30 April 2025

Metafest has just wrapped up for 2025, and to mark the occasion, Hal and Tim sat down with Meta's ANZ managing director Will Easton.

From the News Media Bargaining Code to Meta's tax payments and the highly publicised social media ban for people under the age of 16, Easton faced questions on some controversial issues in this special episode of the Mumbrellacast.

Join Hal Crawford and Tim Burrowes for a look at everything under Australia’s media and marketing umbrella.

23 April 2025

The US Department of Justice recently stood in court and said it wants Google to sell Chrome — and since the tech giant has already been found to possess an illegal search monopoly, there is actually a chance it will have to give up the world’s most popular web browser.

Hal spoke with In Marketing We Trust’s CEO Paul Hewett to unpack the impact the sale would have on marketers, and discovered that click-through is down on search ads thanks to AI overviews.

Meanwhile, after her departure from Nine earlier this year, veteran journalist and former 60 Minutes host Liz Hayes has shifted to arch rival Seven’s Spotlight.

Hayes is stepping into an institution plagued with legal issues and the fallout of Bruce Lehrmann’s infamous defamation case, and a Four Corners workplace culture exposé. But Spotlight has also done quite well in ratings this year. Is Hayes joining a winning team?

Join Hal Crawford, Abe Udy and Nathan Jolly for a look at everything under Australia’s media and marketing umbrella.

16 April 2025

According to the ACCC, Australians are increasingly falling victim to fake business scams orchestrated through Facebook. The new crop of scammers pretend to be old Australian businesses closing down, and they seem to be everywhere. What does the platform have to say about it?

Meanwhile, Tim sat down with agencyland’s favourite comedian — and Mumbrella360 2025 keynote speaker — Rob Mayhew. With the prolific content creator in the hotseat, there was much to discuss.

Over the weekend, former Schwartz Media CEO Ben Shepherd published a LinkedIn post championing a walled garden premium ad exchange in Australia. Shepherd said the current VOZ streaming ad product should be made exclusive — is he right?

Also, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he’s a big fan of actual printed newspapers and magazines … is there more at play here?

Join Hal Crawford and Tim Burrowes for a look at everything under Australia’s media and marketing umbrella.

9 April 2025

Tuesday’s Future of TV Advertising conference in Sydney saw a bit of friction on stage when the topic shifted to principal media trading (PMT). The panel of industry experts were divided: evil, 80% evil, or non-existent in Australia?

Meanwhile, Nine’s ex-boss Mike Sneesby is heading halfway across the world to become CEO at the Middle East Broadcasting Center. It’s the region’s biggest broadcaster and Sneesby’s remit will be far larger than what he dealt with at Nine. Is he ready for it?

To cap things off, the trade press was just taken to task by the CEO of audience measurement company, Oztam. What did we do wrong?

Join Hal Crawford and Tim Burrowes for a look at everything under Australia’s media and marketing umbrella.

2 April 2025

Recently, news broke that agency group Growthops has entered administration with liquidators flooding in to officiate the group's companies' end — should we have seen this coming?

An audit on government spending has shown that  X (formerly known as Twitter) advertising was banned in 2022. We ask TrinityP3's Darren Woolley for his take on X advertising. Meanwhile, customer satisfaction for UM, the government's media agency, has fallen. Should the agency be worried?

Fresh data From TrinityP3 has revealed that adland's agencies are not happy about the state of pitching. With Darren in the room, we get to the heart of the research and pitching's surprisingly controversial nature.

Join Hal Crawford and Tim Burrowes for a look at everything under Australia’s media and marketing umbrella.

26 March 2025

This week:

Two big streaming television plays, and the Australian federal budget are dominating media and marketing industry chatter at the moment.

This week, American sports channel ESPN is launching in Australia on Disney+, while on Monday, Warner Bros Discovery is rolling out its streaming service, Max. What does this mean for sporting rights, and the advertising world? Will we see Sportsbets ads at the house of the mouse?

Meanwhile, the 2025 federal budget had something for everyone — including HECS cuts, a freeze on the beer excise, and a ban on non-compete clauses for people earning less than $175K. How will the industry fare without non-compete clauses, and are they currently being misused?

To top it off, Anna Saulwick, the founder of local news startup Gazette, sat down with Hal to discuss the political accusations levelled at the news provider.

Join Hal Crawford and Nathan Jolly for a look at everything under Australia’s media and marketing umbrella.

19 March 2025

This week:

Data is the name of today's game as we took our show to our Retail Marketing Summit at the Crown, Sydney.

Michele Levine — Roy Morgan's chief executive officer — delved deeper into the data that shows the forces impacting the retail sector. From the increasing popularity of Shein and Temu to an embattled Australia, what's going on?

Meanwhile, the newly released results of the Edelman Trust Barometer and Medianet's journalism survey have both uncovered that the public doesn't trust the media — not at all. We discuss why this could be the case.

Join Hal Crawford and Tim Burrowes for a look at everything under Australia’s media and marketing umbrella.

12 March 2025

This week:

Ex-parliamentary member and businessman Clive Palmer's political ads mirror Donald Trump's anti-woke views - should the media stop running them?

Meanwhile, social network app Weare8 is shutting down its Australian offices, with nine people being let go. But according to its founder, Zoe Kalar, the company is not slowing down and is allocating resources to its UK and US operations.

To top it off, Tim sat down with News Corp Australia boss Michael Miller to discuss Tubi – a free streaming video service.

Join Hal Crawford and Tim Burrowes for a look at everything under Australia’s media and marketing umbrella.

5 March 2025

This week:

Fresh data on the gender pay gap in Australia—and how adland is contributing to it—is the hot topic in the industry this week.

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency released its annual gender pay gap data on Tuesday, including insights into the media and marketing sector. Why does the gender pay gap still persist in modern-day Australia? And, gender imbalance aside, we break down the best and worst payers in adland.

In other news, presenter and journalist Natarsha Belling has officially left Triple M less than six weeks into her role – we speculate on what prompted her decision to walk away from breakfast radio.

Join Hal Crawford and Tim Burrowes for a look at everything under Australia’s media and marketing umbrella.

26 February 2025

Half-year results, massive takeover bids, and the ABC's ongoing legal battle with Antoinette Lattouf have given the industry much to talk about in the last seven days.

This week:

The saga between Nine Entertainment Company, Costar and Domain; the financial half-year results from ARN, SCA, Ooh Media and Nine; Warner Bros Discovery's launch of its long-awaited Max streaming service in Australia; and Ita Buttrose's must-read legal letter on alleged misrepresentation by ex-ABC managing director David Anderson.

Join Hal Crawford, Tim Burrowes and Nathan Jolly for a look at everything under Australia’s media and marketing umbrella.