If you want to know what peak Cairns Crocs looks like, it’s being driven into the middle of a sugar cane field for the Pinterest Extra Celestial Welcome Party, feeling less like a media conference and more like an exclusive out-of-this-world rave, writes the Boomtown Insiders.
Between the stratospheric drone show and one of the Insiders nailing a flawless set of splits mid-bite into a tomahawk steak, the night hit legendary status. We left with full hearts, full stomachs and fully obsessed with the Cairns Crocodiles’ magic.
The morning after was a bit more subdued, swapping sugar cane fields for heavy doses of caffeine. We dove straight in with Jon Evans, creator of the Uncensored CMO podcast, who tackled the big question: where are brands missing the mark? His take is that we can’t measure everything, and we definitely shouldn’t try. Evans also shared the top three trends keeping global marketers awake, the pressure to do more with less, the massive demand for strategy and the need to master business politics to win.
Paula Bloodworth from Alien Baby took the stage next to drop some serious truth bombs with a message that was loud and clear. Don’t steal from culture, add to it. As the mastermind behind iconic campaigns with Idris Elba (please bring him with you next time, Paula!), she challenged us to be impatient because culture moves too fast for long-term plans and to embrace naivety since being safe and boring is a waste of money. If an idea feels a little out there, you’re probably on the right track!
Next up Xanthe Wells, VP of global creative at Pinterest, pioneering what she calls the great unplugging movement. In the ultimate “it’s not you, it’s them” move, Pinterest is designing the exit of the doomscroll.
Pinterest want the best thing you find online to be the exact reason you put your phone down. Instead of trying to keep us scrolling forever, it is using AI to help us find the aesthetic faster so we can actually go live it. So go ahead, pin that cottage core girls’ night, manifest that European summer holiday and maybe even buy that Y2K flip phone. I know we will.
By the afternoon, the room was buzzing for a masterclass in legacy with Brent Hill, the CMO for Brisbane 2032. Brent dropped the hilarious truth that his inbox is basically a graveyard of mascot requests with everyone gunning for either a Bin Chicken or Bluey to lead the 2032 charge. He even teased the potential for future partnerships, name-dropping icons like Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi as the type of global talent that could (fingers crossed) become the faces of 2032.
Between the mascot memes and the unplugged inspiration, Day 2 proved that whether you’re planning a global Olympics or your next girls’ night, the best strategy is always about creating a legacy that makes life feel a little bigger.
Co-authored by Matthew Tan, investment manager at Starcom, Courtney Birch, media manager Enigma Communications and Zoe Gothard, sales executive at Nine.
