Top marketing and media executives have called on Australia’s advertisers and media agencies to make a fundamental commitment to the nation’s news media brands.
Their view, shared in part three of the ThinkNewsBrands and B&T video series, is that investing in Australian news publishing is an investment in the success of Australian brands and campaigns, Australia’s businesses and economy, and Australian society more broadly.
If you missed it, check out part one here or part two here.
Mark Coad, CEO at IPG Mediabrands Australia, and Kim McConnie, group executive marketing at Tourism and Events Queensland, highlighted the benefits to Australian advertisers and Australian-run campaigns that local news publishers provide.
“We do have conversations around the importance of local media companies and a big part of that is the opportunities they provide all these advertisers in Australia who are doing business in Australia,” Coad said.
McConnie concurred, adding that “it’s really hard to leverage other mediums” to really be able to tell the richness of the characters, the people, what they do and who they are in a way which is relevant in that moment at that time.
“That is one of the strengths of news”, she said.
Jason Tonelli, CEO at Zenith Media Australia, pointed to Australian news publishers creating content that is uniquely Australian, and the relevance benefits that provides advertisers who place their brands in it.
“You look at the journalists, they’re local and they’ve got a local voice, because they’ve got that heartbeat of what’s happening in their local area… Australian publications, have been very good at talking about Australia to Australians,” Tonelli said.
For Michelle Klein, chief customer and marketing officer at IAG, it’s about backing Australian businesses and ensuring that local industries flourish.
“(We have) a responsibility to keep our entities, our local businesses, our small businesses, our Australian icons, all Australian owned, the things that we create here, flourishing,” she explained
“Investment in the country and reinvestment in the country is so critical to economic growth and opportunity.”
Claire Butterworth, national head of investment at GroupM and Angela Smith, co-founder and CEO at Affinity, argued that investing in news environments is vital for supporting the important role newsrooms play in Australian society.
“It is all about championing responsible journalism more broadly across Australia,” Butterworth said.
“Australia is in a really luxurious position where we do have a really robust, broader journalism community.”
Smith also stressed how important it is for brands to show up in a news environment.
“In order to achieve that integrity, we also need to invest in it and brands and businesses have a great role in terms of perpetuating what we have,” Smith said.
Vanessa Lyons, CEO of ThinkNewsBrands, said it was great to see the leaders taking their responsibility as media landscape custodians so seriously.
“A strong Australian news publishing industry supports flourishing local industries and a resilient future Australia,” she said.
“It’s encouraging to see these leaders understand this and recognise the power they have to create a positive future for us all.”
See for yourself by watching the full video above.
If you missed part one, check it out here and see part two here.
