The hidden cost of posting profits during a pandemic

The global pandemic had a significant impact on the Australian media and marketing industry, with many businesses forced to put staff on reduced hours and/or reduce pay on a temporary basis. Mumbrella was recently contacted by a group of “disheartened and angry” staff from Clemenger Group who voiced their frustrations at salary cuts, forced leave, and redundancies, particularly in light of the company going on to post a healthy profit for the 2020 calendar year. So should profit always the most important goal of a business, and how do you balance the needs of a business with the needs of staff?

Coles announced this week that Samantha McLeod will join its marketing team as general manager of brand, digital and design, returning from the UK in September for the role. It follows the announcement that GroupM is bringing Seb Rennie back from Canada to be its CIO in Australia. The two are the latest in a steady stream of Aussies returning for executive roles in media and marketing, so is it just a COVID thing? And if not, what’s prompting Australians to head home en masse.

And, Ticker CEO Ahron Young founded the streaming news service and website in 2019. With the business set to move into a bigger space for the second time since starting up, Young joins Mumbrella’s Zanda Wilson to chat about Ticker’s business model and why it went down a different path to a traditional television business. He also chats about the benefit of having more journalists and fewer salespeople on his team, and looks at the future of linear TV in Australia.