Mumbrella’s most-read opinions of 2023
To celebrate 15 years of Mumbrella this December, we are counting down the top 15 most-read news pieces, opinions and features.
There was no shortage of opinions to be shared around in what has been another huge year for the media and marketing industry (and the outside world).
As we look back on what peaked reader’s fancy over the last 12 months, we’ve put together a list of our top 15 most read opinion pieces, and what a diverse intersection we have seen.
From back-to-back PR crises, to WFH, and a failed referendum campaign, the industry has had a lot to say.
Whether you agree with them, or not, here are a selection of the hottest takes from the year gone by:
15. Live and local – but is it logical? Australian radio is at a crossroads – Michael Thompson
Fear & Greed’s Michael Thompson dove into the crossroad Australian radio is at right now.
With ARN and SCA embarking on two different paths, we’re seeing it play out through their stars: Kyle & Jackie O, and Ray Hadley.
14. SXSW Sydney is already too big for its shell – Nathan Jolly
Fresh off the back of the event’s first ever trip down under, Mumbrella’s Nathan Jolly put pen to paper on how SXSW Sydney was so successful, it sabotaged its own success.
With scores of attendees leaving the event disappointed to have missed out on their most anticipated sessions, Nathan shared his two cents in an October installment of the Weekend Mumbo.
13. Why is the ‘Yes’ Voice campaign failing so badly? – Tony Singleton
Just days ahead of the ill-fated Referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament, marketing partner at MrWolf, Tony Singleton, broke down why the Yes campaign had failed to strike a chord.
A failure to make a case for change, he said, was itself a gift to the No camp.
12. Why Ashton and Mila’s non-apology broke every rule of crisis PR – Phoebe Netto
Taking a cue from the world of celebrity, Pure Public Relation’s Phoebe Netto breaks down what NOT to do in a PR crisis.
11. Droga was wrong, we’re not making ‘shit’ ads. It’s worse than that – Dave Jansen
At the end of October, Australian advertising royalty David Droga told the AFR that a lot of the work in the Australia market was “shit”.
Riffing on this take, Connecting Plot’s Dave Jansen posited the question of whether Australian advertising was even good enough to earn that title.
10. Barbie: A masterclass in strategic brand evolution – Rachel Tucker
Back to the world of pop culture, and Rachel Tucker explains the key lessons brands can take home from Barbiemania.
“As a brand”, she wrote, “Barbie has acted as cultural stimulus, deliberately evolving to resonate and connect with customers in a way that is social and current”.
9. Has Coles just made the retail CMO an endangered species? – David Chinn
When Coles became the latest to take the axe to its CMO role in June, Lexer’s David Chinn considered how the move spoke industry-wide repositioning in the future of retail strategy.
8. ‘A deeply flawed and misdirected move’: Mel Hopkins blasts Foxtel’s audience measurement system – Mel Hopkins
Of the back of the subscription TV brand’s Upfront announcements, Seven West Media chief marketing and audience officer, Mel Hopkins, levelled a searing criticism of Foxtel’s failure to come to the OzTam TotalTV table on audience measurement.
7. Roy Morgan, where are you? The disappearance of the industry influencer – Alice Raitt
Carat strategy director Alice Raitt laments the loss of elusive industry meme maker Roy Morgan, last seen on Facebook in September 2022.
6. ‘Never had a chance’: The brutal truth why the ‘Yes’ campaign failed – Howard Parry-Husbands
In another take of the Yes camp’s failure to cut through to the majority, Pollinate CEO Howard Parry-Husbands suggested that it all came down to the absence of a single, clear message.
“It was all heat and no light”.
5. What it’s like to manage Joe Aston – Sean Aylmer
Following Joe Aston’s shock exit from Nine Entertainment masthead the Australian Financial Review, former Fairfax editorial director Sean Ayler shared his experiencing managing the divisive journalist.
4. TV networks say ‘nup’ to the Melbourne Cup – soon you might, too – Nathan Jolly
In another instalment of the Weekly Mumbo, Mumbrella’s Nathan Jolly took a look at the Melbourne Cup broadcast rights debacle, considering whether network’s reluctance to sign on spelled the demise of the horse racing industry’s biggest event of the year.
3. What are you doing to get people back to your offices? – Adam Ferrier
In a follow up to his 2022 call to return to the office, Thinkerbell’s Adam Ferrier returned to the topic, this time challenging businesses to do more to entice talent back to the daily commute.
“So, now is the time to ask your employer… what have they done to encourage you to come in?” he wrote.
2. ‘I will never forget what Sonia Kruger said about Muslims’ – Adam Rida
Following controversial TV personality Sonia Kruger’s Gold Logie win in August, corporate comms professional Adam Rida reflected on how major networks continue to give Australian stars a free pass when it comes to racism and bigotry.
1. Can we please end the WFH debate? – Lara Brownlow
Proving that the work from home (WFH) conversation is still far from over, LinkedIn’s APAC head of channel sales Lara Brownlow made a plea to Australia marketing and media industry to ditch the ‘for or against’ narrative of work from home.
She underlined that there are benefits to both WFH and working from the office, arguing that it is not a one size fits all issue.
Lara Brownlow, APAC head of channel sales, LinkedIn
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