AUNZ shared their views on the surge in retail media and its growing industry impact.The panel presented a unified case that retail media is on a fast track, and with year-on-year expansion, demanding attention, investment - and increased integration across the industry.In the conversation, moderated by REmade's Curator Cat McGinn, Lomas argued “We are rapidly approaching Retail Media 3.0 where it's no longer a separate entity - it's just media, seamlessly integrated across channels and treated the same as other forms of media."Another key takeaway was the need for better collaboration and data sharing between brands, retailers, and tech partners. The message was clear: transparency builds trust, and trust fuels the kind of partnerships that can really scale retail media. Minassian said “It's about having authentic conversations, building trust, and aligning everyone's expertise to move forward at a million miles an hour."The panel doubled down on putting customers first. Whether it's using podcasts or digital channels, keeping customer experience front and centre drives genuine engagement. As Ferguson said, “We listen to our customers. They give us sharp and direct feedback, and it's what drives our decisions. At the start of the pandemic, our audience told us, ‘less of the hard sell,' and we changed our tone of voice accordingly. That kind of customer feedback is what shapes everything we do."On the tech side, integration is key. Metcash is focusing heavily on building the infrastructure needed to enhance its retail media offerings, while Adore Beauty's commitment to leveraging customer data shows just how important tech and data are in taking retail media to the next level.Lomas added: "When you look at the way consumers are starting to shop, younger demos are rekindling the love of the store. The store is a new canvas for innovation, and syncing experiences between online and offline through technology is where retailers can really step in and deliver."And Metcash's Minassian called out the need for more diverse voices at the table to shape the future of the industry, reminding women to apply for roles, even if they don't feel they have the "perfect" experience.* REmade will return in September 2025. Subscribers who become paying members of Unmade now will get a whole year of access to paywalled content and all our events, plus a ticket to the next REmade, Upgrade todayUnmade Index hovers as Nine moves up and Seven moves downDeclines from Ooh Media (down 1.2%) and Seven West Media (down 2.8%) were offset by increases in the valuation of Domain (up 1.5%) and Nine (up 0.4%) to slightly lift the Unmade Index yesterday.The index closed up by 0.2% at 451.6 points.Today's podcast was edited by Abe's Audio. We'll be back with an end-of-week update tomorrow.Have a great day.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today we talk to two of the co-founders of Mercha - Ben Read and Sam Hardy. Plus, the top of town pushes down the Unmade Index.If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade's events, including HumAIn (2025), REmade (September 2025), Unlock (31 October), and Compass (November);* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade. The Unmakers: Meet Mercha - ‘A digital platform in an analogue industry'Mercha can claim to be the first branded merchandise player in Australia to have fully digitised its processes in what remains marketing's arguably most analogue sector.Last month the company wrapped up a $300,000 crowd-funded seed round, valuing it at around $10m.In today's edition of The Unmakers, Unmade's Tim Burrowes talks to CEO Ben Read and chief revenue officer Sam Hardy about why the promotional marketing sector has taken so long to scale up in Australia. As Hardy puts it: “Mercha is a digital platform in an analogue, old school industry.”Over just three years, Mercha has ramped up to a turnover of $2.9m in the last financial year.Promotional merchandise is also a sector facing headwinds as sustainability moves further up the agenda. Mercha claims to be part of the solution by focusing on products that people will want to keep. Says Read: “It is shocking to me that 66% of promotional products end up in landfill. That is just disgusting to me. It should never happen.“We're trying to be better than an industry that is not trying hard enough.”By way of example, Hardy adds: “We had a radio station out of Sydney ask us very early on in the piece to do 250,000 whistles for a New Year's Eve event. Plastic whistles next to the harbour. And it would have been great, the revenue. But we turned it down.“I draw the line on offering people crap that's going into the bin or offering people product that's not made fairly.”Unmade Index red up top, green belowThe Unmade Index slipped on Wednesday after Nine, the biggest locally listed media and marketing stock lost 1.6% to fall back to a market capitalisation of $1.9bn.The move added to the daylight between Nine and its 60.1% owned subsidiary Domain. Domain slipped by 1.2% yesterday.Ooh Media was also on a losing trend yesterday, slipping by 1.1%In the mid market, ARN Media and Southern Cross Austereo both saw slight improvements.Vinyl Group, which this week announced the acquisition of blockchain music collectibles business Serenade, rose by 9.5%. In the company's annual report released on Tuesday, it said it had written down the value of its Vampr “LinkedIn for musicians” platform, founded by CEO Josh Simons, by $1.8m, but remained “bullish”.The Unmade Index slipped by 0.7% to 461 points.Today's podcast was edited by Abe's Audio. As disclosed in the podcast, at the time of recording this interview, I was considering taking part in the Mercha crowd funding round on Birchal, via my super fund. I did choose to investWe'll be back with an end-of-week update tomorrow.Have a great day.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead. In today's audio-led edition: We chew over what the ACCC's concerns over Cartology and Coles 360 may mean for Australia's retail media sector; Bruce Gordon retires; and yet another significant week in AI developmentsIf you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade's events, including HumAIn (2025), REmade (1 October), Unlock (31 October), and Compass (November);* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade. Can retail media networks succeed if they are non-retailer owned?; AI's latest threat; Bruce Gordon hands overLast week, the ACCC lit the fuse on a new battleground for retailers - does their ownership of retail media networks give them too much power? In today's podcast, recorded the day before our REmade - Retail Media Unmade conference, we discuss the implications.Also today: Google's AI Overviews are finally coming to Australia, which will alarm many publishers; and Google also unveils a powerful new research tool, Notebook LM. And Meta goes hard on AI-generated content.And Bruce Gordon, proprietor of WIN and kingmaker at Nine, moves into retirement.Further reading:* Unmade: Cartel-ogy: The ACCC comes for retail media* Unmade: Brands beware: ACCC's supermarkets attack is PR used as an offensive weapon* ACCC: Supermarkets inquiry August 2024 interim report* The Australian: Consumer trust in Coles and Woolworths plummets following ACCC action* Australian Financial Review: Google to test its artificial intelligence-powered search in Australia* Australian Financial Review: Billionaire Bruce Gordon retires from WIN as succession questions loomToday's episode features Tim Burrowes and Cat McGinn.(pic)Editing was courtesy of Abe's Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Time to leave you to start your week. We'll be back with more tomorrow.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today: As Vinyl Group this morning announces yet another acquisition, we talk to CEO Josh Simons about the bust-up that saw the ousting of Brag Media co-founder Luke Girgis, and the background to his opportunistic acquisition of Mediaweek.If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade's events, including HumAIn (2025), REmade (next week), Unlock (31 October), and Compass (November);* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade. ‘I stand behind the acquisition every day of the week': Vinyl boss Josh Simons on the bumpy Brag Media buyoutAmong the bosses of Australia's ASX-listed media companies, nobody has had a more random path to the hot seat than Josh Simons. From the lead singer of rock band Buchanan, Simons went on to found Vampr, a social networking site for the music industry, before seeing that acquired by the company he went on to head, Vinyl Group.Simons was the architect of Vinyl's $8m+ purchase of the Brag Media group, publisher of The Brag and local editions of Rolling Stone and Variety among others, at the start of the year.The initial plan was for Vinyl Group to be a portfolio company with its Brag Media arm run separately to its music platform interests. But that quickly fell over, with the less-than-amicable departure of Brag Media co-founder Luke Girgis five months after the takeover.That left Simons taking what he describes in today's interview with Unmade's Tim Burrowes as “a masterclass in media” as he relocated from Melbourne and took charge of the Brag Media publishing operation.That's included a lesson in the publishing etiquette around journalistic independence. Simons concedes that he was “naive” when he took control adding: “I'm not dogmatic in terms of my views on things. And I think it's important to be able to know when you've said something stupid.”Vinyl Group, with a market capitalisation of a little under $92m, is behind only Nine, Domain, Ooh Media, Seven West Media, ARN Media and Southern Cross Austereo when it comes to local ASX-listed media companies. When it comes to the narrower business of publishing, Vinyl is fourth if you also include the dual-listed News Corp. As Simons observes dryly: “It's not lost on my parents.”During the interview, Simons offers few clues about what led to the ousting of Girgis, although he hints: “We had to invest in areas that were previously just not being invested in. We needed to bring journalists in.”Hires have included Lars Brandle as head of content, and promoting former Daily Mail and Cartology executive Jess Hunter to head of Brag Media. Since recording the interview, editor-in-chief Poppy Reid who was part of the Girgis era, announced her exit.Earlier this month, Vinyl Group completed the fire sale acquisition of Mediaweek for just $1m after owner Trent Thomas was forced to sell the title following allegations of harassment towards staff. The timing and price of the deal was, Simons says, “almost too good to be true”. The integration is being overseen by Vinyl Group's chief operating officer Joel King.Simons hints there are more media acquisitions in the entertainment space to come, including overseas. Asked about the fact that Vinyl Group's tech platforms are global while the media companies are local, he notes: “Rome wasn't built in a day. We've got broad, ambitious plans for global. Rest assured that we're looking around the world to find teams that might add value in any of those areas inside the media part of Vinyl.”As we were publishing this morning, Vinyl Group announced to the ASX that it has agreed to buy event and brand activation agency Funkified from founder Gus Stephenson for $2.5m. Funkified has been Brag Media's in-house events supplier since 2021. It had a turnover of $4m and EBITDA profit of $430,000 in the last financial year. In the interview, Simons also fleshes out his strategy for Vinyl Group, which as well as Vampr includes music credits database Jaxsta and online retail platform Vinyl. The job of the media arm is to fund investment in the company's (so far) loss-making tech. “Our media company now is really the engine that allows us to invest in technology. In the past, we've seen media companies try and buy tech companies, and it hasn't worked out so well. And so what we're trying here is buying media companies to fuel tech.”Despite being an ASX-listed company, Vinyl Group's shareholder register is dominated by a handful of wealthy investors including WiseTech Global founder Richard White and Songrtradr boss Paul Wiltshire.Says Simons: “I'm quite calm and optimistic about where everything's at.” Asked whether Vinyl Group still belongs on the ASX, he adds, intriguingly: “Yeah. Especially if you knew what I know.”* Declaration of interest: Via his super fund, Tim Burrowes owns shares in most of Australia's listed media companies, including Vinyl Group.Inflation relief lifts Unmade IndexThe Unmade Index bounced yesterday as the market absorbed improving inflation numbers. The index - which tracks Australia's listed media and marketing companies - grew by 1.5% to 449.3 points - outperforming the wider ASX All Ordinaries which grew by 0.15% yesterday.Among the larger stocks, Nine saw the biggest lift, up by 2.44%.In the audio space, ARN Media and Southern Cross Austereo grew by 1.6% and 1.1%, while radio company Sports Entertainment Group lost 5.5%.Today's podcast was edited by Abe's Audio.As we count down to next week's REmade conference, we'll be back with a retail media-led edition of Unmade tomorrow.Have a great day.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead. In today's audio-led edition: James Warburton invests in Boost Media; troubled Disrupt Radio says it's in a “holding pattern”; the AFL and NRL lobby on betting ads; and LinkedIn admits to training its AI on user content.We've upgraded Unmade's membership. Annual members now get a free ticket to all of our events. That includes REmade - Retail Media Unmade on October 1; Unlock on October 31; our Compass series in November; and HumAIn next year.If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership also includes members-only content, access to our paywalled archives and your own copy of Media Unmade. Upgrade today.If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade's events, including HumAIn (2025), REmade (1 October), Unlock (31 October), and Compass (November);* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade. Telstra kicks off new campaign around grand final; Warburton invests in Boost; Disrupt Radio staff still unpaidTelstra is among the first brands to reveal its plans for a big campaign launch timed around AFL grand final, according to The Australian today. The Oz also features good and bad news from streaming radio, with Disrupt Radio still in a funding crunch and Broad Radio about to go from pre-recorded live.Over in the AFR, Seven West Media is the topic of the day, with former boss James Warburton revealing an investment in ad inventory reseller Boost Media alongside private equity company CVC; and questions about Seven Group's appetite to remain invested in its media arm SWM.And today's AI chat covers the revelation that LinkedIn is training its large language model on posts from its users; the role of generative AI in creating media content; and a new version of OpenAI.Further reading: * The Australian: Disrupt Radio is two months behind in staff payments, future of station unclear* The Australian: Broad Radio launches new live programs on the women-only radio station* The Australian: Telstra gets animated to shake off corporate image* Australian Financial Review: Ex-Seven chief James Warburton, CVC Emerging Companies ink media deal* Australian Financial Review: Seven West Media stokes tension behind the scenes at Seven Group* Unmade: Publishers await their Independents Day* Sydney Morning Herald: ‘Nanny state': NRL, AFL storm the field over gambling ads* Mumbrella: AI generated content doesn't work – But if it did? The media's screwedToday's episode features Tim Burrowes, Abe Udy and Cat McGinn.Editing was courtesy of Abe's Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Time to leave you to start your week. We'll be back with more tomorrow.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to a Tuesday update from Unmade. In the interests of topicality we're reworking our publishing rhythm this week. We've brought forward to today our usual Thursday audio-led interview to focus on the Paramount Upfronts which kicked off in Sydney yesterday. And our member-only post which usually happens on a Tuesday, will be later in the week. Further down, we've also got better news on the Unmade Index which finally broke its eight day losing streak.If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade's events, including HumAIn (2025), REmade (1 October), Unlock (31 October), and Compass (November);* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade. How Paramount is making one plus one add up to moreParamount yesterday become the first of Australia's TV companies to show its hand during 2025 Upfronts season.One of the challenges of covering Upfronts presentations is that they tend to be a grab bag of announcements, without there necessarily being a unifying theme.That was certainly the case with Paramount, with announcements covering free to air commissions for Network 10, local commissions for streaming service Paramount+, the company's global content pipeline, converged trading technology upgrades with Paramount Connect, and a rebrand that will see 10 Play disappear so it will be Ten across both linear and streaming.And that in itself was the unifying theme. Albeit by accident rather than plan, the global ownership structure of the company leaves Paramount as the best placed media company to argue that the sum of its parts adds up to more than the whole.While Paramount Plus isn't the biggest subscription streaming platform with an advertising tier, it gets to be the only one that is part of a local Upfront.While a distant third behind Seven and Nine in broadcast TV, Ten gets a pipeline of global formats and content from its parent company.While 10 Play isn't as big as Seven's FAST (free ad supported TV) channels, advertisers and agencies can buy across both Paramount+ and 10 Play.To lean in to the acronyms, Paramount is the only company locally that can offer advertisers audiences across SVOD, BVOD, FAST and FTA. The sum of the parts has the potential to equal more than the wholeUnder Hugh Marks, Nine's portfolio felt like a company where its assets across TV, streaming, publishing and radio added up to more than the whole. More recently one plus one has equalled two at best.Seven West Media's TV and publishing assets feel similarly disconnected, even more so since being split into seperate divisions ready for some sort of M&A activity.ARN Media's (so far failed) takeover plan for SCA was about being stronger in the single medium of audio. Southern Cross Austereo's valuation will go up as soon as it finally offloads its fading regional TV licences (presumably mostly to Paramount) and becomes a pure play audio company.So what to make of Paramount's announcements?There's a further investment in live reality TV alongside I'm A Celebrity. Big Brother returns to its original home where it ran for its first eight seasons, before three seasons on Nine where it relaunched well out of the 2012 Olympics before fading, and five seasons on Seven which took much of the life out of the format by moving to a cheaper pre-recorded format.Big Brother will be live on Ten and streamed 24 hours a day live which is almost exactly the sort of content FAST was invented for.There were no other major format surprises. Have You Been Paying Attention, MasterChef, Taskmaster, Survivor, and Thank God You're Here all return. The Project stays on air.Talking ‘Bout Your Generation (or Talkin' ‘Bout Your Gen as it will be this time) has been revived minus Shaun Micallef as host. Sam Pang will get his own show.During the podcast conversation with sales boss Rod Prosser and programming lead Daniel Monaghan, I didn't detect much of an appetite to go after a big (and expensive) sporting code. The kite flown at the weekend by NRL boss Peter V'landys feels more like an attempt to scare Nine into thinking it could face an auction.There was also some paranormal activity from Paramount.An Australian version of sitcom Ghosts, which started life in the BBC in the UK will be cast shortly (I have my suspicions we won't see it on screen until 2026). I'm intrigued how the caveman character of Robin from the original will translate into a local character without controversy around First Nations people. Monaghan tackles that in the interview.And a spooky six part scripted drama Playing Gracie Darling will land on Paramount+As well as talking about the content announcements, the interview addressed the question of how the TV industry can stop sounding defensive about its fading linear numbers and start getting aggressive about streaming.Prosser acknowledges: “We don't see ourselves as a free-to-air business anymore. We see ourselves … as a premium video business. Obviously, the free-to-air asset is incredibly important.It's important to recognize a couple of things. The first thing is that the free-to-air linear still drives the biggest reach.“The second fact is linear audiences are declining. I think none of us can have our heads in the sand about that.“We were artificially propped up through Covid. I think everyone recognises that.“And that decline that we knew was coming has come. And I think we'll see stabilisation in those audiences now.”“The reality is television is still a mass-reaching vehicle. And I think there's no reason to be defensive around that. We own it.“But I do think the linear audiences have found their place.”* Declaration of interest: My travel and accommodation for the event was covered by ParamountUnmade Index finally breaks losing streakThe Unmade Index finally broke an eight day streak of declines to record a move upwards yesterday, growing by 1.36% to 443.3 points.The best performer was Domain, majority owned by Nine, which rose by 4.3%. That in turn helped lift Nine by 2.1%.Rival TV network Seven rose by 2.9%.Among the larger stocks, Southern Cross Austereo had the worst of it, slipping by 3.8%. SCA's market capitalisation of $122m is the lowest it has ever been. The smaller audio stock of Sports Entertainment Group, owner of SEN radio, lost 7.6%.Today's podcast was edited by Abe's Audio.We'll be back with another newsletter tomorrow.We also have a clarification. In Saturday's Best of the Week, I reported that VOZ streaming would launch on November 25, as a means for advertisers to frequency cap their campaigns across differing media plartforms. I mentioned that this had previously been announced as December 29. In fact, that date is the full launch of VOZ as a trading currency and remains the same.Have a great day.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead.In today's audio-led edition, we explore what happens next at Nine, the NRL tries to bring Paramount into its next TV rights auction, and Upfronts season rolls on.If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade's events, including HumAIn (2025), REmade (1 October), Unlock (31 October), and Compass (November);* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade. Mike drop, now what for Nine?Mike Sneesby may be on the way out for Nine, but the company still has months of dramas ahead.As we discuss in today's podcast, acting CEO Matt Stanton's first challenge will be navigating the release of the report into the company's culture. The Australian reports today that “a slew of bullying claims have also been levelled against two senior women at Nine”.Also in the podcast, we list some of the contenders for what is one of the biggest jobs in Australian media.Plus, we get ready for another big week in Upfronts season, with Paramount sharing its plans for 2025 today, and Digital Publishers Alliance running Independents Day on Thursday.And the NRL is trying to talk up a bid from Paramount for its next round of rights negotiations.Further reading:* Unmade: Nine's $3bn decline* Unmade: Scorecard: Mike Sneesby failed at Nine, but first he gave the company a future by launching Stan* Unmade: After Sneesby* The Australian: Outside pick firms as next Nine boss* Capital Brief: Nine execs jostle for power as race to replace Sneesby as CEO begins* Sunday Telegraph: What's the Buzz: Peter V'landys seeks meeting with Channel 10 over NRL rightsToday's episode features Tim Burrowes and Abe Udy.Editing was courtesy of Abe's Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Time to leave you to start your week. We'll be back with more tomorrow.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmade This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead. In today's audio-led edition: The government clear the decks on its policy logjam, with privacy reforms dumped until after the election; new AI rules, and heavy fines on scam ads. Plus, the boss of Disrupt Radio - where staff have gone unpaid for nearly two months - claims: “Start-ups are not for the salaried and superannuated”.We've upgraded Unmade's membership. Annual members now get a free ticket to all of our events. That includes REmade - Retail Media Unmade on October 1; Unlock on October 31; our Compass series in November; and HumAIn next year.If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership also includes members-only content, access to our paywalled archives and your own copy of Media Unmade. Upgrade today.Privacy reforms move to the ‘too-hard' basket; Don't expect salaries and super, Disrupt Radio founder tells staffIt's a frenetic day for government policy announcements with major consequences for the marketing industry.Most notably, The Guardian has broken the news that the most consequential reforms to the Privacy Act have been moved to “the too-hard basket”, and are likely to be dumped to the other side of the election.Also today, the government is announcing a crackdown on scam ads with fines for the digital platforms that carry them. What's unclear is whether this will extend to media brands (most local news outlets) who carry Google Display Network content.And the government has also kicked off a fortnight long consultation period around a new set of voluntary rules on AI usage.Sticking with AI, Unmade's Tim Burrowes, Cat McGinn and Abe Udy also examine the launch of Seven's The AI Factory - is it substance or spin?And the team discusses the latest on the ailing Disrupt Radio. Founder Ben Roberts told The Australian today that the real problem for unpaid staff isn't their empty bank accounts, but that they're not used to what he sees as the realities of life in a startup.“Start-ups are not for the salaried and superannuated, and I made it very clear to people I personally hired that it might be a bit of a rollercoaster."It's been particularly difficult for those who haven't been through the rough and tumble of a start-up before,” he told The Oz.Further reading:* The Guardian: Get a VPN and delete your cookies, Australia's privacy laws are still lagging behind“Are we the baddies?”* Brisbane Times: Up to $50m fine for banks, telcos, social media firms in war on scams* Australian Government: Voluntary AI Safety Standard* Seven West Media: Seven opens the AI Factory* Unmade: Disrupt Radio goes off air* The Australian: Disrupt Radio hits turbulence: unable to pay staff and the station is taken off DAB+Today's episode features Tim Burrowes, Abe Udy and Cat McGinnEditing was courtesy of Abe's Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Time to leave you to start your week. We'll be back with more tomorrow.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead.In today's audio-led edition, streaming audio and video pull in advertising growth, while podcast audiences boom. Plus, we look back on results season and forward to Upfronts.If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade's events, including HumAIn (2025), REmade (1 October), Unlock (31 October), and Compass (November);* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade. Video and audio streaming lead digital growth; Results season's theme: at least the bad news was no worse than expectedIn today's episode of Start the Week, we cover off the new 2024 financial year data from the IAB. It reveals video streaming growing by an impressive 18.6% while connected TV is taking the biggest slice of that. Meanwhile, online audio has just had its best quarter.We also discuss a seperate half yearly report into podcast listening habits from Commercial Radio & Audio and Triton Digital.We look back upon a results season full of lots of bad news but few nasty surprises. And we look forward to Upfronts season which kicks of with Ooh Media's Outfronts on WednesdayFurther reading:* Commercial Radio Australia: Australian Podcast Bi-annual report* IAB Australia: Internet Advertising Revenue Report FY24 & June Quarter* Unmade: SCA: The disappearing agency dollars* Unmade: 'Sometimes you have to cop to a bad quarter' - Ooh Media drops a mediocre set of numbersToday's episode features Tim Burrowes and Abe Udy.Editing was courtesy of Abe's Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Time to leave you to start your week. We'll be back with more tomorrow.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today's conversation features demographer Bernard Salt on what really motivates Australians. Further down, the Unmade Index takes a breather after Nine's financial results were no worse than expected.We've upgraded Unmade's membership. Annual members now get a free ticket to all of our events. That includes REmade - Retail Media Unmade on October 1; Unlock on October 31; our Compass series in November; and HumAIn next year.Your membership also includes members-only content, access to our paywalled archives and your own copy of Media Unmade. Upgrade today.Has Australia got it too good to be great?As the lockdowns of Covid fade in people's memories, some of the changes in trajectory are permanent, observes demographer and columnist Bernard Salt. Technology adoption and the pursuit of more space for home working remain. The Zoom room now takes priority over the pool room.However, pursuit of quality of life was a longer term, underlying Australian trait, possibly driven by enjoying a more benevolent climate than European settlers had known.“We're a free, open, easy, sporty, home-focused people, quality of life-focused people,” says Salt. “And it ain't going away. It was there in the 1950s. It'll be there in the 2050s.”Another factor that shaped Australia's destiny is geology, says Salt in his conversation with Unmade's Tim Burrowes. While the more populous US was driven by farming, much of central Australia lacks the rick soils that would have been needed to settle it through intensive agriculture.The conversation also covers how consumer mindset changes depending on life stage.And in a question that was covered before this week's news that the government has controversially closed the door on new topics for the next census, Salt explains why he wants to know more about the rise of pet ownership alongside the loneliness epidemic.* Boomtown is running a webinar today at 10am Eastern featuring Salt's presentation at the Boomtown breakfast event a fortnight ago.Unmade Index flat as Nine offers no more bad newsThe Unmade Index stood still on Wednesday with the market offering a sigh of relief that Nine's annual financial results were no worse than expected. The index lost just 0.1 points, to land on 456.5 points.Nine finished the day up by 0.75% to a market capitalisation of $2.1bn. Seven West Media gained 2.94%.The Market Limited, owner of Hot Copper, Gumtree and Carsguide, jumped nearly 30% despite reporting a drastic fall in profitability.Today's podcast was edited by Abe's Audio.We'll be back with more soon, including a deeper dive into the Nine numbers.If you're interested in retail media, don't forget that our call for entries for the REmade Awards is live only until the end of the weekend.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead. In today's audio-led edition: News publishers push back against media agencies' brand safety default settings; AI search startup Perplexity gets into the advertising business; and X becomes an image disinformation engine.We've upgraded Unmade's membership. Annual members now get a free ticket to all of our events. That includes REmade - Retail Media Unmade on October 1; Unlock on October 31; our Compass series in November; and HumAIn next year.If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership also includes members-only content, access to our paywalled archives and your own copy of Media Unmade. Upgrade today.How brand safety is throttling news revenuesMedia companies are starting to push back against buying agencies' brand safety policies after the admission of Group M boss Christian Juhl that by default most of his clients are kept off news sites. Juhl testified to Congress that just 1.28% of brand spend goes to online news.In today's podcast we discuss the difference between brands sensibly avoiding polarising mastheads, and defunding news altogether. We ask whether brands' claims to be good social citizens align with decisions that make it harder for public service journalism to occur.Also today, we look at Perplexity's plans to take on Google in search with an advertising offering; Conde Nast's deal with OpenAI and Donald Trump's sharing of fake AI imagery.Further reading (and viewing):* The Australian: Brand suitability myth busted* Unmade: Taken to the farm: GARM harm* Unmade: What if Elon is right, and marketers should occasionally be told to get fuuucked?* Digiday: Perplexity's pitch deck offers advertisers a new vision for AI search* OpenAI: OpenAI partners with Condé Nast* Forbes: AI Gone Wild: How Grok-2 Is Pushing The Boundaries Of Ethics And InnovationGroup M boss Christian Juhl's testimony on brand safety:Today's episode features Tim Burrowes, Abe Udy and Cat McGinnEditing was courtesy of Abe's Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Time to leave you to start your week. We'll be back with more tomorrow.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to a midweek edition of Unmade.Tomorrow is Unmade's third birthday and we'll be sharing a post with some updates on how we're travelling, and where we go next. So our usual, audio-led episode is a day earlier than usual, featuring the team at Man of Many at a point when independent digital publishing is a front page political issue.Further down in the post, the Unmade Index hits another all time low as the valuation of ASX-listed media and marketing companies falls to the lowest point since we started the index two-and-a-half years ago.Producing independent analysis of the media and marketing industry that goes beyond press releases takes time and resources. If you like what we do, you can support us by becoming a paying member. Upgrade todayScott Purcell and Frank Arthur's trip into the independent media establishment with Man of ManyMan of Many has a different founding story to most digital titles.Neither of its two founders Scott Purcell and Frank Arthur came from a publishing background. Purcell was a credit analyst at Westpac and Arthur was an industrial designer for a street furniture company.The then housemates started Man of Many as a way of talking about the men's lifestyle products that interested them.From something which was essentially a blog, Many of Many has become a company of increasing substance. With a staff of just under 20, the company now talks mental health and carbon neutrality, as well as continuing to champion luxury consumption.Through persistence and participation, Many of Many has become a significant voice within the publishing ecosystem. If there's such a thing as an establishment within independent media, then MoM is a member.They're signed up for The Digital Publishers Alliance, the Online News Association and the Australian Press Council. Man of Many has been a long time entrant (and sometimes winner) in Mumbrella's Publish Awards. They're shortlisted for website of the year and brand of the year amongst other categories this year.Man of Many says it is now Australia's largest men's lifestyle site (albeit, as is discussed in the interview, with much of their traffic comes from overseas).In today's podcast conversation with Unmade's Tim Burrowes, Purcell speaks not just the language of watches and whisky but also brand values and carbon neutrality. Pragmatically, MoM has successfully applied to be on the Australian Communications & Media Authority's register of news businesses. Depending what the governmenrt chooses to do about designating Meta or other platforms, that could be crucial for publishers.Not that Purcell necessarily welcomes the prospect of a Meta designation by Treasury minister Stephen Jones: “We're hoping that there won't be one because I think the impacts of that will be quite detrimental to the broader market. We are an ACMA registered news organization, which was meant to be a requirement under the code for negotiation. But unfortunately, that hasn't really resulted in any further bargaining power for us.” So far, anyway.If the government does decide to create a digital levy on the platforms, Man of Many will inevitably be one of the voices arguing that lifestyle journalism is a form of public interest journalism that deserves funding. “I think that it is important for it to be quite a broad definition of public interest journalism and that the funding goes towards independent and a diverse set of media,” argues Purcell.Further reading: * The business book recommended by Purcell in the interview is Traction, by Gino Wickman;* See more about Man of Many's credentials on their About page;* Man of Many's advertising pageUnmade Index hits a new lowThe Unmade Index hit a new low point yesterday, dropping by 1.06% to 465.2 points.The previous low came when the index dipped to 465.9 points on July 5.The Unmade Index, which covers the market capitalisation of all the local ASX-listed media and marketing companies, began at the start of 2022 on a nominal 1000 points. Yesterday's number marks a fall of more than 53% of their collective value.Among the larger stocks, Domain saw the most movement, losing 3.1%. Stocks in Domain have lost 15% since it updated the market on its full year numbers last week. Ooh Media lost 2%.Enero dropped by another 5.2% yesterday, to its lowest point since the early weeks of the Covid crisis in April 2020. Enero lost one of the zeroes from its market cap after falling below a $100m valuation.Today's podcast was edited by Abe's Audio.I'll be back tomorrow with Unmade's three year birthday update. As is the annual tradition, I'll be sharing details of our financial performance and audience numbers. And we'll also be announcing a big upgrade on the privileges for Unmade's paying members.If you're interested in retail media, don't forget that discounted earlybird tickets are on sale for another four days for the next edition of REmade on October 1. And our call for entries for the REmade Awards is live for just another fortnight.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead.In today's audio-led edition, rumblings about a tech tax get louder; clues from earnings season as Ooh Media's profits slip; and the ABC invites the Bruce Lehrmann defamation judge to host Media Watch.If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* Member-only pricing for our HumAIn and REmade (October 1) conferences;* A complimentary invitation to Unmade's Compass event (November);* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade.Digital levy drumbeat get louder; Is this the week ARN tries yet again to capture SCA? ABC thinks out of the box for Media Watch Publishers smell money in the air, and they're launching a landgrab before the dollars drift to the ground. With the government dithering about whether to designate Meta under the News Media Bargaining Code, lifestyle publishers are arguing that what they do had a value too. If Meta or anyone else gets designated, they want to be allowed into the negotiations.Also today, we check in on earnings season with Ooh Media reporting a down half this morning, and ARN likely to update the market on its SCA takeover ambitions when it does its half yearly update on Thursday.And The Australian reveals that The ABC has been rebuffed in what would have been a wonderful casting move. It tried to interest Justice Michael Lee in replacing Paul Barry as Media Watch host. In a parallel universe it would have been a great idea.And it was the morning after Larry Emdur won the Gold Logie.Further reading:* The Guardian: The door to an Australian tech tax is clearly ajar. Can Labor make it happen?* Unmade: A digital levy for platforms now looks likely* Australian Financial Review: Lifestyle, culture websites argue for their slice of Meta's pie* The Australian: Financial markets say FTA advertising market won't improve until consumer confidence lifts* Unmade: Labor will do the TV industry a favour if it bans gambling ads* The Australian: Southern Cross Austereo takeover deal is pie in the sky – for now* The Australian: ABC's pitch for Federal Court judge Michael Lee to take Media Watch hot seat declinedToday's episode features Tim Burrowes and Abe Udy.Editing was courtesy of Abe's Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Time to leave you to start your week. We'll be back with more tomorrow.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade (with quite a few written words too).Today, we talk to Foxtel's streaming and advertising boss, Julian Ogrin; Seven's slumping share price sees it at risk of being eclipsed by ARN Media; and we share more news of our retail media conference REmade.‘We can be number one in digital advertising' - Julian Ogrin on Kayo's growth storyTim Burrowes writes:Julian Ogrin, the man tipped as the future boss of Foxtel Group, has been taking a higher profile of late. Over the last few days, he's been the face (and voice) of the latest set of results from the company.Ogrin is CEO of Foxtel's streaming division including sports platform Kayo (“the home of Australian domestic sport”, as he puts it in today's podcast), and entertainment platform Binge.The rise of the two platforms - each of them passed more than 1.5m paying subscribers for the first time - is an unusual success story against a backdrop where most satellite and cable TV providers around the world have failed to react to the disruption of changing consumer habits.Last week, News Corp publicly hung a “for sale” sign on Foxtel Group, of which it owns two-thirds. Telstra owns the other third. The company flagged “third party interest” in what looks like an attempt to flush out other potential bidders.The urgency is because these numbers may be as good as they gets for Foxtel.For Kayo, the fourth quarter is the one where local footy fans return for the season before beginning to churn away again. And looming in the next few months is the next NRL deal negotiation. Foxtel currently shares the rights with Nine, which will inevitably chase the full package this time, to spread across its subscription platform Stan too. The all-or-nothing battle will be an expensive one if Foxtel is to win it.And Binge is almost certainly only months away from losing its HBO content to a local launch of Warner Discovery's streaming service Max.So now is the time to sell Foxtel - and for Ogrin - to sell the message of the company's streaming growth.In today's conversation he alludes to a subtle repositioning of what Kayo (and Foxtel) stand for when it coms to sport. He talks about domestic sport five times. Having lost the English Premier League to Optus Sport in 2015, perhaps Formula One, last renewed in 2022, will be next to go.The interview also covers the question of Kayo's price. By global standards the $25-per-month entry level price, or full package for $35, is low. Ben Shepherd, who is often right about such things, predicted last week that we may see the price rise towards $50.Ogrin hints: “We used to have three tiered products and we came back to two. Maybe we go back to three.”Naturally, we asked Ogrin about the succession plans when the time comes to replace Delany. Naturally, he navigated around the question.We also pushed him on the number of sign ups to aggregation service Hubbl. He used the word “proud” twice but declined to share numbers.Ogrin also has Foxtel Media, the company's advertising sales house, reporting in to him. Even in a down market, the division has reported growth. Ogrin claims Kayo is the only scalable advertising solution for streaming in the market. “We're talking about seven hours of highly engaged viewing a week”.“In the next 12 to 24 months we can be number one in digital advertising and we're just going to go for it.”Today's podcast was edited by Abe's Audio.We'll be back with another newsletter tomorrow.If you're interested in retail media, don't forget that discounted earlybird tickets are on sale for another four days for the next edition of REmade on October 1. And our call for entries for the REmade Awards is live for just another fortnight.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead. In today's audio-led edition: The call is coming from inside the house as Nine's papers highlight disquiet over the company's share buyback and Domain's leadership; we look at the first edition of the reincarnated Cosmopolitan Australia; and the latest in AI.If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* Member-only pricing for our HumAIn and REmade (October 1) conferences;* A complimentary invitation to Unmade's Compass event (November);* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade.Nine's Foxtel takeover talks revealed as Cosmo returnsSix years after Bauer Media killed it off, Cosmopolitan Australia is back on the newsstands. In today's audio-led edition of the Unmade podcast, we take a look at that first edition of Cosmo.Plus, a revelation that Nine talked to News Corp about buying Foxtel; what reads like a subtle hit on the management team at the Nine-aligned Domain in the Australian Financial Review, and suggestions that Nine's share buyback program has been a fizzer.And in the world of AI, have we hit the trough of disillusionment?Further reading:* Unmade: As good as it gets - Foxtel on the block* Capital Brief: Nine and News Corp deal talks add to Foxtel intrigue* Australian Financial Review: REA's success exposes shrinking Domain* Brisbane Times: The $220 million ‘double-edged sword' that's bothering Nine* Cosmopolitan Australia: Tones And I Is Ready For Her Close UpToday's episode features Tim Burrowes, Abe Udy and Cat McGinnEditing was courtesy of Abe's Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Time to leave you to start your week. We'll be back with more tomorrow.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today we talk to author and Crikey proprietor Eric Beecher as he publishes a book condemning the power of media moguls. And further down, the Unmade Index bounces back a little after slumping on Monday and then losing some more on Tuesday.If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* Member-only pricing for our HumAIn and REmade (October 1) conferences;* A complimentary invitation to Unmade's Compass event (November);* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade.‘They do it to make money and they do it to wield power' In today's audio-led conversation, we talk to one of the leaders of Australia's independent media sector, Eric Beecher.A former editor-in-chief of the Sydney Morning Herald early in his career, Beecher has been involved in building and selling two big publishing businesses, and is currently proprietor of Private Media whose flagship is trouble-making daily newsletter Crikey.Last week, Beecher's new book, The Men Who Killed The News, was published by Simon & Schuster. In it, he takes aim at media moguls around the world who use their influence for their own ends. A major focus is the Murdoch family. Beecher has gone from working for Rupert Murdoch and selling a business to what was then News Ltd, to being an influential critic of the company and being unsuccessfully sued for defamation by Lachlan Murdoch.The conversation also covers the imperfection of the industry-funded Australian Press Council (“the lesser of evils”) his views on the sort of public interest journalism that deserves to be publicly funded (“It's about scrutinzing power and government. I do not believe it includes lifestyle journalism”) and what's likely to happen in the Murdoch family's new succession battle.Beecher describes the unregulated influence of owning a media company as “the loophole in democracy”.We talked to Private Media CEO Will Hayward last year:Unmade Index slide endsThe Unmade Index recovered slightly yesterday after its drops of 3.6% and 1.2% to start the week. Yesterday the Unmade Index improved by 1.08% to 477.9 points.Among the larger stocks, printing and marketing services group IVE did best, growing by 3.4%. Seven West Media was up by 3% after hitting a four year low on Tuesday.Enero, owner of agencies including BMF, hit its own four year low yesterday, dropping to a market capitalisation of $106mToday's podcast was edited by Abe's Audio.We'll be back with another newsletter tomorrow. If you're interested in retail media, don't forget that discounted earlybird tickets are on sale for another 12 days for the next edition of REmade on October 1. And our call for entries for the REmade Awards is now live.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead.In today's audio-led edition, the theme of the week is government intervention in betting ads; airline failures and the social media landscapeIf you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* Member-only pricing for our HumAIn and REmade (October 1) conferences;* A complimentary invitation to Unmade's Compass event (November);* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade.Government set to back off on betting ad ban; Could Rex have marketed itself differently?; Digital levy loomsThe Australian government is currently navigating tricky questions about where to intervene across the media and business world.In a proposed crackdown on betting ads, the government seems to be watering down its threat to ban them from TV. Instead it might limit gambling brands to two ads per hour, which would create premium inventory for the networks. Meanwhile, the networks are asking for another discount on what they pay to access the public airwaves.The government is also weighing up what intervention might be needed to save regional airline Rex. Should the airline have stayed focused on the country?And a major new intervention around the digital platforms is looming, including the possibility of a digital levy.Further reading:* The Guardian: ‘A total cop-out' if Albanese government refuses blanket ban on gambling ads, Pocock says* Australian Financial Review: TV networks to demand fee relief as $40m wagering hole opens up* Unmade: The levy is breaking coverToday's episode features Tim Burrowes and Abe Udy.Editing was courtesy of Abe's Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Time to leave you to start your week. We'll be back with more tomorrow.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today we recap one of the most talked-about sessions at Unmade's HumAIn conference. And further down, the Unmade Index surges on new data suggesting inflation may be back under control.If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* Member-only pricing for our HumAIn and REmade (October 1) conferences;* A complimentary invitation to Unmade's Compass event (November);* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade. How AI is already changing life for news breakersWhile the audience at HumAIn voted down the debate motion that AI is an extinction level event for media, its impact on the business of journalism is nonetheless undeniable.In a conversation moderated by Unmade's Tim Burrowes, we brought together a panel of news practitioners to discuss how generative AI is already changing practices in journalism and the publishing business model. Our panellists:* Melanie Withnall, Head of News and Information, Southern Cross Austereo* Michael Davis, Research Fellow, Centre for Media Transition* Shaun Davies, Responsible AI Consultant* Ricky Sutton, Author, Future MediaThe topics tackled included how news organisations are already using AI, combating AI as a source of disinformation, using AI as a storytelling tool; the place for news media if generative search wipes out direct traffic, the challenges of algorithmic biases and the ethics of accountability.Melanie Withnall has since announced she would be moving back to the ABC as head of continuous news, audio and video. She is due to finish at SCA tomorrow.Unmade Index back above 500It was an afternoon of optimism on the Unmade Index after new inflation numbers quelled fears that interest rates might go up again.Our tracker of locally listed media and marketing stocks jumped by 2.77% on Wednesday to 500.7 points. This outperformed the wider ASX All Ordinaries which rose by 1.76%.The index has been stuck below 500 points - signifying a halving of value of Australia's media and marketing stocks since we started tracking them in 2022 - for the last two months.It was a particularly good day for TV stocks, with Nine growing 4%, and Seven West Media growing 5.9%. Southern Cross Austereo, which is in both radio and TV, improved by 0.8%.The two outdoor advertising stocks, Ooh Media and Motio, both bounced too, up by 3.6% and 5.3% respectively.Today's podcast was edited by Abe's Audio.I'm speaking at a couple of private industry events in Hobart today and tomorrow, and not planning a newsletter tomorrow unless something urgent breaks. If you're in Hobart and want to say hello late on Friday afternoon, possibly over a beer, then please do drop me a note.If you're interested in retail media, don't forget that earlybird tickets are now on sale for the next edition of REmade on October 1. And our call for entries for the REmade Awards is now live.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead. In today's audio-led edition: Should Nine's journos have gone on strike?;The AI content snake threatens to eat itself; and a chance to hear the Infinite Dial launch.If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* Member-only pricing for our HumAIn and REmade (October 1) conferences;* A complimentary invitation to Unmade's Compass event (November);* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade.Are Nine's journos right to strike?Nine's big Olympics fortnight in Paris has been overshadowed by its journalists going on strike. Several regular columns are missing from today's papers. But should they even be striking?Plus, we examine the latest developments in AI, including the launch of OpenAI's own search offering, Google's attempt to position Gemini as a blog writer, and Mutinex cofounder Henry Innis's (bad) idea for resurrecting the axed Pedestrian brands.And as bonus content we also share a replay of this month's Infinite Dial webinar.Further reading:* Unmade: Torch relays, both good and bad* The Australian: Nine's strikers misread the room, and their audience* The Guardian: Nine journalists do their block over Scott Cam's Paris Olympics appearance amid strike* 7news: Nine CEO refuses to answer questions as newspaper reporters strike over pay as Olympics starts* The Australian: Fair's fare – big tech must pay for the news it uses* LinkedIn / Henry Innis: Someone could start a very profitable local business using the remains of the Pedestrian licences* OpenAI: SearchGPT Prototype* CRA: The Infinite Dial 2024 Today's episode features Tim Burrowes, Abe Udy and Cat McGinnEditing was courtesy of Abe's Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Time to leave you to start your week. We'll be back with more tomorrow.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today we talk to one of the world's most celebrated advertising creatives, Sir John Hegarty.Further down, the Unmade Index lifts back towards 500 points, but Seven West Media slumps back to its four-year low.If you've been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* Member-only pricing for our HumAIn and REmade (October 1) conferences;* A complimentary invitation to Unmade's Compass event (November);* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade‘Take off those f*****g headphones' - Sir John Hegarty on why creatives need to stay connected to the worldAd agency BBH is among the most significant advertising agencies of the last half century. It may never quite have opened its doors in Australia - the closest it came was Singapore - but its local influence on advertising is still remarkable with many of its alumni having built agencies locally.Created four decades ago by John Bartle, Nigle Bogle and John Hegarty, BBH is now owned by Publicis.Sir John Hegarty - who also cofounded Saatchi & Saatchi and TBWA - is behind some of BBH's most celebrated ads. In February he'll be coming to Australia as part of his Business of Creativity course.In this wide ranging conversation with Unmade's Tim Burrowes, Sir John discusses the sliding doors moment early in his career as an art director when he ended up paired with copywriter Charles Saatchi; how a black sheep came to define his career; and the nature of creativity.He also explains his provocative premise that the reason why Sydney is not a great creative hub is because the weather is too good. "A lot of creativity comes out of struggle. You can't sit outside a lovely beach bar and have a beer. You've got to go in and have an idea.”Sir John also argues that the only way for creatives to stay relevant is to stay in touch not just with culture, but with their surroundings. “If you're a creative person, please, will you take those f*****g headphones off? Great creative people are absorbers. They absorb things around them all the time.”He also tackles the separation of media from creative agencies: “one of the greatest mistakes our industry made”.And he shares the anecdote of how his second thoughts about a weak campaign his agency had already sold in, became the acclaimed “Cream of Manchester” ad for beer brand Boddingtons.Further links:* Business of Creativity* Training Day:* The Stormtrooper Scandal* Apple TV: Stones in Exile* Disney+: The Beatles: Get Back* Hegarty on Creativity: There are No Rules* Leonardo Da Vinci by Walter Isaacson* Backstory book subscriptionToday's podcast was edited by Abe's Audio.If you're interested in retail media, don't forget that earlybird tickets are now on sale for the next edition of REmade on October 1. And our call for entries for the REmade Awards is now live.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmadetim@unmade.media This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe