TV’s Four HorseMEN Attack In Internet Evangelists’ Apocalypse
The slumbering giant of television has awoken and promised to smite its enemies in spectacular fashion at this morning’s reThinkTV Marketing Forum.
In front of a packed house of more than 500 people at Sydney’s Doltone House, TV’s biggest bosses in Australia Paul Anderson, Ten, Hugh Marks, Nine, Peter Tonagh, Foxtel, and Tim Worner, Seven, took to the stage together to show a united front against their common enemy of Internet platforms (mainly Facebook and Google).
In a sometime’s hilarious format, the four men were interviewed by ThinkTV’s Dominic White as they put their differences aside for the sake of their shared purpose. Tim Worner’s unease, in particular, was viscerally evident as the men he spends nine-to-five beating up on made statements on all of their behalf.
“MCN is the best at addressability,” from Peter Tonagh’s lips seemed to cause Worner actual pain.
To that point, Nine’s Hugh Marks commenced proceedings by saying “we won’t stop the odd skirmish”, no doubt referring to this week’s legal stoush between his and Worner’s respective networks.
The four men came together behind the official unveiling of the first stage of Ebiquity’s research into the ROI of advertising on FMCG sales. Research, which Ebiquity’s CEO Richard Basil-Jones spent at least 10 minutes labouring over to stress its independence and veracity.
Commissioned by ThinkTV, the research is aimed at battling what ThinkTV’s UK counterpart ThinkBox calls “numberwang”, the numbers “Internet evangelists” pull out of thin air, according to ThinkBox’s Tess Alps.
The numbers of course show TV is way out in front in terms of ROI on incremental spend, although admitting it only made a three per cent difference compared to in-store promotions in the grocery, booze and pharmaceutical sector.
Against this research, and citing Google’s call to marketers to slice 25 per cent off TV budgets to divert through its channels, Tim Worner said, “This is our response and we’re going to attack”.
Paul Anderson and Peter Tonagh both made concessions that TV’s long-term dominance had led to complacency and the dropping of the ball. Meanwhile Worner went so far as to say, “We’ve not been at our best as an industry for the past few years in terms of the shows we’re producing, we’re a bit off.”
Then Hugh Marks had his turn at attacking Facebook saying, “If you are an advertiser you want transparency and accurate transparency. Our measurement is laser like… it’s not a moment in time, it’s averages; all marketers should demand that level of scrutiny from all providers.”
Peter Tonagh chimed in saying he found it “inconceivable that you can be out by 50 per cent… if we did that we’d be string up from a lamp post.”
Tim Worner then issued something of a warning to CMOs suggesting the average tenure of a CMO was even shorter than a CEO’s and he “felt sorry for them because they’re being bombarded with all these numbers. They need to worry about what gets the tills ringing. We’re happy to be measured by what gets the tills ringing.”
In case anyone had missed his point that relying on what appear to be increasingly unbelievable numbers emanating from the Internet evangelists, Worner underlined his point with this: “CMO’s heads are the first on the block when times get tough.”
Feeling they may have served a mortal blow to the West Coast American Internet Evangelists, which Hugh Marks admitted to once being one of, Peter Tonagh turned his attention to NetFlix saying it “was an overstated threat.”
He cited the statistic that six per cent of its subscribers watched 80 per cent of the content. “It’s more of a threat to the DVD market and not to live TV”.
And in good news for the local production industry, the four all agreed that US content deals “were a millstone around our necks in recent years” and that “American TV was worth less [note the space]” because now local content provided so many more opportunities for brands to get involved with and there was also licensing opportunities for distribution overseas as well as extensions into other mediums.
Finally, the elephant in the room as soon as all four men took to the stage was that they were all men. White middle-aged men. The Twittersphere lit up and Dominic White had to ask the question.
Amid the squirming, Peter Tonagh said he had made a commitment to never appear on a panel without diversity but in this case it was a TV CEO’s forum so what could he do? Hugh Marks said his management team was absolutely 50/50 men and women and he hoped to see more ethnic diversity soon.
None of the men volunteered to throw themselves on their swords to make way for a woman. One of them did point to ThinkTV’s CEO Kim Portrate as something of a concession.
At least it was an issue and at least it got discussed. More work to be done.
Latest News
The Mars Agency Announces Latest Findings Of Retail Media Report Card
The Mars Agency has developed a scorecard that assesses the capabilities of leading platforms across key criteria required to optimally plan, execute, and measure effective retail media programs. The scorecard aims To help brands efficiently evaluate their spending options across retail media networks in Australia (and New Zealand). With spending on retail media advertising in […]
‘It’s The Lesser Of Two Evils’ – NRL Eyes US Betting Market As Aussie Regulators Circle
US betting firms will be delighted by the circa 50,000 Americans who could soon watch the NRL on their favourite app.
A-League In Deep Discussions With New Partner To Keep Games On TV After Production Company Enters Administration
The A-League's insatiable appetite for scoring own goals continues.
TV Ratings (27/03/2024): Jungle Members At War Over Concealed Lipstick
A heated argument between two jungle members did the numbers for Ten last night, with I’m A Celeb obtaining a total national reach of 1,282,000. Fans were delighted as Candice Warner and influencer Skye Wheatley got into it over a stick of lipstick, leading Warner to dub the Instagram star “selfish.” Wheatley, best known for […]
Is The Australian Music Industry In Trouble? Inquiry Launched Following Splendour Cancellation
Earlier this week, an inquiry was launched into the challenges and opportunities currently facing the Australian live music industry in the wake of multiple festival cancellations. On 25 March 2024, the Minister for the Arts, the Hon. Tony Burke MP, asked the Committee on Communications and the Arts to inquire into and report on the […]
Liana Dubois, Leandro Perez, Aimee Buchanan & More Gather For Inaugural Compadres Leadership Event
Didn't get the invite? Perhaps you're not as important as you thought.
Cathay Captures The Unforgettable Thrill Of Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Rugby Sevens, Via Publicis
Nobody does rugby like Hong Kong, apparently. Certainly nobody does it as badly as Australia.
Cocogun Nabs Christine Watts, Kirsty Reynolds & Shev Tan Bolstering Management & Creative Teams
Cocogun bolsters its team with new hires. Committed to purchasing a bigger sofa, too.
The Media Store’s Jacquie Alley & Sam Cousins Take The Plunge With Pro-Bono Work For Cure Cancer
B&T chats with The Media Store bosses about their great pro-bono work and sponsored swim.
Hawke’s Brewing Co. Taps Rocket Comms For PR Agency Following Competitive Pitch
We're expecting Rocket Comms productivity to crash in spectacular fashion following this win.
Spotlight On Sponsors: Patties Serves Up A Taste Of Home For Olympians & South Sydney Rabbitohs Recommit To Gambling Reform
While the Rabbitohs commits to gambling reform, B&T reckons the team should commit to a decent auto sponsor.
Google: “Inevitable” That Bad Actors Will Abuse Ads Platform As Advertiser Account Suspensions Double
Google maintains it's simply impossible for it to entirely stop bad people placing & paying for ads using its service.
Quantcast Expands APAC Sales Team With Appointment Of News Corp Account Manager
No pressure at all when you are appointed as a client success manager.
Publicis Sapient Tests Microsoft-Powered Gen AI Search Tool With Homes & Villas By Marriott Bonvoy
Given Gen AI's record for mangling stuff, B&T cannot see the problem with letting it decide your next holiday digs.
Volkswagen & DDB Group’s “Roo Badge” To Reduce Kangaroo Related Road Collisions
Watch out for RooBadge as Cannes Lions' most debated campaign this year.
Twilio Launches Unified Profiles & Agent Copilot Features To Boost Productivity & Engagement
Agent Copilot sounds like James Bond's less interesting cousin.
Reebok & Honda Among New Clients For onetwo agency
OneTwo finally lives up to its name with this double billing.
Ogilvy Report: Throw Out The Social Strategy Rule Book, The Rules Of The Past No Longer Apply
B&T was puzzled that all 'influencers' aren't, effectively, 'virtual', but here we are.
WhiteGREY & AKQA Merge In Australia, Lee Simpson Departs
Fortunately, the combined agencies aren't opting for a trite portmanteau for the new name.
Splendour In The Grass 2024 Music Festival Cancelled!
Music fans all over the country reportedly relieved they can pack away their rain coats and gumboots for another year.
TV Ratings (26/03/2024): “Fairy Bread, F***ing Disgusting”: Gordon Ramsay Slams Aussie Food In Food Stars Launch
Ramsay not one for mincing his words, even when it comes to minced meat pies.
Paramount+ International Boss Doubles Down On Aussie Content, Says Ad-Tier will Grow Audiences And Revenue
Good news as Paramount will not be binning I’m A Celebrity for re-runs of Frasier.
Brent Smart: Telstra Pushing For 50-50 Brand-Performance Split But Warns Numbers ‘Won’t Look Great’ Initially
The old brand vs performance debate continues. But here, Brent is firmly sitting on the fence.
Crowded House, Tones And I & Dom Dolla Win Big At The Shure Rolling Stone Music Awards
B&T staffer reports back with humdinger of a hangover & feeling seriously uncool after mixing with music types.
Opinion: Dyslexia “A Hidden Gem” For Brands & Agencies
Dyslexics offer underappreciated benefits in the corporate field, according to this op-ed.
David Jones Taps Criteo To Power Online Retail Media Arm
Want to see ads for things you probably can't afford? David Jones has got you covered with new retail media play.
oOh!media Sets Up Team To Target Business Audiences Across Airports & Offices
oOh! wants brands to harass you every minute of your next business trip.
QMS Launches Australian First DOOH & TV Partnership With Samba TV
Samba TV, of course, is not a channel dedicated to dancing. Much to our dismany.
Slew Of New Hires At Amplify
Four new faces join the Amplify offices. Team say desk scarcity becoming "acute".
Adobe Announces Content Authenticity Initiative Expansions To Counter Deep Fakes
Try as they might to enlighten them, we suspect Trump supporters will continue to watch and believe Fox News.
The PR Group Appoints TechCrunch Senior Reporter Catherine Shu As Director Of Content & Media
Catherine Shu makes the bold leap from journalism to PR. Says inevitable pay bump was "unrelated".
HERO Nabs Ebony Santin From AMPR
Rumours Santin cleared out the stationery cupboard before departing are as yet unconfirmed.
Karena Noble Checks Out Of EVT Hotels & Resorts To Launch Comms Consultancy
Noble still managed to squeezed in a continental breakfast before departing.
Canva Acquires Design Platform Affinity To Bring Professional Design Tools To Every Organisation
Canva & Adobe face off continues. We're not picking sides but keenly aware that Canva's office is next door to ours.
“Lean On Our Team To Help You Find An Audience”: Why Understanding Audience Engagement Is Essential In Journalism
Engaging the audience is critical to journos, apparently. We'd thought self-loathing & alcoholism were key.
Adobe Summit: Major Gen AI Developments, Data Concessions & Partnerships
What happens in Vegas stays there. Unless it's the Adobe Summit and then you get to read about in B&T.