Welcome to this week's Mumbrellacast, where Abe Udy, Hal Crawford, and Nathan Jolly -- who some are calling the best power trio since Nirvana -- discuss the Federal Budget's impact on the media world, the new SBS managing director, and the job losses and bidding wars at Ooh Media.

We open with the Federal Budget, easily the best 990-page document to be released so far this month. AAP is being given a cool $15m to keep the newswire ticking along, while the ABC and SBS both got their budgets increased. But it's the capital gains tax changes that have start-ups in the media and marketing space worried. Is it just post-budget panic, or will the new rules make it less attractive to start -- or continue -- a small business in Australia?

Also this week, Jane Palfreyman has been named the managing director of the SBS, a job she's been doing for around nine months already, taking over from James Taylor, who is now at Ooh Media (more on him, shortly). As we discuss, the SBS has a reputation for promoting from within their ranks -- and for largely avoiding the "our tax money pays for this garbage" garbage that the ABC seems to cop every time they report something slightly impartial or show a boring re-run of The Bill. Is it time to apply more scrutiny to the SBS?

As we were going into record this podcast, Ooh Media was just wrapping its annual general meeting, during which CEO James Taylor announced 82 job cuts -- around 9% of staff -- and $12m in annual savings. The shareholders seemed quite impressed with the way the company is being ran -- possibly because two recent takeover bids have seen share prices soar in the past few weeks. Taylor and co. also seem largely unconcerned about Nine's recent acquisition of outdoor media rival QMS, which seems to have appeased the shareholders somewhat.

And finally, Eleanor spoke to Gavin McLeod, chief creative officer at Emotive, about the new campaign they created for Four Seasons Condoms entirely with AI. It's worth watching the ad before you start typing "AI slop" into the comments box below...

Get the latest episode every Thursday.

Podcast edit by Abe’s Audio.

"Once a marketer, always a marketer," declares Thomas Barta. "Marketing is about creating change and desire, and I'm still in it."

Later this month, Barta is flying to Sydney from Cologne to present a keynote at Mumbrella 360 around the "catalyst" theme of the conference. He aims to provide a framework to close the gap between knowing what needs to change, and actually making change.

His overriding premise is that “companies don’t create the future — people do”, and that individuals inside organisations are the ones who propel change.

"If you wanna be a catalyst ... it's not about some skills you were born with and then you suddenly are that.

"It's that you need to very simply learn how to do two things very well. The first thing is ignite ideas that lead to growth ... second, you also need to learn to rally an organisation.

"We have a lot of people who have lots of good ideas that go nowhere. We have a lot of people who execute like hell and maybe are hitting a wall because they're in the wrong direction, and they have lots of people who do none of the above because they just tick along.

"But then there are these few people who lead the company and that is the role you can take, even if you are 21-years-old, and you are starting out in this profession.

"That's what we need to learn: How do you ignite and how do you rally? And if you take these two themes and you work on them a little ... your career will clearly take a positive turn."

Listen to the entire podcast to learn why Barta thinks the terms 'performance marketing' and 'brand marketing' are "complete bullshit"; how marketers can treat the infux of AI in marketing as akin to choosing the red pill or the blue pill; and why Donald Trump is the best marketer he's ever seen.

Mumbrella360 runs from May 26-28 at Carriageworks in Sydney. Get tickets here.

Podcast edit by Abe’s Audio.

Welcome to this week's Mumbrellacast, where Tim Burrowes joins us live from the Qantas lounge but swears he isn't compromised.

The reason we mention this is because this week, it was revealed that ABC managing director Hugh Marks has accepted a membership to the Qantas Chairman's Lounge, one of the most exclusive clubs in the country -- and one where memberships are dealt out -- and rescinded -- by one of the biggest corporations in the country, one which has had a horror PR run since the pandemic.

We discuss why this is potentially a huge problem when it comes to the perception of the national broadcaster as an independently minded news outlet, and why other media outlets aren't slamming Marks for this decision, when lesser ABC scandals seem to be beaten up.

Dentsu Australia has ditched its Carat and iProspect brands and reduced its Australian operation to one brand. Why did this happen, and what does it mean in a wider sense? These aren't just rhetorical questions: we attempt to provide answers.

Now onto radio (or the 'wireless' for our older listeners; don't the kids dress weird these days?). This week, Heith Mackay-Cruise stepped down as chair of Southern Cross Media. He will be replaced by Teresa Dyson, a long-time Seven West Media board member, and a portent of the shifting power dynamics in this newly merged media company. A week or two ago, Seven’s former chief operating officer Rohan Lund was named CEO and managing director, and it seems that SCA's John Kelly -- who seemed to be the frontrunner for the top job -- will remain as audio boss.

Stay tuned to this end of the dial, as we turn to Kyle Sandilands' defence against ARN defence against Kyle's defence against his sacking -- we've gotten hold of Kyle's Federal Court filings this week, and it might be the only legal document in the history of the courts to feature the word "arse-licker".

Kyle is somewhat throwing Jackie under the bright-pink Kiis bus, claiming she was just as offensive on-air as he was, and contributed to the tone of the show -- and that ARN's producers not only encouraged this, but actively monetised it.

Finally, Trinity P3’s latest State of the Pitch report reveals that “abusive” pitching practices are becoming normalised across Australia’s advertising industry – and, according to Trinity P3’s CEO Darren Woolley, agencies share some of the blame. Over to you, Darren....

Get the latest episode every Thursday.

Podcast edit by Abe’s Audio.

On May 1, Australia's biggest talk-radio network Nine Radio shut down and in its place sprung up Tapt Media, as hoteliers the Laundy family officially took over Sydney's 2GB, Melbourne's 3AW, Brisbane's 4BC, and Perth's 6PR.

Former Nine Radio -- and now Tapt Media -- CEO Tom Malone and chief commercial officer Brian Gallagher both speak with Tim Burrowes in the latest episode of Mumbrella’s Unmaker Series podcast, about what the new ownership means for the future of its talkback radio empire. 

"This is a hundred-year-old startup", Malone notes, "and there's a huge opportunity ahead of us."

Coming from Nine, Malone says that the network "understood that the best way to run this business would be as a standalone entity", and it's clear both he and Gallagher agree with this sentiment.

"Having your own bespoke sales team commercialising with a singular focus on audio — linear, streaming, podcasting — is gonna drive a better result for the business," Malone notes.

He lists off short and long form video and audio, on and off-platform plays, third-party reseller agreements, and even a subscription offering as possibilities that are in the pipeline.

 "There's lots of different avenues that we can explore. That's really exciting for us as a business, harnessing the power of our content, but also the power of our connection between our broadcasters and our listeners."

There's also a neater demographic fit between the Laundy's hotel empire and the stations' audience.

"We're not playing top 40," Gallagher notes. "We're getting to core issues and we're connecting community. We're connecting them beautifully with clients as well. So it's a real opportunity.

"Look, in all fairness to the power of Nine, which is the preeminent Australian media company, the ability for this business to actually maximise its revenue opportunities in that umbrella were very limited ... That's a business that trades very effectively in a 25-54 marketplace ...  We deal with slightly different demos that don't make the CPM (cost per mille) cut in the analysis from time to time.

"So it's a really hard thing to  be competitive and achieve the right kind of market share."

Podcast edit by Abe’s Audio.

Welcome to an early edition of the Mumbrellacast, hot off the audio presses, where we dissect the recent developments in the media and marketing space -- as we do.

Tim Burrowes, Hal Crawford, and Ben Willee from Spinach Advertising react to this morning's news that Pacific Equity Partners has made an offer to buy outdoor advertising company Ooh Media --  an offer worth around $750m according to the AFR.

The government released its draft version of the News Bargaining Incentive yesterday, which it is hoping will sail through parliament this winter. According to Anthony Albanese, the proposed legislation will encourage “deal making between the platforms and news organisations”. But who exactly is being incentivised to do what? We know some of the smaller publishers aren't happy.

In light of Henry Innis' piece on Mumbrella this week about how Australia’s coming housing crisis will impact marketers, there's also a rather downbeat conversation about the economic outlook, if bad news is your thing.

Happy listening!

Get the latest episode every Thursday.

Podcast edit by Abe’s Audio.

Two decades ago, James Donald was working on an oil rig in Norway. This month, Ideally -- the market research platform he co-founded -- raised over $13m in an investment round that will help the NZ-based startup push into the US, and launch a new product Ideally Canvas.

Donald speaks with Tim Burrowes in the latest episode of Mumbrella’s Unmaker Series podcast, about his journey from oil to artificial intelligence and consumer research, and how he helped build a company worth north of $90m in a few years.

He also discusses his company's new product, Ideally Canvas, which gives brands a real-time, continuously updated consumer profile rather than a static snapshot; the limitations of synthetic data; and how Ideally is able to offer a nimble consumer insights service that competitors will routinely charge ten times more for.

This week on the Mumbrellacast, we parse the second book of the radio ratings, look at M+C Saatchi Australia's fall from grace, and speak to Spotify's global head of thought leadership, Jenny Haggard.

First off, we look at the first radio ratings survey since every single network decided to lay waste to their Sydney breakfast radio plans. Kyle and Jackie O are gone, Jonesy and Amanda are gone, Fitzy, Wippa, and Kate are gone, even 2Day's "the hits before they hit" format has gone out the window. We take a look at a survey where everything changed -- but mostly stayed the same.

Next, we look at M+C Saatchi's dive. The global agency delivered its worst ever yearly results this week, and the Australian operation has copped the blame for the fall. It was so bad that the company presented its full-year results, minus Australia. Gulp! What's the story?

And finally, we convinced Jenny Haggard, Spotify's global head of thought leadership, to take a three-month tall-ship from her Los Angeles office to our converted 1800s wool shed office in Sydney just to appear on the podcast, which is the type of commitment to cause we should all expect from our Swedish tech giants.

Jenny has been with Spotify for 12 years, which is much longer than Taylor Swift and Neil Young have been. She chats about how the company is letting users become more active in how their own algorithmic recommendations work, the delicate balance between being a company that is chasing both subscriptions and advertisers –- and the struggles they’ve had educating the market on its ad offering -- what sets Spotify apart from social media platforms, despite being on the same pocket-computer, and how Australia's under-16s social media ban may impact them in the future -- and what they'll do if it does.

Happy listening!

Get the latest episode every Thursday.

Podcast edit by Abe’s Audio.

Welcome to a special relationship issue of the Mumbrellacast, where we look at the delicate dance between creative agencies and clients, and the harried, hurried waltz between media agencies and media salespeople.

BMF and Westpac announced their divorce this week after just one year. Both are claiming they initiated the breakup, due in no small part to Mumbrella's own investigations into the matter. BMF fired the first shot, as far as we can tell, but isn't it rather unusual for an agency to fire a client? We discuss.

A nicely timed study from marketing consultancy We Grow came out this week, examining the fragile relationships between those who buy the ads and those who sell the ads.

Small talk is out of fashion these days, it seems, with each meeting needing to have a clear, concise point -- and hopefully nouns used as verbs and vice versa. There is increasingly no tolerance for salespeople reaching out just to reach out, meetings with no clear agenda, and God help the media seller who tries to book a boozy lunch without any concrete pitch. It's a pressure cooker situation, the agencies say, and salespeople who fail to understand this are doomed to annoy agencies into eternity. But aren't relationships built mostly on pointless chit-chat? There's a massive disconnect here, and we delve into it.

Within 24 hours this week, Snap, BBC, and Disney announced around 4,000 job losses between them, with AI being blamed for a lot of the redundancies. But is that just an easy excuse to get rid of staff, and save some money during a period of declining traditional media, soft advertising spend, and mass uncertainty around what technology will bring next?

And we wrap up this week's podcast by asking the question: Why in the world is News Corp launching an 87-year-old fashion title into the Australian marketplace? The mobile-first, social-first play seems at odds with a classic glossy magazine brand, but there may be method in the madness -- especially given the Myer partnership and the e-commerce side of things.

And just for the hell of it, we close with an impromptu magazine-based pop quiz.

Happy listening!

Get the latest episode every Thursday.

Podcast edit by Abe’s Audio.

Welcome to the Mumbrellacast, where chances are you're about to win.

We open this week's podcast by parsing the new gambling advertising restrictions announced last week by Anthony Albanese, more than one-thousand Earth days since a parliamentary inquiry recommended a total ban. While this isn't a total ban, in-stadium advertising at sporting events is no longer allowed (including on teams jerseys), TV stations are limited to three ads an hour, celebrities can no longer promote betting companies, and kids will be spared the footy odds blasting through SEN 1116 during school pick-up times.

But do the new restrictions go far enough? Is Albanese's focus on protecting children from the evils of hearing about a same-game multi missing the point, when we live in a country with the most gambling losses (and wins!) per capita in the world?

And what does this mean for the NRL's pending broadcasting deal, which footy boss Peter V'landys still believes will beat the AFL's current $4.5b seven-year deal? For that last question, we pass the mic to gambling and sports media rights expert Lachlan Gepp, who channelled Daryl Kerrigan in saying, "tell him he's dreaming".

This week, Daily Mail Australia hired a new head of digital subscriptions, who has the modest task of driving the transformation of the company's revenue stream.

We discuss how the Mail's increased focus on chasing subscription dollars instead of web traffic marks a big shift in the global media landscape, and ask whether they will be successful in retraining and retaining legions of readers drawn to its entertainment-heavy content.

Also, Ooh Media had an eventful week, with the departure of its chair Tony Faure -- as well as most of the staff within its retail media arm Reo, which will be shutting down by the end of June. While retail media is booming at the moment, there appears to be no room at the inn for third-party companies trying to team up with brick-and-mortar businesses to help them sell retail media assets, advertising, or both.

And, just for fun, we press rewind on a snippet from an February interview with Ooh CEO James Taylor, where he talks about the future of Reo.

Happy listening!

Get the latest episode every Thursday.

Podcast edit by Abe’s Audio.

Welcome to a special Easter edition of the Mumbrellacast, where you don't have to search high and low to find the treats.

We start with the news that Telstra's chief marketing officer Brent Smart has left the company, after launching one of the most memorable campaigns seen on Australian television in years. We couldn't confirm news that he left the offices leaning back and whistling a Bee Gees tune, but we do look at what's next for the country's biggest telco.

And while we're on the subject of telcos, Vodafone has managed to upset a lot of Australians with its newest campaign by suggesting that regional and rural areas are devoid of life, culture, and phone service. Plenty of emus though, apparently. American Ali Wong stars in the commercial, and her claim that "nothing's out here" has made national news. Is the ad elitist, funny, or a bit of both? (Or neither?)

This week, Mumbrella broke the news that Virgin Australia is quietly building its own retail media network, hiring the former McKinsey and VML digital leader Scott Moore to drive its development. Retail media is becoming a major money spinner for brick-and-mortar stores, neatly wrapping together their physical and digital locations to sell you cat food and Zooper Doopers, but how exactly will it work for an airline? And will Qantas board the retail media plane next?

The eSafety Commissioner’s first report on the under-16s social media ban is rather damning. It has found that, close to four months since the implementation of the ban, Tiktok, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Youtube still have “major gaps” in their compliance, and that more than two-thirds of children under 16 who already had a Facebook account in December when they bans came into play, still do, despite two-thirds of kids also believing Facebook is "totally lame, Mum, gross!" (okay, that final stat isn't from eSafety). We unpack the report.

Finally, Jackie Henderson has filed suit against her former employee ARN, claiming that the termination of her contract “constituted adverse action".

Henderson is arguing that her initial complaint letter, where she said she can no longer work with Kyle Sandilands was simply her exercising her workplace rights, and that the contract was terminated because of this, in contravention of the Fair Work Act.

Happy listening!