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2020

2021

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WHAT WILL THE


FACE OF ADVERTISING
LOOK LIKE?
AdNews – Since 1928
March 2020
* A composite image of 62 participating creative leaders in Australia
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out of the way.

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www.adnews.com.au | March 2020
CREATIVE SIDES
Crime pays for
VMLY&R managing partner
Sarah Bailey, who has also
forged a successful career
as a bestselling fictional
crime writer.
Contents
MARCH 2020

22SPOTLIGHT
Natalie Giddings, managing
director of The Remarkables Group, Regulars
discusses adapting to the changing
social influencer landscape.
08 BEHIND THE COVER: Two young creatives are addressing the issue
of diversity in adland by creating this month’s cover as part of their
Changing the Face initiative.

14 AGENDA: With the evolution of publishing resulting in tectonic


shifts in advertising revenue, experts gaze into the future of
journalism and the concept of subscribers paying for news.

22 SPOTLIGHT: Commencing life as a talent agency for bloggers,


The Re m a rk a ble s G roup h a s e vol ve d i nto social
influencer strategy and ongoing management services.

26 INVESTIGATION: Vying for the public’s attention has never been


more competitive, meaning those with a creative edge rise to the
top. See how the best are staying ahead of the game.

37 BETTER WORKPLACES: Guided by the philosophy of “measured


magic”, progressive agency Thinkerbell brings a marketing science
to client branding and harnesses the power of staff happiness.

Creative

48 CREATIVE REVIEW: Following the devastation of Australia’s


summer bushfires, three creatives run the rule over the advertising
campaigns that have stemmed from the disaster.

Online

43
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Editor’s Letter www.adnews.com.au | March 2020 7

Once more, dear friends, into the sewer


S hould we shore up the breach in online etiquette
with the carcass of journalistic ethics?
Words written to hurt for all to see online can do
Congratulations accepted. Constructive review wel-
comed. Criticism checked. Insight sought. And anon-
ymous comment is okay if a valid point is made.
significant damage. In advertising, all can be targets There can be good reasons for someone not want-
but early career people are most vulnerable to troll- ing their name public. Perhaps they are reporting
ing, a nasty form of bullying. wrongdoing and that could
These gut blows to mental damage job prospects.
health are often launched The quality of the comment
for cheap laughs or to be is the issue rather than whether
spiteful from behind a shield it is made anonymously or not.
of anonymity. If everyone agreed not to
This bile can benefit plat- publish anonymous comment,
forms with online visitors, then the flow of vitriol would
whose numbers translate to likely shrink. But that would
higher prices for advertising. risk losing important points in
But the debate has become a debate or information that
fuzzy, perhaps distracted by can only be given anonymously
the hurt caused, placing the or to protect a whistleblower.
issue of anonymity ahead of Traditionally the opinion
the questionable content itself. pages of newspapers had (and
And the industry must take still do) comment from those
responsibility. Many publicly who don’t want their names
abhor the comments but sup- used. The editor ensures the
port, either commercially or comments are relevant, based
via social media, the plat- on fact and that they contrib-
forms allowing such vitriol. ute to a debate.
John “Steady” Steedman E D I T O R This is part of the editorial
at WPP AUNZ has admirably C H R I S P A S H
process — a set of rules to
taken the lead to put a stop ensure readers get what they
to vile attacks and hopefully are promised.
positioning the industry as a showcase for behav- The same rules apply to all editorial. A report must
iour in the online world. be fair, accurate and relevant. This applies at AdNews
Steedman describes, in a letter printed in full in and goes for comment, analysis and opinion.
AdNews last year, anonymous comments as the And sometimes anonymous comments are
“coward punches” of public debate. needed to ensure balance in a story or to so that the
But why is the comment out there in the first place? reader gets a fuller picture of what is happening.
Wouldn’t it be better to block personal attacks and deny Some executives quietly told me, when visiting their
them the oxygen of being attached to ad industry news? offices, that their junior staff like online trolling.
AdNews screens comments using editorial To which I reply, that in my world view, journalism
judgement. Abuse is rejected. Waffle is suppressed. ethics doesn’t allow such abuse.
Behind the Cover www.adnews.com.au | March 2020 8

A li m ited
b e s p o ke ed itio n
The creative A
t r o p hy is d N ews ‘A’
a ls o u p f
contingent of adland g ra b s f o
r th e w in o r
n e r.
is the beating heart of
PAYING FOR NEWS • PURSUING CREAT
CREATIVITY • WE ARE SOCIAL • CREATIVE SIDES

the industry. To fully THE REMARKABLES • THINKERBELL’S NEVERLAND • A SUNBURNT COUNTRY

embrace this, and Thinking. Insights. Ideas.


adnews com au

with a mission to
2019*
GENDER

91% MALE
AGE

create awesome
36 YEARS
ETHNICITY

CAUCASIAN

2020

and inspiring covers,


each month AdNews
2021

hand-picks an agency
to work its magic. 2022

WHAT WILL THE


FACE OF ADVERTISING

Changing the face of advertising


LOOK LIKE?
AdNews – Since 1928
A composite mage of 62 part c pating creative leaders n Australia March 2020
* and analysed by M crosoft Azure Cognit ve Services

uring the last couple of years, creative directors and chief crea- How did the creation
D adland has recognised it has
a problem: diversity. This is a prob-
W O R D S

P A I G E
B Y

M U R P H Y tive officers to upload their head-


shots. By doing so, they were com-
techniques come together?
Our focus was to create a compo-
lem that two young creatives, mitting to change. We created a sition that was free from any bias
Ava Frawley and Jasmine Subrata, composite image which became or preconceived ideas of what the
are hoping to tackle with their "the face of advertising" — a power- face of the industry should look
Changing the Face initiative. ful snapshot of the industry in 2019. like. We also needed an approach
For the AdNews March edition, that could scale, working for two
they brought the face of senior crea- How did you know you’d faces or 200 faces.
tives to life on the cover. AdNews landed on the best concept? We settled on a programmatic
spoke with them to find out how We were overwhelmed by support approach, leveraging the power of
the face came together. and it was evident this idea had artificial intelligence to create the
strength. We presented the concept face. The process involved analysing
What were your initial internally at Ogilvy, who jumped the set of the 62 ECD portrait photos
thoughts on the brief? on-board as our production for key facial landmarks, before
Diversity is on everyone's agenda,
but talking about it and changing
Credits partner. Soon after, Microsoft and
Ad Ne ws b e c a me ou r te c h
aligning the faces, morphing facial
structures to the average shape and
it are two very different things. Co-founder & Creative: Jasmine Subrata and media partners respectively. finally averaging the pixel colours at
Changing the Face visualises Co-founder & Creative: Ava Frawley It's one thing to have a good idea, each position. The result is a true,
the problem and gives agencies the but another to make it happen. average face of the industry.
Executive Creative Director: Gavin McLeod
tools to improve their workforce
for years to come. Creative Director: Jenny Mak What were the biggest Did any challenges keep you
We ( Frawley and Subrata) came Group Account Director: Jennifer Gledhill
hurdles to making this up at night?
up with Changing The Face in 2017, a reality? Our biggest challenge is yet to come.
through a competition hosted by Business Operations Director: Diversity is multifaceted and We’ve opened up this initiative to
Olivia Chamberlain
D&AD and The Glue Society, and while the issue is on everyone’s entire agencies so we can accurately
brought it to life with the help of our Senior Account Director: Lauren Barnes agenda, Cha ng i ng The Face depict the current state of the indus-
production and media partners. Technical Director: Dan Adijans drives awareness, starts a conver- try. Agencies can upload their data
sation and hopefully creates at changingtheface.com.au and by
Creative Designer: Chad Edwards
Post first-brief chat, what change over time. doing so are helping create a true
were the next steps you Technical Architect: Albert Tan We have set a three-year goal, representation of your agency.
took as a team? Senior Production Manager: Susie Macyong
and our hope is that during these
While we know diversity is much years we see a gradual difference in Best bit about the process?
more than just gender, we wanted Digital Art Director: Paola Pelligro the composition of the creative As young creatives, it’s important to
to start where the issue is most pro- Art Director: Carl Robertson industry. Although it’s important to know what the future of the indus-
nounced: in senior positions in the recognise where we are now, what try has in store for us. It’s amazing
Special thanks: D&AD, The Glue Society,
creative department. So to start the RARE, Microsoft and AdNews really matters is what the future of to see so many agencies trying to
conversation we invited executive our industry looks like. solve this complex issue.
Dog of the Month www.adnews.com.au | March 2020 9

Seven’s star pooch Time in current role: I’ve been part


of the Pooch Perfect dream team
for about six months, but it feels like
Who is your right-hand person?
Rebel Wilson is the ying to my
yang, Snoop to my Dogg, Lady
I’ve worked here my whole life. to my Tramp, but also the ever-
We look at our furry talented executive producers, Deb
friends across the How would you describe what Spinocchia and John Karabelas.
the company does? Much like
advertising, adtech, Disneyland, we make dreams come Whose job have you set your sights
marketing and media true. We give pet stylists around the on in the future? I’m aiming high,
nation a platform to show Australia to be one of the Queen’s dogs.
sector, shedding what they’ve got.
light on these stars My favourite advert is: The Pooch
and how they help What do you do day to day? Perfect promo. So many good boys
Keep the bitches on track and and you can even spot yours truly.
adland get results. bring the laughs to set mainly.
This month we speak All jokes aside, I give my doggy My best trick is: The high-five.
critique to the pup styling that People go barking mad for it.
to Rebel Wilson’s happens in the show.
boss on Pooch Perfect, Tell us one thing people at work
W O R D S B Y
Russell the Brussell, I got into television because... don’t know about you? I buried
P A I G E M U R P H Y the moment I knew I was born for a bone on set during filming.
at Channel Seven. TV was when I was the only one at I also auditioned to play Baxter in
doggy day care who was strutting Anchorman when I heard it involved
my stuff for people watching in eating a wheel of cheese. Find me
the window. on Instagram: @RussellTheBrussel.

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The City of Sydney produces some of Australia’s largest and most successful events. It has a track
record of working with partners, to provide a platform to communicate, connect and engage with
millions of consumers every year.
We are inviting organisations to become event sponsors and partners to deliver high-profile events and
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Events and Programs include (but not limited to):
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For more information call 02 9265 9333 or email council@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au | cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au


Creative Sides

The suit who


writes crime fiction
The advertising industry is known for its creative side, with many
pursuing their own style outside the day-to-day commercial creative
miracle. AdNews seeks out their stories.

W O R D S B Y

C H R I S P A S H

riting is an exercise in interviews and f lying back and forth to Canberra trying to work out
W maybe. Maybe someone will
read it. Maybe they won’t. Maybe
I don’t actually who was going to make this agency amazing.”
The Dark Lake was a bestseller here, in the US and Canada. It won the
they will like it. Maybe they won’t. think I’m that 2018 Sisters in Crime Davitt Award for Best Crime Debut and the Ned Kelly
You won’t know until words good at writing. Award for Best First Crime.
appear on paper (or pixels). And
that’s the thing — getting the words The Dream
down, and in the right order. Writing a book is a common one-day-soon desire in the advertising
Sa ra h B a i ley had a lways industry, many of who studied the arts at university.
wanted to write a book and she “I definitely know quite a lot of people who are writing books in the indus-
set herself the goal of writing one try,” says Bailey. “Once my first book was published, there was an influx of
by the time she hit 35. She was people who grabbed me at drinks saying, ‘I’ve actually got this idea that I’d
sick of talking about it and fanta- been working on’.”
sising about it. “I just want to do She studied media and communications at Swinburne University of
it,” she told herself. Technology in Melbourne with journalism at top of mind. But to get a break
Her first book, crime thriller The into reporting, she would have had to work in regional Australia on a small
Dark Lake, was published the day country newspaper.
after her 35th birthday in 2016. “I had zero interest in moving away from Melbourne back then and I
Bailey was appointed manag- discovered I really liked all the marketing subjects so I started to consider
i n g p a r t n e r a t V M LY & R a different career path,” says Bailey.
Melbourne in February 2019. Her “I did an internship at the Herald Sun, at Channel 10 and then at a mar-
third book, Where the Dead Go, a keting agency, and I ended up liking the marketing more.”
crime thriller set in regional
Aust ra l ia, was publ ished by The Story
A llen & Unw in less than six The most used excuse for not writing is that there’s too much to do with
months later. the weighty chains of daily life — the demanding job, family commit-
Her first priority at VMLY&R ments, the dog who needs walking, the weeds excised — squeezing
was to hire 30 people in five weeks creativity into a cul de sac.
to work on the Defence Force Bailey writes whenever she can: early mornings; over a coffee on the
Recruiting DFR account. weekend; late at night. Whenever she can fit in a burst of words.
“My initial task was to hit the “It is a bit of a messy, non-structured approach because it is more around
ground running when the DFR fitting it in around what I do,” she says.
contract began,” she says. “The Sarah Bailey has juggled Bailey writes without a detailed plan. “It’s kind of in my head as a bit of a
her career in the advertising
first few weeks I was here was industry with writing loose plan, but it’s fairly vague with a start, middle, end, plus characters, a
just a total blur of speed-dating fictional crime bestsellers. few key, interesting ideas,” she explains.
Creative Sides

“I find that anything else that I


do is just procrastinating. So it’s
better if I get writing and then it
figures itself out as I’m going along.
“And then I edit. I go back and fix
things, add in the clues and make
the characters make more sense.
I spend a lot of time rewriting.”
She had no idea how long a book
should be but got to 100,000 words
and thought that felt about right.

Holding all the threads


The size and complexity of a book
means the entire story won’t fit in
your head at any one time.
It gets to a tipping point at
around 50,000 words. It’s hard
to stand back and decide: “Is this
working?”
Self-doubt, the nemesis of every
writer, kicks in.
“It’s a weird process because
the art you are creating is so
unwieldy and big,” says Bailey.
She thought her third book was
strong. “And then I had really
quite brutal editorial feedback,
which I found hard to address.
And it wasn’t because I was disa-
greeing with them necessarily, it
was more because I was like, ‘Oh,
god, I just don’t know how I’m
going to do this’.”
Bailey has liked the crime genre
since she was a kid. She names When she’s not writing, “Whereas I’m really good with people and spreadsheets and manage-
Sarah Bailey is managing
Michael Robotham and, when she partner at VMLY&R
ment and presentations and selling and in relationships. Plus, I also get
was young, Patricia Cornwell, who Melbourne. bored if I’m just writing.”
kicked off the forensic investiga-
tive crime genre. Finding time
“I read The Godfather [Mario Too much time can take its toll. When Bailey took time off to write,
Puzo] when I was nine years old she struggled.
and just loved that whole analysis “I think I’m much better when I’m juggling lots of things and I don’t
of good and bad,” she says. “I find get too bogged down in the writing stuff,” she says. “I can just turn it on
the psychology of crime really and off, do it for an hour and not sit there all day stressing about how it’s
interesting. not coming together properly.”
“I think crime’s got higher Bailey started her career at DDB as an account executive and stayed
stakes. It challenges all of the human there, working her way up to a managing partner over 13 years, including
emotions. When I’m reading a crime two stints of maternity leave.
book, I know if I like it or not.” She started working on a book in her last year at DDB and left to get
But Bailey believes her ability it finished, using up eight weeks of long service leave, then went freelance
to be objective about her own before landing stints at Ogilvy and a production company called Mr Smith.
work is low. She gets to a point in With a draft done, she went looking for a way to get the book published.
the writing process where she has She pitched to Lyn Tranter at ALM (Australian Literary Management), the first
no idea if what she has done is stop on her list of prospects (it started with the first letter of the alphabet).
good or not. “It was a very clean manuscript,” says Tranter. “It also had an
“I don’t actually think I’m that absolutely fantastic opening. I went out widely with it as I had such faith
good at writing,” she says. “I love it, in it and set an auction date.”
and I think I’m good at storytelling, The opening to the book: “When I think back to that summer some-
but I’m not strong grammatically or thing comes loose in my head. It’s like a marble is bouncing around in
structurally. I have to work really there, like my brain is a pinball machine.”
hard at my writing. It drives me abso- A publisher came back with a pre-emptive bid: “We really want to go
lutely crazy, it’s really hard. ahead and publish this book and here’s the offer.”
www.adnews.com.au | March 2020 13

A couple of weeks after that, the rights to the book sold internationally. enough. We’re 24 million people,
Tranter called: “The Americans want it, the English want it, but also and the proportion of them who read
“It’s really hard to
they want another book in 10 months. Can you do it?” regularly is not high. Then only
Bailey said: “Yep, I can do it, let’s do it.” make a living off a percentage of them read crime
She felt she had to say yes. “I’d already written one, so I guess I could just writing and fiction, leaving a small universe of
probably make another one happen.” selling books.” potential sales and audience.
With the deal behind her, she thought the writing for her first book “Everyone hears of the big
was over. If the publisher bought the book, they must love it. Right? success stories but there’s so few
But she was told, “Yeah, we love it but we still need you to change of them who make big bucks.
a whole bunch of stuff in it.” And then there’s this chunk in the
That can be frustrating. If you change one bit of a crime novel, with middle who have done really well
seven or eight subplots, then there’s a cascading effect with many parts and have international deals and
needing fixing and rewriting. make some decent money.
“If you pull out something, you have to check structurally that “After that, there’s a crazy long
everything else still makes sense,” she says. “I find editing sort of tedious tail of people who have written
but a rewarding kind of tedious, like undoing a massive knot in a neck- a book and done all of the same
lace, which is frustrating, but once you do it you’re happy.” amount of effort as someone else
but they only sell a thousand cop-
The bestseller ies and make nothing.
The Dark Lake came out in March 2018, featuring Gemma Woodstock, “I’m not at the top but I’ve sold
a detective sergeant who investigates a murder whose victim she has internationally and I am in a fortu-
connections to. nate position to have a series and
New York Journal of Books: “The Dark Lake is a thrilling psychological people have read all three books.”
police procedural as well as a leap into the mind of a woman engulfed The advertising industry pays
with guilt.” well for those who’ve built a career.
The detective is a complex character, something of a star, bagging her And, Bailey says, it’s almost impossi-
first serial killer early in her career. She is a good cop but her personal ble to match that from writing books.
life has falsehoods, including cheating on her partner with a colleague.
The plot has layers upon layers. We read that Gemma knew her What next?
victim, Rosalind, at school. And it was as a teacher at the same school “I’m working away on another
in rural Victoria that Rosalind became a victim. We are also told of crime book,” she says. “I’ve also
Gemma’s boyfriend from school. His death is a mystery to the reader. got a contract with Amazon for
The second book, Into the Night, also with Gemma Woodstock, mate- an audiobook.”
rialised while Bailey was working a main job at Mr Smith. “It was a small For an audiobook, the process is
production company with two great guys. We were running this little the same as print. “I just have to
independent shop together. I worked with them and did the writing; write a book they’ll turn into an
that was a bit more flexible than a full-time agency management job.” audiobook. Basically it’s just a differ-
The third book, Where the Dead Go, came out in August 2019. ent distribution method.”
Ben Naparstek, director, con-
The money tent Australia, Audible, says
“Unless you sell internationally, it’s really hard to make a living off just mystery/thriller is one of the top
writing and selling books,” says Bailey. “The market here is just not big three genres.
“It seemed like a no-brainer to
commission one of Australia’s
leading new crime novelists for our
Audible Originals program,” he
told AdNews.
“Audible Originals are specifi-
cally created to be listened to and
they build upon the 400,000+
titles we offer in Australia.
Inspired by the boom in audio-
book and podcast listening, writ-
ers are increasingly publishing
their work audio-first to increase
their audience.
“Before joining Audible, I led the
digital and content businesses for
Edelman Australia, so I was excited
by Sarah’s commitment to a career
combining agency-side brand mar-
keting with writing for consumers of
audio entertainment and novels.”
Agenda

Publishing finds
its equilibrium
News publishers have turned to subscribers to help fill
the gap left by declining advertising revenue. AdNews
speaks to experts on how readers will pay for news and
whether it’ll be enough to sustain journalism.

W O R D S B Y

M A R I A M C H E I K - H U S S E I N
www.adnews.com.au | March 2020 15
Agenda

F ollowing news of redundan-


cies, staff at Fairfax Media’s
Sydney and Melbourne news-
It’s a bit
But by 2015, Fairfax had sold both printing presses for a reported
$61 million. The company, which went on to be acquired by Nine
Entertainment Co in 2018, had spent a reported $385 million build-
unreasonable
rooms walked out for a full week ing and upgrading the Chullora facility alone from 1996 to 2001. It
of protests in 2017. The cuts,
to think that would also go on to downsize mastheads The Sydney Morning Herald
impacting more than 100 roles, newspaper and The Age to tabloid-size papers and share printing facilities with
were considered too deep for a publishers would rival News Corp Australia in a bid from both to save on costs.
company that had already lost have seen that these Publishers also struggled with their first steps into digital by often
close to 2000 staff five years ear- new and better misunderstanding the nature of online advertising and simply trying
lier. While the walkout made to transition their print model to the online world.
international headlines, it made
mechanisms of “It's quite clear a lot of mistakes were made,” says Merja
little difference, with Australian advertising would Myllylahti, co-director of the journalism, media and democracy
news publishers continuing to trim be developed. research centre at Auckland University of Technology. “They didn't
roles around the nation as adver- think about what online advertising is early enough. They experi-
tising revenue continued to fall. mented with different models and were reliant on things such as
The decline of advertising banner advertising, but they didn't see the transformation for clas-
revenue that once propped up Amanda Lotz, QUT sified advertising.”
journalism has been sharply felt in
recent years through layoffs and
sometimes title closures. However,
the trend stretches back two dec-
ades when classified advertising
was unbundled from newspapers
with the arrival of the internet.
New technology meant advertisers
could reach a wider, more targeted
audience for less.
From 2001 to 2016, classified
advertising revenue in Australia
dropped from $2 billion to $200
million, according to estimates
from the Australian Competition
a nd C on su mer C om m i s sion
(ACCC). When adju sted for
inflation, that’s $3.7 billion down
to $225 million.
At the time, publishing execu-
tives didn’t appear to respond with
the same force that their advertising
revenues were leaving their busi-
nesses. Instead, they spent the early
years of the new millennium trying
to shore up growth in ad dollars.
In 2002, then Fairfax Media
CEO Fred Hilmer outlined the com-
pany’s revenue focus in its financial
report: “We completed a restruc-
turing within the publishing oper-
ations to sharpen our focus on gen-
erating growth in advertising reve-
nues across the metropolitan mast-
heads in the key advertising catego-
ries of real estate, employment and
automotive, and in retail and
national display advertising.
“This will enable the company
to capitalise on the significant
investments in expanded printing
and colour capacity at Tullamarine
and Chullora. Our customers are
also being afforded further joint
print and online advertising
opportunities.”
www.adnews.com.au | March 2020 17

FIGURE 1: Advertising expenditure by media format and digital platform, adjusted for inflation advertisers, could do because
there weren't other outlets for
them. That created an underlying
discontent, which is okay as long
18
as conditions don't change. But
16
conditions changed.”
14 10 The arrival of digital meant new
12 platforms began to emerge, such as
($ billions – inflation adjusted)

10 search and social media, that were


Advertising spend

($ billions – inflation adjusted)


Online advertising spend
8
5 more effective for advertisers.
6 “Digital has brought many dif-
4 ferent things and that's why it all
2 gets very confusing,” says Lotz.
0 “It’s a bit unreasonable to think
0 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
that newspaper publishers would
Facebook Google
have seen that these new and bet-
10

14

16

18
12
00

04

06

08
02
96

98

20

20

20
20

20
20

20

20

20

20

Classifieds Other
19

19

ter mechanisms of advertising


Radio TV Outdoor & Cinema Print media Online would be developed. If we want
to point fingers to where it could
have been different, it took a
really long time to understand
FIGURE 2: Australians’ time spent online how and why the industry was
changing and that is somewhat
25 hindsight, too.
Share of time spent “It took everyone a while to
on all other websites: figure it out. It transpired during
20.5 50.8% a period of 20 years in terms of
20 what people thought new media
18.6
was going to be and where the
WhatsApp
threats were. There is still an
Instagram
Other awful lot of misunderstanding
15 ab out why new spap e r s a re
Share of time spent online

Messenger
challenged.”
(percent)

The real challenge, says Lotz,


10
is that newspapers were not
Search a journalism product, but an
advertising product that survived
Facebook by building the largest audience
5 possible to sell to advertisers.
Youtube 3.4 Ten That model worked while news-
2.3 2.3 Seven West
2.1 NewsCorp papers had a monopoly over
ABC delivering classified advertising
Nine-Fairfax
0 to people. However, this was
Google Facebook Microsoft Snapchat Apple News outlets shattered by the internet, which
(including
outlook.com) took with it journalism’s main
source of revenue.
ACCC Digital Platforms Inquiry final report, June 2019 Google and Facebook, at just
20 and 14 years old respectively,
Despite “partly missing the boat”, Myllylahti says publishers have together consumed more than
had success with their own classified advertising platforms. half of all online advertising
In 2000, News Corp invested more than $10 million in realestate. spend (excluding classified) in
com.au. By 2019, the real estate site’s parent company REA Group, Australia in 2018, according to
majority-owned by News Corp, reported revenue of $875 million. the ACCC. So, for every $100
The publisher’s chief executive, Robert Thomson, tipped the real spent online, $47 is given to
estate business to become its biggest driver of earnings, moving Google and $24 to Facebook,
the company away from its traditional reliance on advertising in leaving publishers to fight for the
news publications. remaining $29. There are no signs
Amanda Lotz, a professor of media studies at Queensland their share will increase dramat-
University of Technology, says there were multiple factors that con- ically. PwC predicts print adver-
tributed to this disruption. tising will decline by 20% to $450
“It’s complicated because so many dif ferent t hings have million by 2023, and digital to
happened,” she says. “In the US, advertising rates just kept going up. grow by 5.9% to $700 million
There was really nothing that advertisers, particularly local city-based from 2019-2023.
Agenda

Figure 3:

Average daily paid Paid subscribers for The


print circulation Australian and The Weekend
for The Australian Australian (print and digital)
2019 83,684 164,968
2018 88,581 135,783
2017 99,000 127,000

who subscribe. However, experts say the watchdog is limited in its


power to help news media companies.
“The actual report was pretty on point in that Google and Facebook,
or social media generally, aren't creating news that somehow diminishes
the ability of these other companies to create news,” says Lotz.
“The problem is they created a better mechanism of advertising, they
innovated and that's not something the ACCC can do a lot about. In many
cases, what this reveals in Australia, and everywhere around the world,
is that advertising was never a very good way to support the kind of
journalism people want. When we wring our hands and say we need
better news, advertising isn't the way to get that.
“So in many ways these new forms of advertising have really put
the pressure on news organisations to revitalise their businesses and
try to figure out how to do that.”
The solution from publishers has been to turn to subscribers to help
replace lost advertising revenue and fund their journalism.
A study from the University of Canberra found that getting people
to pay for news is still an uphill battle. Its Digital News Report found
that 14% of Australians are willing to pay for news, compared to the
global average of 13%.
This shift in where brands are News publishers also have the added competition of entertainment
advertising has translated into It was partly platforms such as Netf lix, with 34% of Australians preferring to
mass redundancies in newsrooms publishers taking subscribe to video-streaming services rather than online news.
across the globe, and often com- their time, partly But there are positive signs, with legacy media companies such as The
plete closures. A senate commit- consumer attitudes New York Times pulling off successful transformations. In February, the
tee was told 3000 journalism jobs company hit 5.25 million subscribers, with 4.4 million being digital-only.
had been lost from 2012-2017,
needing to catch “Most publishers are putting emphasis on reader revenue, not so
representing one quarter of all up, and partly much advertising, and building more direct relations with their read-
Au st ra l i a n jou r n a l i sm jobs. developments ers,” says Myllylahti.
During 10 years from 2008, 15%, in the ad market “The New York Times, for example, has a record number of digital
or 106, local and regional news- that have been subscriptions and they made the transformation ahead of schedule.
papers shut in Australia, leaving If people are paying for something, they expect some sort of quality,
21 local governments without
well documented, and that’s exactly what is encouraging publishers to do a better job.”
coverage from a single local necessitated that In Fairfax Media’s final financial report before its takeover by Nine,
paper. And there’s little incen- publishers take its then-chairman Nick Falloon noted that while this new revenue model
tive, or resources, from national it more and more would be sustainable, it wouldn’t provide the so-called “rivers of gold”
titles, such as The Australian or seriously. the company once saw.
The Guardian, to cover commu- “Our three publishing businesses — Australian Metro Media, ACM
nity news when they’re vying for and Stuff in New Zealand — are underpinned by a new revenue model
mass reach to survive. which is multifaceted and moves well beyond the traditional reliance
News media companies have on advertising, print subscriptions and circulation,” noted Falloon.
responded to the surge from big David Eisman, Nine “It leverages premium brands, quality journalism and audiences
tech, in part, by publicly calling Entertainment Co. of great scale. While this model has lower revenue than in the past, it
for them to be reined it. The is more sustainable and valuable, featuring multiple business models
ACCC’s inquiry that looked into and revenue streams.”
this impact digital platforms are By the early 2010s, erecting successful paywalls became the focus
having on Australian journalism for news publishers, with the main hurdle being readers’ attitudes, says
had 23 recommendations, from Nine’s director of subscriptions and growth David Eisman.
better bargaining powers for pub- “It was partly publishers taking their time, partly consumer attitudes
lishers, to tax relief for readers needing to catch up, and partly developments in the ad market that
www.adnews.com.au | March 2020 19

Figure 4: necessitated publishers take it


more and more seriously,” he says.
Average daily paid Paid subscribers for The Daily “But I g uess consumer
circulation for The Telegraph and The Sunday attitudes is probably the most
important one. When I joined, it
Daily Telegraph Telegraph (print and digital)
was still very much in this era
2019 167,785 87,560 where the general expectation
2018 192,007 114,203 was that content is free on the
internet.
2017 237,000 122,000
“Whereas I think during the last
few years there's been increasing
recognition that you get what you
pay for, and there's a difference
between a blogger, a free news site,
and a subscription news site where
the investment in highly
trained, highly quali-
fied, experienced jour-
nalists is just on a dif-
ferent level.”
As a sign of this new
strateg y, the metrics
publishers focus on have
also shifted. Previously,
publishers looked at figures
such as page views and unique
visitors to prove a large audience
to potential advertisers. Now,
there’s a greater focus on time
spent on their sites — a better
measure of how likely someone is
to subscribe. Speaking to the
industry last year, News Corp
Australia’s chief operating officer
for publishing Damian Eales high-
lighted the importance of captur-
ing people’s attention for longer.
“In our business, we see a
st rong cor relat ion bet ween
engagement and churn,” said
Eales. “It is so strong that bringing
members back to our content just
one extra day each month reduces
churn by one percentage point.”
Australian publishers have been
increasing digital subscribers under
this new model. Nine’s papers The
Sydney Morning Herald,
The Age and The
Australian Financial
Review, grew their
digital subscriptions rev-
enue from $64.1 million in
2018 to $70.6 million in
2019. During the same
period, digital ad revenue
also increased to $65.1 mil-
lion from $55.9 million.
At the same time,
Nine’s print subscrip-
tion revenue declined
by $2.1 million to
$153.9 million in
Agenda

2019, while print advertising stag-


nated at around $133 million.
News Corp Australia has fol-
lowed this trend of increasing
digital subscriptions while print
declines, w ith The Australian
a nd The Weeke nd Au stralian
reaching 164,968 paid subscrib-
ers across print and digital last
year. The company also passed
500,000 paid digital subscrib-
ers in 2019.
To help boost revenue from
readers, businesses have also
been prioritising it in their nego-
tiations with tech companies.
Recently, Nine was one publisher
which refused to sign up to
Apple’s news subscription ser-
vice, Apple News Plus.
“We looked at their terms
which were non-negotiable, and
the answer to that was a resound-
ing no, so we chose to pass,” says
Eisman. “The other thing, which
is a broader strategic point, is
that our most loyal readers are
those who are visiting our site
and have a direct relationship
with us.
“Our starting position is we
always favour efforts we can make

to increase the number of subscribers we have on our websites and apps.


Couple that with the terms on offer from Apple, and it just wasn't an
attractive proposition.”
In another effort to maximise reader revenue, last year both Nine
and News Corp Australia ended their distribution contracts with news-
agents across Sydney metro areas outside of the CBD. Instead they
opted for a distribution company that would give them a more direct
relationship with customers.
This decision put pressure on News Corp’s Sydney papers The Daily
Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph, with the combined papers losing
more than 34,000 paid subscribers over three years.
“News Corp Australia’s strategy is to grow profitable subscriptions
across print and digital,” a spokesperson for the company tells AdNews.
“A year ago, in NSW, we reduced our reliance on low-priced subscrip-
tions resulting in a short-term reduction in subscriber volume.
Since then, we have seen growth in digital subscriptions at News Corp
Australia, including with The Daily Telegraph."
The traditional newspaper may not be able to compete with digital
giants, but it’s still important for marketers who are interested in
long-term brand building.
While brands will continue to turn to platforms such as Google Search
www.adnews.com.au | March 2020 21

having in-house studios to meet the


News Corp demand, including the Guardian
Australia’s strategy Labs, Verizon Media’s RYOT Studio
and BBC’s StoryWorks.
is to grow profitable However, Schwartz Media,
subscriptions across publisher of The Saturday Paper
print and digital. and The Monthly, has bucked this
trend and rejects all request for
branded content.
“Schwartz Media’s core pillar is
News Corp Australia editorial integrity,” says Fabien
spokesperson B ei l l a rd, S c hw a r t z Med i a’s
national sales manager. “We
believe trust is key to growth and
accepting branded content would
be renouncing our core values.”
Despite knocking back regular
requests from brands, Schwartz
Media increased its advertising
revenue by 17% last year. Beillard
says it’s been able to achieve this
growth during a difficult time for
the wider ad market by under-
standing its audience and targeting
clients accordingly.
“Once we explain Schwartz
Media’s model, most brands will go
with just traditional ads as they
understand the quality of the audi-
ence and the highly trusted envi-
ronment,” he says.
“Schwartz Media ranked as the
third most trusted media outlet in
Australia behind the ABC and SBS
in the 2019 Roy Morgan Media
Trust Survey which makes us the
most trusted non-broadcast media
in the country and one in only
four outlets with a positive media
trust rating.”
The publisher’s revenue is split
almost evenly between advertising
for its ability to target consumers, Lotz says traditional media, such as and consumers; with 55% coming
newsprint, remains valuable for brand building. from advertising and 45% from
“Publishers should be recognising that there are different kinds of ad readers. This trend has become the
dollars and strategically do the kind of advertising that they can, and remake new norm for publishers around
their business accordingly,” says Lotz. the world, who would traditionally
“You have advertisers who are willing to pay much less for display ads have 80% of their revenue coming
online than they would have paid in print, and this is a condition pub- from advertisers, with some now
lishers can't change. The advertising attention you get for an online article even relying more on reader reve-
is just different to what was happening with a paper. The paper is a good, nue than advertising dollars.
it’s an aggregation of a lot of different things, whereas when people click “There's this beautiful thing
onto an article, they're probably reading one article. They're not reading with subscriptions which is the
a lot of advertising.” more subscriptions you can sell, the
Recognising what little engagement online ads often attract, advertisers more capacity you've got to invest
have adapted by increasing their use of branded content. A study last year in journalism,” says Eisman.
by WARC and the Mobile Marketing Association found that branded content “This means you can do better
had the most potential for growth, with 53% of marketers planning to use it journalism, generate more subscrip-
in the next five years, compared to 46% who will be focusing on mobile web tions, and it’s this beautiful and vir-
display and 42% who say they will use mobile-based branded content. tuous cycle. The more we sell, the
The decline of traditional advertising and rise of branded content for better that works. The past 12 months
publishers means advertising is now shaping what stories look like. It has were certainly the best we've seen in
become an important revenue stream for publishers, with many now the last few years.”
Cracking the
How did the business come about?
The Remarkables Group (TRG) was founded in 2012 as Australia’s first
talent management agency solely dedicated to social influencers, then

influencer market
called bloggers. At the end of 2016, the original founder approached
me to change the business model from traditional talent management
to providing strategy and ongoing management services. In my role
at the time, I was seeing first-hand the rapidly emerging power of
inf luencers. It was increasingly clear that in order to maximise the
value inf luencers could bring, brands needed hands-on help to plan
The Remarkables Group was founded and manage the activity.
in 2012 as a talent management agency When you are doing your job as a talent manager, you can actually
be in direct conf lict with a brand’s objective. At the end of the day,
dedicated to bloggers. Since then, the your role is to serve and maximise the opportunity for the talent. I
industry has changed and the agency has took on full ownership of TRG by December that same year. Since then,
I’ve turned around and refreshed the business with a new focus that
changed with it. Mariam Cheik-Hussein has allowed it to step away from its legacy of being a blogger talent
catches up with managing director Natalie agency and truly innovate within the crowded inf luencer marketing
Giddings to see what it’s been up to. space. Now proudly standing as the strategic agency that digs into
getting real results for its clients.
Since we embarked on the change in late 2016, part of the mind-shift
we have assisted our clients with is to now see these content creators
as legitimate media networks in their own right — more and more people
Spotlight

The Remarkables Group has created


influencer strategies for clients including
Bunnings and Woolworths. Natalie Giddings
(below left) is the agency’s managing director.

are choosing to watch and engage with “human media channels”. My witnessed the influencers’ audi-
vision is to also empower a rising force of talented creators who can Agency snapshot ence-first approach, many brands
build businesses through strategic partnerships, and who can work are now enlisting the skills of
with brands to reach and engage millions of Australians. NAME OF AGENCY: THE inf luencers much earlier in the
REMARKABLES GROUP creative process.
What services do you offer and how has this changed since
you launched? NUMBER OF STAFF: FIVE What’s your point of
Since the major business model change, the team developed a strategy- difference?
LOCATIONS:
first approach to planning the program. Once you have a clear focus of MELBOURNE AND SYDNEY Specialising in “human media”
what you want to achieve, decisions such as what style of content or and working with this relatively
which talent you should focus on will be easier, and you will be able to CLIENTS: WOOLWORTHS, new channel differs from booking
better measure your success. All that is great about influencers and their BUNNINGS, WESTPAC, a more traditional advertising
appeal can also make marketers emotional rather than logical and BROWNES DAIRY inventory. Each individual influ-
rational when planning their programs. For us, the outset is all about encer is essentially a stand-alone
COMPANY MANTRA:
creating a methodology to remove this risk and ensure results. We run publisher with their own nuances
TO BE REMARKABLE
each brief through a number of stages to eventually map the right and talents, unlike any other
IS TO BUILD TRUSTED
approach and the most relevant influencers to work with. It’s like a RELATIONSHIPS, media channel. Unlocking this
vertical sieve. This way, we can ensure content is co-created to outper- DELIVER EXCELLENCE, uniqueness and maximising the
form all set benchmarks. BE PIONEERING, THRIVING opportunity for brands takes
Not so long ago, influencer marketing was treated as an afterthought WITHIN OPPORTUNITY expertise. The point of difference
of an overall program. This lends itself to one-dimensional, inauthentic OF CHANGE. TRG provides might well lie in the
product-placement style posts at best. But as more businesses have unique space it occupies between
Spotlight

brands and a network of influenc- TRG works largely remotely, communicating across platforms such as
ers. With its original roots being Slack, BaseCamp, Google Drive, Hangouts and FaceTime to be as agile
in talent management, providing
Working at TRG is and efficient as possible. My very first marketing role was for an IT infra-
advice and mentoring to influenc- unlike any previous structure business which provided remote working options. I’m still
ers is still a cornerstone. The employment staggered as to how this technology still isn’t widespread.
human and audience insights I’ve had. I love
gained from these relationships the influencer Who is your ideal client?
are immensely valuable. Brands We are not interested in working with brands on what we call one-night
can ultimately work with inf lu-
space and the stands with influencers. You can make very little impact for your brand
encers to better unlock the genu- relationships we with a one-off post or product shout out. If anything, this kind of context
ine trust and understanding they build make my can have negative repercussions. Our ideal client is interested in a holis-
have built with their audience. job rewarding. tic plan and open to investigating results to regularly recalibrate the
program. An ideal client will be open to experienced advice and is keen
What makes your team to tap into the creative knowledge of the influencer themselves.
unique?
Accessing audience data is only What’s the dream brief?
Ailsa Renk, influencer
the beg inning. Being readily A dream brief allows us to establish a longer-term plan, to approach the
available to consult with inf lu- campaign assistant right type of influencer and to prescribe the best channel, treatments and
encers in a meaningful way to formats to meet objectives. This style of program also allows for regular
map out the best program for the recalibration of the program as results come in each month or quarter.
brand is essential. Indeed, most On occasion, a client will approach us with an existing idea of how
typical agency talent wouldn’t they feel the influencer program could look. More often than not, this
cope in this environment because is because brands can get enamoured with audience size alone and
it shifts from creating and circu- throw out any need for a strategy or analytical assessment against
lating traditional advertising cre- their objectives. The other scenario is that they have used an online
ative, and takes as much effort to recruitment platform — again detached from a solid strategy — and
come alongside the inf luencers therefore become disillusioned or hoodwinked about the effectiveness
as it does fulfilling clients’ needs. of the work commissioned.
This is a digital world so influ-
encers are based all around the What has been the agency’s biggest challenge?
country, mostly working from A challenge for us, and in fact the industry as a whole, has been the mass
their homes. Predominantly of negative commentary within the media around certain influencers’
Australian influencers are women, behaviours. Unfortunately, much of this commentary within the
many with families who are bal- Australian marketing trade press comes from people who do not actively
ancing always-on platforms, inter- work with influencers and is not an accurate reflection of what’s really
twined with their many followers. happening on the ground. This can be disheartening at times. It is always
It makes sense TRG should be, too. important for us to go back to our core values and remind ourselves that
our methods are founded in genuine understanding and will result in
successful and authentic partnerships.

Biggest highlight?
Last year, The Remarkables Group worked on a completely new influencer
format with the Bunnings Make It Yours house. This was a 10-part series
where we set influencers the task of making over a room to completely
transform a real house in the outer suburbs of Melbourne. The line up of
talent includes Keira Rumble, Rachel Aust, Geneva Vanderzeil and Just
Another Mummy Blog’s Steph Pase.
The influencers were used across an integrated program including
YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, social media advertising, PR and print.
This hit more than one million organic reach from the inf luencers'
channels alone, and served to prove how remarkable influencers can
be at the forefront of a combined marketing scheme.

Whatarethetoptrendstowatchforintheindustryin2020?
Late last year, Facebook and Instagram made a bold and mostly
under reported move: further evolving paid partnership functionality
and launching Inf luencer Marketplace. Pushing the boundaries of
amplification is an exciting and changing avenue we have had our eyes
on for a while now. With a dedicated in-house team of paid media
specialists, TRG has been endorsing and further amplifying influencer
content with incredible results since mid-2018. Platforms such as
Facebook and Instagram reward great creative and we see it perform
three times better than a brand’s own advertising creative. This
www.adnews.com.au | March 2020 25

The strategy for client


Westpac focused on
targeting 16-24 year olds.

literally translates into reaching three times more people for the same getting a deep understanding of
dollar spent in amplification. what content works. In 2020, TRG
will be producing a number of
What’s on the agenda for 2020? creative projects, with several
An exciting adaptation we saw in 2019 was brands bringing influencers confirmed which also put them in
into the heart of their marketing program. Brands now have two to the director’s seat to produce
three years of working with inf luencers in more meaningful ways. more brand-owned content. I was
Using inf luencers within a brand’s overall content plan is becoming a producer on the first season of
more widespread or a hybrid of both, such as projects like the Bunnings [TV series] Emmylou Loves, and
Make It Yours house. the second season was commis-
Brands are notoriously bad at creating content themselves that con- sioned by 10 Peach, with season
nects with an audience. Practised influencers start and finish with their four already commissioned to air
audience’s interests at the core of what they produce. No other channel in October 2020. The show blew
can claim such a personal connection to its audience. Network 10’s expectations of
You don’t work in the midst of best practice content creation without viewership and audience partici-
pation via social media.

Peopleandcultureinitiatives
We’d like to become a recognised
Top three pieces of work f lexible employer. During the
course of a project or year, it can

1 Bunnings Warehouse:
Make It Yours
We worked on a new influencer
focused on finding influencers to talk
candidly about the moments their
bank mattered. The news feeds of
-December 2019. It blends
traditional TV with Emmylou's
memorable Instagram Stories,
very much feel like the influencers
themselves are actually part of our
team. The Remarkables Group is
format for Bunnings. In this 10-part 16-24-year-olds were flooded with taking her fans behind the scenes mostly a remote workforce, allow-
series, influencers transformed Westpac posts and stories that made as she strives to make her dream ing our employees and creators to
rooms in real houses with the bank account features worth talking a reality. The show includes feed into projects via technology
content shared across YouTube, about and relevant in their everyday pre-produced segments filmed such as BaseCamp, Google Drive,
Instagram, Pinterest and more. lives, reaching 2.1 million individuals, on location with everything Hangouts, Facetime and Slack,
with a staggering 115,000 Instagram Emmylou loves the most, whether they are working from

2 Westpac
Westpac wanted to find a new
Stories views. such as cooking, beauty and
fashion. Retailers House, DFO
inner-city Melbourne, the Sunshine
Coast, regional Victoria or the sub-
way to reach the under-25-year-olds.
For this age group, peer opinion and
recommendation is key. Our strategy
3 Emmylou Loves
Emmylou Loves aired on
10 Peach during November
and Woolworths have all been
sponsors, as well as Covergirl,
Bosisto’s and BetterYou.
urbs of Perth. This also maximised
face-to-face time with our creators
around the country.
Investigation

The pursuit of creativity


No longer confined to a department in adland, creativity’s reach
is spreading in the quest to innovate and stand out.

I n an increasingly tech-fuelled world that is overloaded with content, where eyeballs


become harder to catch and attention spans continue to wane, it is creativity that cuts
through the clutter. A standout idea can glue a brand into people’s minds.
In the case of Brisbane-based Caravanning Queensland and caravan park group
Top Parks, it was the idea to create the world’s largest Lego brick caravan that spun
the business into the international spotlight. Dreamed up by John Cochrane
Advertising, the idea was brought to life by Lego artist Ben “The Brick Builder” Craig.
Crowned the largest Lego brick caravan by the Guinness World Records, it
comprised 288,630 individual bricks and took five weeks to complete. The caravan
consisted of basic amenities such as running water and electricity, as well as some
home comforts, including a jar of Vegemite.
In 2009, Guinness World Records launched its consultancy after
W O R D S B Y being approached by numerous brands and businesses wanting to
P A I G E M U R P H Y break world records in their campaigns. More than 10 years later, the
organisation has helped a number of brands, including Caravanning
Queensland and Top Parks, achieve record-breaking campaigns.
Neil Foster, Guinness World Records vice-president of consultancy EMEA APAC, says
the consultancy has become a growing part of the business with six offices worldwide.
“The simple idea of being the ‘best in the world’ at something really appeals to
brands and agencies,” he says. “The jeopardy of ‘will they?’ or ‘won’t they?’ delights
audiences everywhere. For a brand or agency, record breaking is a powerful tool
— and it can be used as a platform to deliver carefully tailored messaging which
ref lects a product truth and has universal appeal.”
Brands come to the consultancy to break records for reasons ranging from anni-
versary celebrations and product launches to purpose-led campaigns, brand spectacles
or pure entertainment.
During the past decade, the creativity behind the campaigns has increased and
the reasons behind them have changed.
“Back in 2015, one of our most popular record attempts was ‘the most selfies in three
minutes’, powered by celebrity and influencer-led marketing campaigns,” says Foster.
“Fast-forward to today, and one-off records for fun are not as popular. Instead,
we have seen a 110% increase in brands wanting to break a record ‘for good’ as
part of their campaigns.”
Regardless of the reason for the record attempts, the approach is one that generates
huge brand awareness, sparks conversations and encapsulates creativity.
When it comes to encapsulating creativity as a brand, Vegemite couldn’t be a more
perfect example. From the Happy Little Vegemites jingle of the 1950s to its current
Tastes Like Australia brand platform, the brand knows how to make a memorable
mark when it comes to advertising.
Investigation

“Creativity has played a key


role in Vegemite’s history, from
the invention of the product
itself, where leftover yeast was
used to create the nutritious and
delicious savoury spread Aussies
still love today, through to its rich
communications history,” says
Matt Gray, Vegemite senior mar-
keting manager.
“For Vegemite, creativity is
about capturing the essence of
Australia and being a part of
everyday Australian life.
“Vegemite works best when
the creativity is as iconic as the
brand itself and guides the entire
brand, not just the ads.”
The Vegemite brand started to
work with creative hot shop
Thinkerbell in 2018 and soon after
launched the ongoing Tastes Like
Australia brand platform.
Gray says everything Vegemite
does moving forward will be built
on this.
“Just like a jar of Vegemite is a
wonderful and unique mix of
ingredients, so is Australia,” he
says. “So our launch TV material
conveyed just that. It featured
everything from John Howard
stuffing up on the cricket pitch to
the ‘yes’ vote and everything in
between.”
“When we heard that Marmite
was handing out free jars during
The Ashes last year, we fired back
virtually overnight with a full-page
ad in the UK’s Daily Mirror
newspaper. This was perfectly
timed and written to ignite a media
storm which was talked about and
embraced across TV, radio, and
celebrities’ social channels.”
From introducing limited-edi-
tion Bartymite jars as a tribute to
Australian tennis star and brand
ambassador Ash Barty to inventing
the world’s first toast stencils,
innovative and creative ideas have
been the driving force to building
the iconic brand.

The essential
The Oxford English Dictionary
defines creativity as “the use of
skill and imagination to produce Vegemite toast
something new or to produce art”. stencils and Ash
Deemed as one of the top 10 skill Barty’s limited-
sets to have by the World Economic edition “Bartymite”
are two of the iconic
Forum, creativity plays an impor- brand’s recent
tant role for the economy. creative ideas.
www.adnews.com.au | March 2020 29

World Creativity and Innovation Day is held on April 21 each year by in Sydney, the regular on the
the United Nations. According to the global organisation, creativity has ABC’s Gruen program made a
become a “true wealth of nations” in the 21st century. plea for brands to apply creativity
The Creative Economy report, Widening Local Development Pathways, throughout their business.
co-published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural “We need the creative brand
Organisation (UNESCO) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), to absolutely be at the core of
highlighted why cultural and creative industries should be part of eco- business,” he said. “It’s around
nomic growth strategies. The report states these sectors generate US$2.25 brand purpose. It’s around the
billion in revenue and 29.5 million jobs worldwide. proposition. It’s around what we
For marketers and advertisers, creativity is essential. The rise in tech- do every single day.
nology and digital advertising has created a sea of sameness leading to “I think those of us in the mar-
more than 90% of ads going unnoticed. keting services business under-
Forrester says chief marketing officers (CMO) now have the fast- stand that for ourselves. We’ve just
est-growing tech spend in the C-suite, which is projected to grow got to get out there. We’ve got to get
between 9% and 11% from 2017 to 2022. This is compared with only 2.4% a whole lot better at getting our
for agency services. clients to recognise that it’s creativ-
In its report, The Cost of Losing Creativity, Forrester recommends CMOs ity throughout the organisation.”
“move portions of your marketing budget out of commoditised areas of In 1995, Australia sat at 57 on
technology and into creative resources to produce powerful, differenti- the economic complexity index
ated, branded experiences and communication powered by the right (ECI). Today it is 93rd. Japan is
technology”. It says US$19 billion could be shifted from technology to number one. Howcroft believes a
creativity, yielding a more proportionate approach for marketers. lack of creativity is to blame, call-
ing Australia “constipated” and in
A transformative power need of “collective laxative”.
When it comes to championing creativity in Australia, there is no “Here’s the problem with
greater ambassador than PwC partner and chief creative officer Russel the creative word,” he said. “In the
Howcroft. Speaking at the Interbrand Best Global Brands 2019 event Australian context, people think
creativity is about the arts. You
say creativity around a political
table — in particular, with a right-
wing conservative government
— they don’t see it as an economic
Media agencies weigh in on the role creativity plays in their work today. word. It is an economic word.
“We’ve just got to find a way to
get the creative word out of arts
and into business because if you’re
not creative, how do you possibly
come up with wi-fi? How do you
come up with plastic money? It’s
another Australian innovation.
How do you come up with penicil-
lin? That’s pretty good.”
To Howcroft, everyone is crea-
tive. At the talk, he spoke about
the “three Cs” of creativity: small
C, professional C and big C. Small
C creativity can be found in every-
PHD strategy director GroupM chief technology Publicis Media one, while professional C is attrib-
Remi Baker and transformation officer ANZ head of content and uted to those who have made a
When we think of creativity in Cameron King sport Patrick Whitnall career out of it, including those in
media agencies, some may jump It’s tempting to imagine that instinct Media agencies have always been ma rket i ng a nd adver t i si ng.
to thoughts of creative flighting, and art are lost at the hands of a creative source for brands. The Around 95% of five-year-olds have
trading and targeting. Yes, while data and technology. The robots growth of channels and technology genius levels of small C creativity.
this is true, creativity plays a are going to win, right? Not quite. has created an explosion in the need By the time they’re 15, it sits
much bigger role. Improved tech I believe technology enhances for more creativity and assets across around 25% because, as Howcroft
capabilities, access to data and creativity. It gives us detail about customer journeys, client-owned puts it, “we teach it out of people”.
more diverse talent pools mean consumer attitudes, preferences assets and devices. Media agencies Big C creativity, on the other hand,
that media agencies have the tools and needs. It automates the are best placed to adapt to this is reserved for the few who are
and the talent to come up with communications process and allows speed and demand in collaboration true creative geniuses such as
more meaningful and effective ideas to be tested and refined. It with media/tech partners, which is Pablo Picasso. Despite accounting
creative ideas. Ideas based on an gives feedback about how effective seen across SEO, mobile, six-second for a small echelon of society, it is
in-depth understanding of people great ideas were at influencing ads, long-form written content and often considered as the bench-
and their behaviour. hearts, minds and wallets. personalised digital ads. mark for creativity.
Investigation

Can adtech be creative? Like Howcroft, VMLY&R chief strategy officer Alison Tilling believes
everyone can be creative.
“Can everyone be a creative with a capital C? Probably not, but that’s
probably because most people aren’t thick-skinned enough,” she says.
“But I think everyone can bring creativity to bear on what it is they do
and given some of the challenges society faces, it’s incumbent on us all
to do that anyway.”
A seasoned strategist, Tilling may not work in a creative “with a capital C”
role but it doesn’t mean she isn’t applying creativity in her day-to-day work.
“I know not everybody would agree with this, but I think being a
strategist is a pretty creative role,” she says. “For example, when you’re
writing a brief or you’re thinking about how a business might grow, there
is creativity there. You have to think about that from some different
perspectives and in some different ways. You have to pull it apart and
put it back together in different combinations every time. So, I think
strategy in itself is a creative act.”
Amobee head of sales and Once a thing that only a select few people did, Tilling says creativity
client services Andrew Dixon is being applied more broadly today to a range of different problems.
Good data should inspire creativity While much of her work sits within the marketing science realm
at the planning stage rather than where Binet and Field’s 60-40 rule is lauded as the driving force behind
replace it entirely. The adtech effective advertising, Tilling says it’s important to remember creativity
industry often confuses the is the real power.
concept of dynamic creative with “I think sometimes creativity gets a bit lost in that conversation and
solving the “creativity + data” for me it’s really important that work on effectiveness is in the service of
problem. Dynamic creative is more creativity,” she says. “It’s creativity that gives power of effectiveness.”
about automating the production
of creative assets to personalise The modern creative
messaging — which is great for As noted by Tilling, creativity is no longer an exclusive role reserved for
relevance, but not necessarily those with it in their job title. But for those who are in traditional creative
replacing “creativity”. Creativity positions, recent years have seen a shift in their own day-to-day work.
is about being memorable, and “Creativity is a culture, no longer a department,” says Belinda Lodge,
being memorable is about shared founder and CEO of the recruitment agency iPopulate, which specialises
experiences and reactions. in the advertising and communications sector. “Most successful agencies
The most memorable and now see creativity as everyone’s responsibility and good ideas are
creative ads still tend to be shared welcome from anywhere.”
experiences that are talked about Today, digital strategists, web developers, social media specialists and
around the water cooler, usually data analysts all work in tandem with creative teams.
on large canvasses such as TV and As the agency model continues to evolve, Lodge says siloed job
Facial recognition
outdoor, which are now very much used for Movember descriptions are a thing of the past, and it’s those with “a truly integrated
within the adtech space as well. promotion in Sydney skill set” who are becoming desired candidates.
www.adnews.com.au | March 2020 31

“It is tough out there as client spend is being reduced and redirected,” happening in adland, the key to
she says. “Creatives are now being asked to present engaging ideas with creativity is remaining open and
smaller budgets, making innovation and commercial acumen core curious. Like others, she’s also a
requirements of any creative role. believer that an idea doesn’t nec-
“Hybrid skill sets are also more prevalent than ever. Both talent and essarily have to come from within
agencies reap the benefits of individuals who can play across multi dis- the creative department.
ciplines, broadening traditional job titles.” “Just because our title is crea-
The move towards a desiloed workforce sees more modern creatives tives, I don’t think that should stop
joining adland from diverse backgrounds and collaborating across clients, marketers, strategists or
departments. anyone else coming up with ideas,”
While everyone in the industry has been talking about a desiloed she says.
structure, Digitas creative director Simon Brock still thinks the industry Hetherington departed Dentsu
has a way to go before it is truly there. Aegis Network’s WiTH Collective
“It’s become the biggest cliche in this industry,” he says. “Yet when last year, with fellow creative
you look at the fundamental structures we use to define ourselves, the Simon Fowler, and the duo set up
very first thing we do is put up walls between departments. their own creative consultancy.
“That’s problematic because we’re now seeing a really interesting Going from creative in a big
generation of creative people coming into this business who don’t fit agency to owner of a new business
neatly into one of those predefined buckets.” h a s s e e n he r role c h a n ge
For Brock, one of the most transformational moments in his career dramatically.
was when he began to work for Digitas in Sweden. Joining the industry Hetherington says rather than
with a background in film, TV and music production, he interviewed be experts in everything, they’re
for a role which Digitas didn’t feel was quite right for him, however they choosing to work with the right
knew he had something to offer the team. experts to meet client needs.
“I was employed without a department and without a title,” he says. “While we don’t have experts
“That was such a massive liberating moment in my career because it in certain areas sitting right next
changed the game in terms of expectations.” to us, what we see as an opportu-
Nicole Hetherington, co-founder and creative partner at newly- nity is the fact we can draw on our
formed independent creative consultancy Abel, says despite the changes partners — the right ones — for the
Investigation

creatives do lose their voice in this process,” he says. “Particularly for


creatives coming up in the industry, it’s harder. As an ECD, I see less
of that because I’m in more of a decision-making role. Whereas if you’re
a young team, you often never get to follow something through.”
Saatchi & Saatchi Melbourne ECD Simon Bagnasco says the move to
more collaborative work is one of the most interesting changes to his role.
“I’ve had to understand a lot more other parts of the business, more
than I ever had to,” he says. “It used to be, as a creative director, you
could really sit in your own island and just be in charge of that island and
that was it. Now you have to understand data, you have to understand
media a lot better, and you have to harness those and work with those
people collaboratively.”
This shift brings changes to the kind of work Bagnasco once did. Like
many others in the industry, he is becoming increasingly involved in
solving clients’ business problems and not just creating campaigns.
“I didn’t realise it at the time, but a couple of years after I first
started, I realised what you’re doing is essentially filling rectangles,”
he says. “Then over time [the work] has evolved and now it just feels
the freest and most liberated it has ever been. The problems clients
have are a lot more diverse and interesting and they require different
responses each time.”
For adland newbie Stephanie Ryan, a graduate copywriter at CX
Lavender, joining the industry changed her perception of what it means
to work as a creative.

The experience economy


As more brands seek to create memorable moments for their
customers as part of the marketing strategy, we asked experiential
leaders how creativity is helping to shape the experiences of 2020.

right project,” she says. “It feels


like a slightly more modern way of
being able to work.”
Recently returning to Australia
after working in Droga5’s American
office, Leo Burnett executive crea-
tive director (ECD) Andrew
Fergusson says collaboration is INVNT APAC executive creative Imagination creative
more necessary today as timelines director Adam Harriden director Michael Reid
continue to shrink. The age gap between key audiences Limited attention spans, quick
“It’s definitely more about being — think Millennials and Gen Zs turnarounds and lean budgets
fast-paced and collaborative,” he — and decision-makers on the brand — none of these are going
says. “What’s really needed for mod- side is widening, so it’s our job as anywhere in 2020 so we’ll
ern creatives is nimbleness and a bit creatives to craft brand stories that keep exploring new creative
of confidence so you can go into simultaneously gain clients’ buy-in territory to hit the mark.
those environments and not feel like and resonate with these tribes. We’re striving to make our
you’ve lost all that thinking time.” Experiential agencies can’t tell experiences more personalised
Once upon a time, coming up with these stories in the physical space (to grab attention and not let
the idea sat purely in the creative alone anymore. The days of the go), authentic (building trust and
department but that isn’t always the omnichannel brand experience are harnessing our intrinsic desire
case now. While Fergusson welcomes over. Instead, shareability is key. to be part of something bigger)
collaboration, he does also note the Brand stories need to be developed and unexpected (because it’s
A street panel is transformed into
challenge it brings for creatives. a Neutrogena sunscreen dispenser with multiple platforms in mind, kind of fun to be surprised
“Sometimes it is tricky and during the Australian Open especially digital and social. every now and then).
www.adnews.com.au | March 2020 33

Prior to entering the workforce, she expected it to be “only big TV As workflow changes, so does
commercials and coming up with killer slogans” but soon learned it was the work. While some people have
much more than that. been fearful of what technology
“Starting out now, I’m realising you can effectively use creativity in lots brings, others are welcoming it
of different ways and lots of different avenues,” says Ryan. “So even if it’s with open arms.
something that feels really small or inconsequential, [such as] we need Brock likens technolog y to
to have this mandatory form that customers need to fill out, there’s ways the script an actor has in a play
to make that a more engaging process or pinpointing a particular pain or a tool for an artist. Through
point they might be experiencing and trying to come up with a clever improvisation and experimenta-
way to fix that and to make the process better for everyone.” tion, he says the industry is able
Enjoying the “performative nature” of copywriting, Ryan predicts in to evolve.
10 years’ time her work will become more focused on technical writing. “We have no choice but to take
She cites technology and science communication as areas she believes the brilliant craft we’ve made to this
hold the greatest opportunities. point and start thinking of data and
“Science communications can still be quite confusing for people,” she technology as new paint brushes on
says. “The same with tech. Anything that needs to be translated before our easel rather than thinking of
it can go to a lay person, I think there’s always room for copywriting and them as replacements for it,” he says.
creativity in those fields to try to help bridge that gap.” “I totally get why there’s appre-
hension because most examples
Friend or foe? we see is where data and technol-
There’s no denying the shake-up the industry has experienced as ogy get applied to a traditionally
a result of technology’s rapid advancements. Catapulting society creative output. We see things
into the realms of a 24-hour news cycle, and always switched-on mode, such as versioning or program-
tech significantly sped up the pace at which we work. matic media buying — which can
Investigation

be really powerful — but they tend


to take the soul out of it.”
On any given day, people are
exposed to as many as 10,000 ads,
but most go unnoticed as the world
becomes desensitised to them. What technology
Brock believes if creatives have a
has unlocked from
better understanding of how pro-
grammatic works, as well as a creative point
knowledge on the power of data of view is very
and new technology, that it will exciting. But at the
only enhance technology. same time, being
Hetherington, on the other hand,
creative is scary
says she understands how difficult it
can be for creatives to really stay on because it feels like
top of the latest technology. you’ve always got
“Obviously what technology to be in the know
has unlocked from a creative point with everything.
of view is very exciting,” she says.
“But at the same time, being crea-
tive is actually very scary because
it feels like you’ve always got to be
on the forefront and in the know Nicole Hetherington,
with everything. co-founder and
“The way technology changes creative partner Abel
and the new platforms that are
available, it [can be] quite hard to
keep up.”
Instead, she suggests creatives “For brands, this means being able to prove both quantitative and
take a more general approach to qualitative ROI across three key areas: reach, resonance and reaction.”
learning these new technologies Spotify has collaborated with a number of brands and agencies on
and platforms, and partner with campaigns, proving just how effective creative data in audio can be.
those who are experts. The streaming platform worked with Ogilvy Melbourne and insurer
AAMI to deliver the award-winning Warning Spots campaign. It delivered
Pushing the boundaries geo-targeted audio messages to dangerous spots along the Great Ocean
As daunting as raw data can be, Road and inner-Melbourne during the Labour Day long weekend.
many brands are beginning to The campaign utilised data about Victorian road accidents on the
find ways to use it creatively. Data most dangerous hotspots on some of Australia’s busiest roads. By using
scientist roles are in hot demand the geo-targeting capabilities, AAMI was able to serve tailored ads
and data’s usage in campaigns is to Spotify listeners in precise locations, warning them of potential
starting to garner more spotlight dangers ahead.
with awards such as the Creative Bryant says great creative audio has the ability to stand out among the
Data Lions award category at clutter of visual assets and content consumers are already exposed to.
C a n ne s L ion s I nter n at ion a l “Visual assets are often beautiful but the fact is fewer people are seeing
Festival of Creativity. them,” he says. “From an industry standpoint, audio is a massively under-
Music streaming platform estimated channel. Last year, I went out to around 70 creative and media
Spotify has been using its services agencies across Australia and New Zealand to talk about [our service]
to help brands use data creatively Spotify for Creatives and discovered there’s little engagement or even
in the audio world. interest in audio.
Spotify ANZ creative solutions “We have a big education job around what audio can do today.”
lead Matt Bryant says tech and Another big player changing up the creative landscape is JCDecaux.
data doesn’t have to come at the In a world where most media formats are seeing declining ad spend,
expense of creativity, or vice versa. out-of-home (OOH) alongside digital are experiencing growth.
“Tech and data are enablers of JCDecaux ANZ head of creative solutions Ashley Taylor sees huge
creativity. When listeners are opportunities in OOH for brands. Like many others joining adland in
served more relevant messaging, recent years, Taylor’s background isn’t in OOH, instead she came from
it’s a better experience for every- experiential and events marketing.
body,” he says. This background has helped her transform a regular street panel into
“For creatives and creative anything from a sunscreen dispenser for Neutrogena during the
agencies, it means unfiltered guid- Australian Open to an interactive ad using facial recognition to determine
ance to understanding what listen- the likelihood of pash rash from a man’s Movember moustache.
ers want and how to get the most “For me, out-of-home is just a stage, and then it’s all about making the
out of creative ideas for brands. most of the stage we have,” says Taylor.
www.adnews.com.au | March 2020 35

When she started in the role, it was just Taylor and her boss on the Top left: Caravanning Aside from increasingly using
creative team. Fast-forward a few years and she is now leading a growing Queensland’s world record facial tracking and recognition,
Lego replica of a 1973
team of five and answering 10-20 briefs a week. Viscount Royal caravan Taylor says live streaming has been
They work closely with a team of engineers to ensure they can bring another popular format.
to life what clients are looking for. In 2017, the team used it for a
“Facial tracking and facial recognition was a really huge focus for campaign called Answer the Call
us during the past 12-18 months,” she says. “With face tracking, to see what Australians would
there’s a lot of extra layers that can be executed in different ways. It do to win tickets to the AFL Grand
started with eye tracking, but we knew, as part of that, we can do Final. The campaign appeared on
smile recognition, plus gender recognition, age and sentiments.” interactive digital panels in CBDs
While they aren’t using it to track people at the moment, Taylor across the country and featured
says in the future she sees opportunity for the technology to be used a static AFL advertisement pro-
as an engagement tool. She sees the possibility for it to test what moting the finals in the lead up to
creative works for a client campaign, measuring the best reactions the Grand Final. At a random
due to eye gaze, the length of time viewed and the sentiment when peak time, the panel displays
viewing the ad. were activated, beaming well-
“We would be able to then code that to optimise the rest of the network known players from teams in
from the learnings of those panels where we would do those builds,” each state via a live video stream,
she says. enabling members of the public
For now, the interactive panels are predominantly being placed in high to interact in real time.
foot traffic areas such as Sydney CBD’s George Street, Southern Cross Fans were rewarded with game
Station in Melbourne and at public transport shelters and stations. tickets via the screen and the play-
Taylor says this is because the work is often deemed as a high distraction ers would sometimes physically
for motorists. appear at the site. Taylor says they
One of her favourite campaigns is Pepsi’s augmented reality (AR) reached around 1.2 million people
bus shelter in London where the panel appeared as a fake window with the work.
with unlikely objects appearing such as f lying saucers in the frame. “I don’t think it has to be super
However, she does think AR isn’t always the best technology for clients complex, it just needs to be
to use at the moment. smart,” she says.
“The traditional way that we’re seeing a lot of AR is where you actually “Creativity for me, especially
have a panel with the scene behind and then the scene changes,” she across ou r for mat, is about
says. “But right now it’s quite expensive. considered creative and making
“It does serve a great purpose for really great content but I think the most of the placement you
there’s a lot of ways we can get great content that doesn’t cost that much have. It’s about how we create emo-
in development.” tion in whatever we’re doing.”
Better Workplaces www.adnews.com.au | March 2020 37

Thinkerbell agency
launched in 2017.

Measuring I t has been almost three years since the industry was graced with
Thinkerbell’s inception. Formed by ex-Cummins&Partners chief
strategy officer and partner Adam Ferrier, and executive creative

Magic
directors Jim Ingram and Ben Couzens, the agency has cast a spell over
the industry with its “measured magic” philosophy.
Global consultancy PwC recognised the value of the business and its
marketing science approach early on, purchasing a stake in the business
shortly after its launch. However, unlike other consultancy acquisitions,
Thinkerbell and PwC have previously told AdNews that their relationship
is more like “friends with benefits”.
Mental health, long hours and short “Our investment in Thinkerbell is an investment in a future we think
tenures are issues synonymous with the is really exciting, and we don’t need to own the agency in order to play
a part in that,” PwC partner Lawrence Goldstone said at the time.
advertising industry. In Better Workplaces, “We will find ways to work together on particular clients when it makes
AdNews takes a look at the ways in which sense, otherwise we have nothing to do with Thinkerbell.”
agencies are changing this through company Building up a strong team of “Thinkers” and “Tinkers”, the agency
has expanded from a simple creative agency to a full service shop with
culture, HR initiatives and office design. Margie Reid rounding out the team as managing partner and to help
drive its media offering. Joining the team following 11 years at OMD,
W O R D S B Y Reid said she would bring “a broad understanding of the marketing and
P A I G E M U R P H Y media landscape, strong management skills, and perhaps upweighting
the ‘measured’ component of the ‘measured magic’ proposition.”
Better Workplaces

In addition to its creative and media offering, the agency has added
Agency Snapshot public relations (PR) to its services. Catherine King was appointed
head thinker of PR, bringing 20 years’ experience.
STAFF COUNT: As it continues to grow, Thinkerbell has begun to beef up its presence
beyond the Melbourne market. Opening up shop in Sydney’s Surry Hills
Around 60 to 70 and appointing The Works’ Paul Swann as executive creative director, the
Thinkers and Tinkers are continuing to spread their magic across adland.
In line with this, the agency moved its Melbourne office to a new
LOCATION:
Neverland in Richmond last year. Decked out to project its measured-
THINKERBELL NORTH
(SURRY HILLS, SYDNEY) magic proposition, Thinkerbell’s new home is one they hope inspires
AND THINKERBELL SOUTH employees and clients to work with them. The Thinkers and Tinkers
(RICHMOND, MELBOURNE) took AdNews inside their new digs to show us how they make magic
happen and describe it in their own words.
AGENCY MANTRA: The Thinkerbell agency’s
“WE LIKE TO HUDDLE
Neverland in Melbourne Thinkerbell’s Neverland
has reinvented the modern, We designed our office around two principles: the first is measured
AND THINK AND TINK creative workspace based
AND GET SHIT DONE.” on the principles of magic. Everything in the office ref lects our driving philosophy,
“measured magic”. from the knitting installation you walk through that guides you to
www.adnews.com.au | March 2020 39

reception, to the 12-metre bar made from resin by an amazing


Melbourne artist. Everything is carefully considered, but with
a magical feel. We really want the measured-magic vibe to impact how
people feel when they come here. Getting the combination of feeling
warm and welcomed, but also inspired and thinking anything
is possible.
Secondly, the office is designed to show people what it’s like to
work with, or at, Thinkerbell. From the huge brand experience (BX)
room — designed specifically for large-scale think-tanks — to the
intimate consumer experience (CX) room with viewing facilities to
better understand consumers. All of which is hopefully guiding people
to think about building brands and businesses, and also how to
empathise with people and their needs and desires.
We also wanted to avoid a few things. Fussball, pool tables and
video games feel a bit frat boy and frivolous. We also don’t want the
agency to feel like a playpen, although we do have a chess board — with
a timer for competitive people — and a jigsaw puzzle for people wanting
to get away from their desk.
Better Workplaces www.adnews.com.au | March 2020 40

Quiet time in the


Thinkerbell library.

A magical experience
Reception is at We want to bring measured magic into everything we do, including where
the very back we work. It’s our guiding proposition and how we go about our day.
We want the experience of the agency to reflect the Thinkerbell brand.
so people need to When you come to Thinkerbell, the first thing you see is a big BX room,
walk through the and around the corner is our custom-designed CX room — the layout
office to get there. reflects a working model of Thinkerbell — to always put “BXB4CX”.
This hopefully Reception is at the very back so people need to walk through the office
communicates to get there. This hopefully communicates transparency and a concept of
nothing to hide. We have a library for quiet time; Fonzie and Pinkie are
transparency and two “floating booths” for group thinking; and the bar has an extension
a concept of space which acts as another breakout room. PwC were given a large oak
nothing to hide. desk and a very important-looking chair. There are a few other bits and
bobs — managers get to work at the Paris End of the office, and, for some
reason, Jim and Adam insist on having their own toilet.

Mind Expansion
Thinkerbell founder One of the benefits of working at Thinkerbell is the office has a nice vibe.
Adam Ferrier We also have a parental leave policy in place, plus other stuff that
should be in place at a modern, caring workplace, including flexible
hours. We also offer every employee an extra week of leave, referred
to as the Mind Expansion Project, were they are free to go wherever they
choose and do whatever they want, provided it expands their mind
in some way.
REACH THE INFLUENCERS
WHO ARE SHAPING YOUR
WORKPLACE & LEADING
THE BUSINESS AGENDA.
The Cycling Classics for Australia

To e n g a g e w i t h t h e m o s t i n f l u e n t i a l a u d i e n ce i n S p o r t s M a r ke t i n g co n t a c t :
Ja mes Yaf fa Publisher T 02 9213 8293 E james yaf fa@yaf fa.com . au
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Meet the Team www.adnews.com.au | March 2020 43

A BIGGER, MORE A decade after We Are Social opened its Australian office, managing
director Suzie Shaw says the agency is still riding the wave of growth

PROFESSIONAL
in social media.
The UK-founded business recently moved into new offices on Sydney’s
Cleveland Street, complete with new production studios. The move
accommodates its team of 50, which includes new executive creative

TEAM
director Edu Pou and head of strategy Gerry Cyron.
“In all the time the business has been open, it's been in growth
with a few ups and downs,” Shaw tells AdNews. “Part of that has been
riding the wave of substantial growth that we've seen from social.
But also, the scope of what is social has been growing and growing.
“In the early days, as a social specialist, it was about helping clients
We Are Social is marking 10 years in with their social media channels and creating content for the platforms.
Australia with a bigger office and more Whereas now, increasingly, it's much broader than that. It's about creating
campaigns that are socially led, and that may or may not result in some
ambitious goals for the agency that’s content that lives on social media. It's more about getting people to talk
grown from a handful of staff to 50. and driving conversations around a brand.”
AdNews sits down with its managing The agency has 20 clients, including big names such as Netflix, Red
Bull and Samsung. It recently completed a global campaign for the elec-
director, Suzie Shaw, to talk 2020. tronics company, enlisting Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown, gamer
Ninja and Instagram personality Miquela.
Shaw says when her team creates a campaign, they focus on how to
W O R D S B Y invite consumers to be part of the conversation — something brands still
M A R I A M C H E I K - H U S S E I N need educating on.
“A lot of brands still see social media as an advertising channel rather than
a channel that operates with the opportunity to connect more meaningfully
with your customer or to build a community around your brand,” she says.
“Those sorts of things behave very differently from just advertising at
someone. There's a long way to go, but some brands are doing it super well.”
Meet the Team

changes in the media landscape and


I don't think there's many brands that
have yet nailed how to use social
thinking to build affinity with a new
audience outside television and
traditional formats.”
Shaw says her industry faces its
own challenges, which carry on
from the previous decade into the
new: short-termism and the
demand for content.
“ The i ndu s t r y h a s b e e n
challenged and will continue to
be challenged by the fact that
brands need more stuff, more of
the time, and they don't necessar-
ily have more money to pay for
it,” she says.
“We continue to see a prolifera-
tion of channels and content, and
it's moving really fast. And what that
means is there's often limited time
and resources to think about it and
She says the failure to recognise the uniqueness of social has resulted deliver really valuable content.
in underspend in the medium, and she hopes to see more brands double “As agencies, we’re making sure
down and invest in it more seriously. According to a report by Zenith, we’re keeping brands honest and
social media will remain one of the fastest-growing channels, along with saying, ‘How can we make the
online video, from 2019-2022. biggest impact for you?’ Sometimes
In an effort to keep up with the sector, We Are Social recently it's not doing everything cheaply.
restructured its team around clients, rather than by departments. With social continuously evolv-
The new structure means there are multidisciplinary teams sitting ing, Shaw says there’s often a lot of
together working on the same client. roles being created across agencies
“This is about being able to move at the pace of the culture,” says Shaw. and businesses faster than people
“You need to create content fast and move at the pace of the internet. can be skilled up for. However, she
You can’t be genuinely culturally relevant if it's taking you weeks and says being part of the global
months to think of an idea and respond to an audience.” We Are Social team helps it meet
TikTok has been the latest development in the space, which has cre- these challenges.
ated a new format social media specialists need to adapt to. While We “Making sure we're at the fore-
Are Social’s work remains spread out evenly between the main platforms front of the discipline that never
of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, it expects TikTok to have a big 2020. sleeps is a challenge,” she says.
“TikTok has become an important player and it's going to be a huge “But for us, having the network
year for platforms like it,” says Shaw. “TikTok is driving new behaviour. is really helpful because we don’t
It’s not just getting people to shift platforms — it’s connecting audiences to just have 50 people, we have 850.
new people according to their interests.” That really helps us keep our finger
on the pulse of what is a very fast
The new decade ahead moving discipline.”
To complement the new office space, Shaw says her team are also eyeing
a bigger client list for 2020.
“We moved in response to us growing as a business, but also trying
to step up and be in a space that's representative of the business we are
today,” she says. “And that’s a bigger, more professional business.”
Her goals for the new year include nabbing clients across telco,
financial services and alcohol companies.
“We have a gap in telco and believe there's a strong opportunity for
that category to better engage customers and develop stronger
relationships through social thinking,” she says.
“Financial services organisations are notoriously risk-averse, as they should
be, but they're particularly risk-averse around their use of social. They see the
risk of something going wrong as greater than the reward of potentially
building a stronger audience or building community around the brand.”
“There's downward pressure on the beer and booze category in terms of
lifestyle changes that are occurring, which is good, but also marketing
challenges. Brands in that category are some of the most challenged by the
www.adnews.com.au | March 2020 45

G E R R Y C Y R O N • H E A D O F S T R A T E G Y

What’s the biggest challenge communications mix is the biggest incredibly talented humans who
in your role? challenge and of paramount teach you a thing or two along the
I think in any strategy importance. It helps to position way. What’s not to love?
role, finding a fresh social above and beyond
and differentiated way community management as What’s been one of your favourite
of solving your client’s a social force that drives real campaigns to work on?
business problem can business results. Wow. That’s an incredibly difficult
be challenging. However, question to answer. Campaigns
proving and isolating the What is your favourite part about are like children — you love them
impact of social within your role? all (with the exception of the really
the marketing The beauty of being a strategist is annoying ones, of course). If I had
the variety of business problems to pick one, it probably would be
you are exposed to. Every. Day. “Share a Coke”. The campaign was
Is. Different. Yesterday an energy social by nature but started on
drink captured your undivided the shelf, not on Insta. With that
attention and imagination, today said, the campaign blew up on
you focus on an airline destination, social media. It’s the bane of my
and tomorrow you find yourself existence that we weren’t able to
in the pressure cooker that is do more with the amazing UGC
pitching for an entertainment as the media buy was heavily
brand. Throughout this potpourri skewed towards traditional,
of challenges, you work with non-conversational media.

E D U P O U • E X E C U T I V E C R E A T I V E D I R E C T O R

What brought you to Australia? key elements is the self-referential


Moving to Australia needs little sense of humour, which advertising
convincing. Creatively, I’ve always embraces wholeheartedly. On
been a fan of the work coming out top of all that, having a smart and
of here, and some of my favourite active audience creates an ideal
colleagues in Amsterdam and the playground for social-first ideas.
US were Australian — I consider
Eric Quennoy, ECD and partner at What’s one trend to watch in 2020?
Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam, one Brands going beyond their
of my mentors. I also love the rich comfort zone. Whoever coined
and distinct Aussie culture and the the expression “better to be safe
inviting nature of the people. The than sorry” couldn’t anticipate the
mind-blowing nature doesn’t hurt, impact of social media. Today, if
either. The fact my wife is Australian you’re safe, you’ll be sorry. Trying
and we have two half-Australian and failing is better than not
boys may have helped a little, too. trying at all. Expected is boring, and
boring doesn’t get any attention.
After working in New York, how Remember how Elon Musk smashed
would you describe Australia’s the windows of his new pickup truck
creative scene? live on stage to demonstrate they
In Australia, there’s a strong sense were bulletproof? Well, he still got
of identity that permeates through record-breaking sales. We better
every layer of society. One of the get our steel balls ready.
Meet the Team www.adnews.com.au | March 2020 46

S U Z T U C K E R • E D I T O R I A L D I R E C T O R

What’s the main focus of your role? routine. And, like most people,
At the start of 2019, I visited my I’m genuinely interested in what’s
90-year-old grandmother in Texas happening in the world so I read
and in describing my job to her the broadsheets, Twitter, Reddit, a
I said something to the effect sizable collection of e-newsletters,
of: I use the same principles and magazines, Yelp reviews, the
creative disciplines from the world of comments section of our clients'
journalism (great storytelling, finding social pages, and so on. I also have
the angle, tone of voice, writing an excellent team of super switched
craft and, importantly, servicing the on people who are into culture,
audience first) and apply them to art, politics, celebrity, technology,
making content for brands that help videos of dogs reuniting with their
the right people notice them and owners after lengthy separations...
like them. She patted my hand all the stuff people are talking
and took a sip of white wine. She’s about, which means staying
a shrewd woman. on top of trends and topics is
a collaborative effort.
How does an editorial director fit
into an agency? Any goals for 2020?
I’m only 5’2” so I don’t take up a lot Make work that real people
of physical space. genuinely give a shit about. And,
with all due respect to data and the
How do you stay on top of the latest algorithm, in 2020 I also want to
trends/topics consumers care about? continue working with clients who
I come from a digital publishing are keen to create new trends, not
background so following the news just respond to existing ones.
cycle is an ingrained part of my That’s exciting to me.

M I C H A E L B A T I S T I C H • H E A D O F R E S E A R C H & I N S I G H T S

What’s kept you at We Are Social value investment of people,


for nine years? time and money. Brands need
Being part of a network growing to rebalance their investment in
at the speed of social has been favour of campaigns over always-
an amazing opportunity, allowing on, and consider amplification as
me to work with smart people and part of every brief.
smart brands. As social platforms
have evolved, so has our approach Trends to watch in 2020?
to measurement. Back in the early We’ll see social platforms relying
days, we spent most of our time more and more on machine
wrangling spreadsheets, counting learning to tweak the algorithms
clicks and conversations. Today, and drive greater engagement,
we’re automating our analytics return visits and future usage.
and working hard on measuring More brands will rightly jump
what matters to brands. on TikTok, which is the fastest-
growing social network and the
What’s something brands most “addictive” one. We’ll also
misunderstand about social see a shift in how influencers
media? monetise their popularity, using
With organic reach approaching direct selling, subscription and
zero, brands need to understand membership models, and
that organic social is a low-to-no tipping and gifting.
We know SA’s

In South Australia there is only one local media company


specialising in publishing for the AB market - Solstice Media
Providing quality, local, independent journalism with a combined
audience of over 400,000, Solstice Media produces:

daily digital news weekly digital and


Keeping thinking quarterly print newspaper
South Australians The voice of the city
informed
Masthead Studio
Content marketing about South
monthly magazine Australia
The Best of Adelaide and
Events
South Australia
40Under40 - May
Including SA Business Index - September
SALIFE Gardens & Outdoor Living Regional Showcase - October
SALIFE Food & Wine List 2019
For more information visit
SALIFE Homes & Interiors
solsticemedia.com.au

Talk to us about South Australia:

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Kellie Melville l InDaily and Events


Photo by Nicole Honeywill / Sincerely Media on Unsplash

0409 698 672


kmelville@solsticemedia.com.au

Josh Fanning l CityMag
0401 873 788
jfanning@solsticemedia.com.au
Creative Review

CHARLIE COOK
JimJam Creative Director
Last year, we were delighted to create a tourism campaign for the Eurobodalla Shire, one of the
most stunning places I’d ever seen. This year, we were devastated as we watched half of it burn to
the ground. I reached out to the local councillor to see how we could help. The shake in her voice
almost had me in tears, but her response was swift. In short, they need visitors to start rebuilding
what is now a broken economy and a heartbroken community. In turn, we need brands to
respond swiftly with genuine initiatives that drive real action and make an immediate difference.

JIMMY HYETT
This Is Flow Founder
and Managing Director

A sunburnt country
Is it wrong to say you’re sick
of seeing bushfire posts?
The volume of companies and
individuals driving support
for the crisis was staggering.
While this influx into our feeds
had a serious donation-positive
Australia’s bushfire crisis is far from over, but the impact globally, brands walked
a fine line between being
support from the nation and brands across the sincere and opportunistic
globe has been overwhelmingly positive. We asked — and consumers could see
creatives to review some of the best (and possibly the straight through the frauds.

worst) campaigns to come off the back of the disaster.

W O R D S B Y

P A I G E M U R P H Y

PAUL FENTON
Loyal Co-Founder and ECD
It’s sad that it takes a crisis to bring us together,
but we’ve shown that when we unite with
a single goal, we make a difference. Let’s keep
this momentum, focusing not only on the
immediate, but also long-term solutions. As long
as no-one’s listening to #ScottyFromMarketing.
www.adnews.com.au | March 2020 49

TIFFANY & CO.

CC: A sound and profound JH: Ah, Tiffany Blue. The only
message that unfortunately will colour I’m afraid of. A nice clean
do bugger-all for the livelihoods, execution that shows brand, but
homes and wildlife lost in these speaks community. One look
fires. Climate change obviously at their website and you will see
needs to be addressed, but a list of their sustainability pillars,
using this current crisis to call so you know it’s authentic. On
out a slow-to-move government topic, on trend, on brand. Trifecta.
is just calling out the obvious.
Invites to climate rallies, links PF: I love brands making a
to relevant charities or simply powerful stance; see Nike and Colin
donating the media spend to the Kaepernick. Is it qualified, though,
firies would’ve made a bigger with Tiffany’s position on the global
difference. Right now we need environment? Or is it someone with
effective initiatives that help money telling off someone else
today’s victims today. with money for social points?

BAUER MEDIA

CC: What can you say about a given for the media outlet to
Bauer’s initiative apart from bloody deliver this level of journalism.
brilliant? #Rebuildourtowns does A good story to drive additional
what it says on the pack. It offers sales with a donation feels
practical ways we can help fellow opportunistic.
Aussies and small businesses
in townships doing it tough. PF: Great engagement. Giving
It’s all about making a real, money immediately helps,
tangible effort towards rebuilding but Bauer’s strategy has
Australia’s future. Nice one. long-term impact. How do
we keep supporting these
JH: The hot topic, "how to help", communities? By visiting and
has been a big question many putting money back into them.
have asked. While the intention After the fires have settled,
of Bauer is positive, it doesn’t communities will still need
get bonus marks, as it should be a platform for ongoing support.
Creative Review

LIBERAL PARTY

CC: Wow! Scott from marketing PF: Woefully insensitive while set
has really pulled an all-nighter among Liberal climate inaction,
on this one. Clear strategy, sound Hawaiian holidays and forced
idea, strong headlines, bold art handshakes with firies. The
direction, bloody brilliant initiative, political advertising with donations
Scott, you could actually make appeared to simply heighten the
a real difference... oh, no, wait, haters who have turned against
bugger, unfortunately you’ve ScoMo, myself included.
missed the deadline by about six
months. Sorry, Scott, we’re going
to have to let you go.

JH: Speechless. One scroll


through the snowballing negative
comments tells the story. Even
though communication from the
government was crucial,
the execution was unemotional,
untimely and completely
unrelatable. The brutal public
reaction was all the response
this crisis piece deserved.

KOALAS OF NYC
Creative Agency:
CUMMINS&PARTNERS NY

CC:A mate of mine recently got JH: In a sea of digital streams, it’s
back from a holiday in New York. nice to see an idea that lives in the
Apparently everywhere he went the real world. The surprising invasion
locals greeted him with handshakes of koalas in the Big Apple is an
and hugs, showing their deep intelligent idea. Intrigue driving
sympathy for the fire victims, reality and a subtle link to take
especially the billion-odd “critters” action is more than enough to
lost in the disaster. Astonishing to capture hearts on the other side
think New Yorkers on the other side of the world.
of the planet giving a shit about our
furry marsupials. This Koalas of NYC PF: Despite global coverage,
idea surely had something to do people can become immune
with the overwhelming response. to the news, the anguish and
It clearly tapped an emotional cord the houses burning down. This
with a country’s deep affection idea is simple but significant,
for our native animals and, most approaching the problem with
importantly, showed them how they fresh eyes and an instant way
could help. Well done all involved. to act. Not bad for a stuffed toy.

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