We round up only the most interesting happenings; cultural trends, great ads and media stuff like radio ratings. It’s a collection curated by our most curious minds and shared in one email, so you don’t have to go through your other 20.
Sign Up View the previous issue: 18 Oct 2024ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence has jumped 4.1 points to 87.5, finally breaking out of the sub-85 range for the first time in 90 weeks, and the highest since January 2023. The largest increases were seen in NSW, QLD and SA. The index is showing that most of the increase is due to a decrease in negative sentiment, falling to multi year lows. Almost a quarter of Australians say that their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year. Alongside, buying intentions have also improved with 24% of respondents saying now is a good time to buy major household items, up 4 points.
Australia’s News Media Bargaining Code, introduced in 2021, is being reconsidered. An interim report by the Joint Select Committee is suggesting an overhaul with 11 recommendations, including a potential tax on big tech platforms like Meta to support local news publishers. Meta has already refused to pay publishers under the existing code, prompting calls for a transition fund to assist smaller, independent outlets, especially in regional areas. The biggest upside in what comes next is the broader distribution of a big tech tax beyond big media. The report is due in November.
The interesting bits from across the media landscape in the L7D...
Body-horror slasher film Terrifier 3, is fast becoming a cult classic. The film has R18+ in Australia and NC-17 in the US. Despite the rating and it’s relatively small marketing budget, the film has hit no.1 and grossed $21.5 million during its opening weekend in the US. At the same time there was a significant increase in ticket sales for the far more family-friendly film The Wild Robot with the conclusion being that underage audiences are cinema-hopping to Terrifier 3. It seems not much has changed, and the kids of today are reviving cinemas while rebelling against authority.
In news that is unlikely to shock, more than half of Australian social media creators are using AI. The good news is that they’re not using it for evil. According to research from Social Soup, creators are using AI responsibly and not to produce fake content, but more so to improve workflow through research, brainstorming and editing. The resedarch also showed that despite the growing involvement and capability of AI, creators are keen on maintaining their authenticity, and believe that their followers can spot AI a mile off. The most popular tools being used are ChatGPT and Canva’s AI tool.
A spotlight on advertisers doing interesting creative things...