Mumbrellacast

14 July 2025 During the Covid pandemic, a serious accident left Naked Communications Australia co-founder Mat Baxter with serious injuries, forcing the agencyland leader into 12 weeks of recuperation — while trying to fill his role of chief executive officer at global consultancy Huge in New York. But the tragedy became a cornerstone moment for Baxter, who now holds an equity stake in Tmrw, a disruptive healthcare start up that aims to revolutionise wellness via data and AI. In this special interview edition of the Mumbrellacast, Mat Baxter reveals why and how he bought into Tmrw and cemented himself as its “disruptor in chief”. Join Hal Crawford and Mat Baxter in this special episode of the Mumbrellacast.

9 July 2025 The Commonwealth Bank has the industry and consumers talking about its latest ad campaign. But it's not just the 90-second whirlwind of a TVC featuring cars, several Matildas, and even a biplane that has captured people's attention — it's the 'Australian first' media strategy leveraging a 48-hour roadblock across BVOD. We break down the work to answer what everyone's asking: how effective is it? Mitsubishi Australia and creative agency Richards Rose spent serious cash to secure the rights to AC/DC’s ‘It’s a Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'N' Roll)’ for the former's latest campaign. Was the expense worth it? Meanwhile, Erin Patterson's mushroom murder trial attracted the world's attention, and generated several media gaffes. We discuss the fumbles, including those of a well-known shock jock. Recently, Hal had a chat with one of Australia's most successful media agency executives, Mat Baxter, on his life in advertising and the future of marketing. What does the Naked Communications Australia co-founder think of the industry? Join Hal Crawford, Tim Burrowes, Lauren McNamara and Abe Udy for a look at everything under Australia’s media and marketing umbrella.

2 July 2025 As of yesterday, the South Australian government has banned junk food advertising on its own properties, a move that advertising bodies are none too happy about. Lauren breaks the situation down — and reveals the South Australian government's sharp jab back at advertisers. Meanwhile, Cloudflare, an internet backend provider, is moving to default blocking of AI bots scraping websites. Some of the world's largest publishers have voiced their support for the move, but why should we care? This week, Tim is on the ground at Madfest — a UK marketing expo held in a brewery car park — and he's sent us some insights into the annual event that brings together more than 10,000 marketers. Following in the wake of her legal victory, Antoinette Lattouf has spoken at length about her fight with the ABC, revealing what it felt like in the court and calling for a personal apology. Join Hal Crawford, Lauren McNamara and Abe Udy for a look at everything under Australia’s media and marketing umbrella.

25 June 2025 After months of battling the ABC in court on the grounds that she was unfairly dismissed from her radio gig over her views on Israel and Gaza, the Federal Court ruled in favour of journalist Antoinette Lattouf. What did the judge say and what does the verdict mean for the ABC? Overseas in the United States, the FTC officially approved Omnicom's acquisition of IPG — a deal that will create the largest ad holding company in the world. Tim unpacks the details of the merger and Australia's position in the matter. Julie Inman Grant, Australia's eSafety commissioner, spoke at the National Press Club in Canberra yesterday, arguing that Youtube shouldn't be exempted from the under-16's social media ban. Is she right? Meanwhile, Google's payments to several small publishers will be ending, despite the parties involved believing the deals would extend to 2027. Has Google gone too far? Join Hal Crawford, Tim Burrowes and Abe Udy for a look at everything under Australia’s media and marketing umbrella.

In this special interview edition of the Mumbrellacast, Hal Crawford speaks with VP of Hubspot Media Jonathan Hunt about ways of finding an audience in a world that has become a lot tougher for content creators. Hunt covers Linkedin's recent push for video and how it has created an opportunity, Reddit as a traffic source, and an AI workflow that can increase subs to newsletters.

18 June 2025 Telstra and creative agency Bear Meets Eagle On Fire won the Film Craft Grand Prix at the 2025 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. It's one of the most prestigious awards in adland — Lauren breaks down the win and shares an update on other awards the Australian industry has secured. Clemenger Group's changing of the guard continues with the announcement that its CEO Les Timar handed in his resignation after spending more than two decades with the business. Jonathan Hunt, head of content at HubSpot, had a chat with Hal about what platforms are working for content marketing. Where do you go if you need to find an audience now? Finally, the University of Canberra's Digital News Report 2025 found that women are far more likely to avoid the news than men. Is that really the case or is there more than meets the eye? Join Hal Crawford, Tim Burrowes, Lauren McNamara and Abe Udy for a look at everything under Australia’s media and marketing umbrella.

Former Fairfax CEO and Free TV Chair Greg Hywood has moved out of the media world for the first time in 50 years. Mumbrella editorial director Hal Crawford talks with Hywood at length in this interview edition of the Mumbrellacast, covering Hywood's career, the nature of journalism and journalists - and, intriguingly, his view on whether the Nine Fairfax merger he engineered seven years ago has worked. Credit to Abe's Audio for another brilliant edit.

11 June 2025 Two long-running television shows, ABC's Q+A and Ten's The Project, have officially been axed at their respective networks. Q+A is being replaced by documentaries, while The Project is being replaced by an investigative news and current affairs program. We discuss what these major changes mean for Australian TV. Meanwhile, a new Women in Media Industry Insight report has uncovered the key workplace issues women are facing in the media sector. Should we be surprised by the findings? Last week, former Fairfax CEO Greg Hywood announced he would be departing media by stepping down as chair of Free TV. Hal spoke with him about the move — and learned what the long-time media expert really thinks of Nine. Join Hal Crawford, Tim Burrowes, Lauren McNamara and Abe Udy for a look at everything under Australia’s media and marketing umbrella.

4 June 2025 Last week, iconic Australian adland figure David Droga announced he would be stepping down from Accenture Song. Since then, M+C Saatchi’s APAC CEO, Justin Graham, and Dentsu Creative ANZ’s chief creative officer, Ben Coulson, also revealed they were moving on. They’re just a few among the many major talent movements in the industry — we go over them all and examine the root of all the turmoil. Optus’ ex-digital product boss Clive Dickens is officially setting up his own AI consultancy. With a track record like his, people are paying attention. Yesterday, Hal sat down with Mamamia’s CEO Natalie Harvey and chief content officer Zara Curtis to learn more about the network’s new video strategy. Is it up to par? Join Hal Crawford, Tim Burrowes, Lauren McNamara and Abe Udy for a look at everything under Australia’s media and marketing umbrella.

29 May 2025 Recorded live on stage at Mumbrella360, this special episode of the Mumbrellacast sees the worlds of Unmade and Mumbrella collide. Over the past two weeks, we've been hearing from multiple sources that Linkedin is becoming increasingly relevant for marketers. We discuss if the platform's moment is just a fad or the start of a new age of marketing. Meanwhile, The Australian recently published a list of TV's highest paid personalities — but after Mumbrella did a bit of digging, it turns out radio stars are being paid more. Are the numbers accurate? Last week, Google launched a set of AI tools, including video generation and editing tool, Flow. Unmade's Cat McGinn and Genero's global partnerships director, Christie Poulos, discuss the implications this has for adland. Tim also takes a look at how the marketing and media industry has changed in the 14 years since he first launched Mumbrella360. Join Hal Crawford, Tim Burrowes, Cat McGinn, Christie Poulos and Abe Udy for a look at everything under Australia’s media and marketing umbrella.