Many towns and cities in Australia are facing a Christmas shrouded in thick smoke, or worse, from raging bushfires. While the overworked volunteer Rural Firefighters are putting out deadly real fires, retailers have been putting out their own fires in 2019. It’s safe to say it’s...
First-up, this post has nothing to do with Harry and Meghan. You see, there was another high-profile royal event that occurred in 2018 (just not as photogenic) and it’s being hailed as the reason for a “patchy” Christmas retail period. Last year’s Royal Commission into Banking...
Ethical consumerism recognises that every purchase decision comes with a moral choice. Retail brands have to continually improve their sustainability and ethical practices because, in many ways, shopping is the purest expression of morality and, some believe, is more important than voting. Think I’m kidding?...
In our highly connected economy, where trust and relationships are central, convergence has become a driving force shaping our lives. Convergence is the coming together of multiple separate entities, technologies, functions, experiences or groups. In the tech world, convergence often relates to the fusion of...
They say mistakes are the best way to learn. I’m not so sure about that, but mistakes definitely make for memorable lessons. Back in the late nineties, I began my first job in media buying. Essentially, learning how to spend a lot of money –...
Everyone in business knows the importance of a clearly defined strategy, even though it is often eaten for breakfast by culture, according to Peter Drucker. It sometimes seems like culture and strategy are polar. That the two can never coexist. That they are combative. Divergent....
John Lewis & Partners in the UK has declared 2018 to be the “year of shopping on the move”, citing in their Annual Report how smartphones now account for 42% of visits (up 17 percentage points year on year). Downloads of the John Lewis app...
The lead up to last Tuesday’s advertising projection on the Sydney Opera House caused phenomenal public backlash and made headlines globally. The projection was advertising The Everest, a horse racing event. In the lead up to the advertising stunt, there were plenty of opinions ranging...
There can be no doubt that programmatic media buying has the potential to change the way brands connect with customers. The promise of more relevant, timely and persuasive communication is intoxicating for a marketer. Coupled with a more efficient media buy and greater transparency, programmatic...
We’ve been fortunate to work with some of the most dynamic people and businesses in the world. We’ve unlocked over $4 billion in owned media value for retailers such as Coles, Telstra, Myer, KFC and Stockland. And they have all told us the same thing… Owned...