Boomtown will bring together two career marketers for its 2026 winter masterclass, focused on the power of regional advertising.
It will feature BYD head of media, Emilyn Jones and SCA head of strategic insights and effectiveness Jasmine Beech, will share their experience on regional advertising and why it should be top-of-mind for brands and agencies.
The masterclass, moderated by The Ideas Business founder Wade Kingsley, will also discuss the inaugural Boomtown Spend Snapshot, a joint report from Boomtown and CommBank iQ. The report revealed that regional Australians contribute $250 billion annually to the national economy and outspend metro consumers across several key categories.
Jones has 16 years’ experience across client-side marketing and leading media publishers in Sydney and London. She has held insight-driven partnership strategy roles at publishers including the Daily Mail, POPSugar and Nine. She now leads the planning and delivery of paid media strategy at electric vehicle and hybrid car manufacturer, BYD Australia.
Regional media has been a critical part of BYD Australia’s campaign activity. In 2024, BYD chose Broken Hill for the launch of its Shark 6 vehicle and has continued to target regional Australia for growth.
BYD’s regional focus is supported by insights from the recent Boomtown Spend Snapshot. It showed regional Australians dominate auto and fuel spending, accounting for more than 40 per cent of national spend.
Jones said: “As a growing car brand, BYD’s strategy is to reach all car-driving Australians, a strategy backed by the 100 (and counting!) dealerships we have opened across the country.
“Regional audiences inevitably make up a large portion of this market, and it would be short-sighted not to ensure they were a key target within our media plans, particularly when considering their incomes and spending habits.”
Beech brings 15 years of strategic insights and sales expertise to the masterclass, having worked in various client insight and research positions at SCA across her career. Joining SCA in 2011, Beech has worked in a number of senior research and insights roles, including national sales research manager and client insights and effectiveness director.
Beech said: “The Boomtown Spend Snapshot gave us something genuinely powerful: real transaction data from more than 17 million Australians that shows us the power of brands showing up in the regions.
“Regional consumers are contributing $250 billion to the national economy and outspending metro consumers across category after category. The masterclass is an opportunity to unpack what that means for planning, and hear directly from a brand like BYD that is already putting it into practice in regional markets.”
Boomtown marketing lead Francesca Ryan said: “Our winter masterclass brings together two media professionals who are extremely knowledgeable on the value of regional advertising. Jas has spent her career in research and insights roles, most recently working on projects dedicated to uncovering why regional Australia is so powerful for advertisers, while Emilyn’s work with BYD shows how brands can leverage regional markets to meet customers where they are. Their real-world expertise, practical strategies and firsthand insights will be invaluable to marketers and brands looking to succeed in Boomtown.”
