The PHD team recently headed to sunny North Queensland to attend Cairns Crocodiles, which they say was “a vibrant event” that brought together the brightest minds in media, creativity, marketing, and advertising.
Set against the tropical backdrop of Cairns, the event offered the team a valuable opportunity to network, exchange ideas and hear from some of the most inspiring voices shaping the industry today.
Below is a summary of the highlights from each of the PHD delegates.
Simon Lawson, Managing Director, Melbourne
This year was my third and favourite Cairns. While I was once a doubter, I’ve come to believe Cairns Crocodiles is a valuable opportunity for the industry to come together, catch up with one another, and talk about important industry issues.
Everyone will tell you Ariarne Titmus was a highlight, and she was. Whenever I hear from champions like her I feel like they are a different species to me! She was very inspiring and a big reminder that great success only comes from discipline and hard work.
I also really enjoyed David Ohana from the UN who told us inspiring stories of how he has used creativity to bring attention to important humanitarian issues. It reminded me of the power that marketers and agencies have to influence positive change in the world.
If I had a criticism, it’s that too many important industry issues were not in the breakout Reef, Rainforest and Hemingway’s Brewery tracks, rather than on the main Keynote stage. I wanted to hear more industry leaders talking about:
- What happens to Australian media companies if advertisers don’t support them with media spend?
- What responsibilities do Australian marketers and media agencies have to ensure their support of media platforms is not doing damage in the community?
- How will marketing and communications structures evolve in response to ongoing global change, and what role will AI play in accelerating this shift?
Other highlights for me were the quality conversations I had with clients, partners and peers, especially the ones I had on the early morning networking walks along the foreshore. I’m looking forward to next year already!
Anna Boldyreva, Business Director
“There’s no silver bullet.” I heard that line a few times in Cairns, and it stuck. As humans and marketers, we naturally search for the ‘right’ answer – the playbook that’ll solve it all. But the truth is, marketing is messy, nuanced, and hugely contextual. It depends on the business model, where that business is in its journey, and which KPIs matter most – not just the ones that are easiest to measure.
We’re armed with decades of marketing science, and yet the reminder in Cairns was clear: staying top-of-mind is still important, and emotional storytelling shouldn’t be left behind in the race for performance metrics. The best sessions backed this up with standout, inspiring case studies.
But let’s be honest – taking that thinking back to the office and getting CFO buy-in? That’s the hard bit. As Duncan McGrath from Google put it: we all should aspire to be commercial leaders who happen to be in marketing. I reckon that’s the 1-2% we’ve got to crack.
Elly Catchlove, Business Director
The Cairns Crocodiles conference sparked rich debate around culture, purpose, and the role brands play in shaping both.
Sessions from TikTok and Uber Advertising challenged us to rethink how brands show up in a content-saturated world, where trend cycles accelerate, every interaction considered a ‘moment’ and increased chance of culture looping back on itself. Can brands ever truly be part of culture, or should they focus on building trust by showing up meaningfully? Nicole Bardsley, Head of Marketing at Uber and Uber Eats offered a useful “bonfire and fireworks” metaphor for attention around cultural moments.
Meanwhile, powerful stories from David Ohana (UN) and Chris Nay (Wheelchair Rugby Australia) grounded the conversation in purpose – reminding us that doing good is still a cultural moment worth showing up for.
Foxtel has pledged support for Wheelchair Rugby Australia by broadcasting the sport and matching media value for any new sponsorships, already helping secure partners like Officeworks and Lite n’ Easy. Cairns reminded me that while culture may be fragmented, the will to drive change—collectively—isn’t.
Though we can definitely all do more, perhaps our actions need to be broadcast a little louder to those around us, only today having conversation on using Shift 20 Initiative in new creative assets and seeing Ozharvest OOH advertising that is generously donated by JCDecaux.
Emma Wood, Sydney Head of Media Partnerships
My highlight was from Content to Commerce: Building a Multi-Platform Brand.
Lucy and Nikki are Australian powerhouses. Happy Hour with Lucy & Nikki is a popular podcast hosted by Lucy Jackson and Nikki Westcott, who are also the co-creators of the fashion label Jagger & Stone and wine brand Jackson West. The podcast delves into various aspects of their lives, including their business ventures, relationships, and wild stories. It’s known for its candid conversations and relatable content for a 20-something audience.
Both of the podcast hosts started their careers off the back of Business degrees and have healthy Instagram followings in their own right. They leveraged their business smarts years ago, working as casual ‘wing’ girls for Red Bull. The secrets to their success are based on the following:
Be authentic to who you are
Choose to hone in on something that you love and stick to that. That way, the first step won’t be hard, and you will naturally show up to your audience in a genuine way
Learn from mistakes, acknowledge that they are part of the process
Commit to making the leap if you have the passion
Network! Any opportunity you have to meet others in the industry and learn from them is worth the commitment
Kari Mather, Media Implementation Group Director
Sometimes in media, we say “we’re not saving lives” which David Ohana, Global Chief Communications and Marketing Officer at the United Nations Foundation touched on in his keynote. He reflected on his experience helping disadvantaged communities overseas.
He had landed an offer at Saatchi & Saatchi, so came back to Australia and started the job, only to find himself in a boardroom debating the logo placement in a video ad for one of his new clients.
There were several senior, intelligent people in a room discussing if a logo should be a few seconds earlier or later in the video. While he wasn’t diminishing the importance of our jobs, he thought about what a positive impact these powerful, clever people could be making across the world. This moment for him sparked a career shift toward using advertising for good.
This for me, was certainly a powerful message and highlight of the day.
Zach Goodman, Melbourne Head of Media Implementation
For me the most thought provoking and inspiring session was, ‘Breaking Boundaries and Creative Horizons’ with Olympic Gold Medallist Ariarne Titmus.
I have no idea how she is a four-time Olympic gold medallist at 24 but hearing her story and dedication which was portrayed through her charisma, storytelling, humour, and authenticity was something we can all use to motivate ourselves in our day-to-day life, but also our work environment as well.
Her daily routine of 4:30am wake up,12x8km swim and 2x1h gym sessions showed how passionate she was to achieve her dream. For me it shows that in any form of life you can be good at what you do naturally, even very good, but if you want to be amongst the elite (it’s okay if you want to remain just good) it comes from self-drive and a spark that cannot be taught.
Josh Hover, Group Digital Director
Along with some other PHDers, my highlight was on day two: Big, bold, crazy ideas – Why the world needs them (and you) now more than ever’ by David Ohana, Chief Communications and Marketing Officer at United Nations Foundation.
There wasn’t a dry eye in the auditorium after Ohana delivered his inspirational presentation on how the marketing industry needs to just make one small adjustment to make a big change.
Ohana’s message was simple for the creative people in the room, to encourage brands to make meaningful change through communication strategies, no matter if you work for an automotive advertiser or a fashion label.
The talk came to a spectacular ending when Ohana brought his three children on stage to wrap up the day.
All in all, Cairns Crocodiles was an extremely inspiring three day event packed with juicy insights, informative tips and thought provoking talks from game changers across the globe. The countdown till next year is on!
