Mumbrella has started the year strongly and brings you the marketing, advertising and media news you need.
Our Summer Shorts series winds up this week, so be sure to sign up to our newsletter and check back in on our website regularly throughout the day for the latest stories.
Short shorts
- What newsreaders really think about Novax Djokovic.
- Almost four in ten (38 per cent) Aussies and 81 per cent of cricket fans have revealed they would trade in milestone events including birthdays and weddings just to watch the iconic Boxing Day test, while one in five (22 per cent) of full-time workers would skip a day at the office to tune into the action at the MCG, according to new Fox Sports research. Almost a quarter (24 per cent) of working Aussies have confessed to calling in sick so they can watch a match throughout the summer with one in five (21 per cent) Aussies watching the cricket while at work, pointing to the wane of the traditional “sickie”. More than half of cricket fans living in New South Wales (73 per cent) and Victoria (70 per cent) admit they have prioritised the cricket over a chance of finding romance on a date, exercise, and a restful night of sleep. From the lounge to the beachside, one quarter (24%) of Aussies opt to most commonly watch the cricket via their mobile device.
- Google has called out Apple for designing its texting tool in a way that it says pushes customers — particularly teens — to pick iOS over Android. Google says pressure to be in the blue results in an “iMessage lock-in”, on top of other iOS-exclusive features that foster “peer pressure and bullying” in favour of the iPhone. (LinkedIn News)
- A US judge has dismissed Facebook’s request to throw out its monopoly case. Facebook must face the government’s monopoly lawsuit alleging that the company abused its dominance, a judge ruled. (Al-Jazeera)
- Chloe Rowlatt has been promoted to head of international at the UK music licensing company PPL. In her new role, Rowlatt will be responsible for managing PPL’s international team, and ensuring operational relationships are maintained with the company’s network of 105 collective management organisations (CMOs) across Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America. (Music Business Worldwide)
- Arj Ganeshalingam has been named chief operating Officer at Porter Novelli Australia.
- In a blog post, Signal’s CEO announced it’s stepping down to its position and WhatsApp co-founder Brian Ancton is now the interim CEO of the encrypted messaging app. (9to5Mac)
- Arjan Pomper has been appointed as managing director, global entertainment ITV Studios. Global entertainment is responsible for selling and monetising ITV Studios unscripted formats including The Voice, Love Island, The Chase, I Am A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, Come Dine With Me and newer titles, Rat in the Kitchen, Sitting On A Fortune and Walk The Line. As MD, Pomper reports directly to David McGraynor, chief operating officer, ITV Studios. (Televisual)
- WPP’s GroupM North America unit has named JiYoung Kim chief product & services officer, a new position that makes her responsible for the development and deployment of “services solutions” across its agency network, including Mindshare, MediaCom, Wavemaker, Essence and m/Six. Kim will report to CEO Kirk McDonald. (MediaPost)
- Facebook has added DoorDash co-founder and CEO Tony Xu to its board of directors. (Business Insider)
- GroupM’s Wavemaker unit has named Sarah Salter global head of applied innovation, a new worldwide role that is part of the agency’s London-based consulting hub. (MediaPost)
- KFC awards $166 Million US media business to Publicis Groupe’s Spark Foundry from Wieden+Kennedy. (AdWeek)
- Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, say staff must receive a COVID-19 booster shot to return to working in-person at its offices. The technology behemoth also said it is postponing fully opening offices until late March. Companies globally continue to navigate the omicron variant amid “shifting corporate reopening plans,” The Wall Street Journal notes. (LinkedIn News)
- Shona Martyn has started as the CEO of The Walkley Foundation. She joins from The Sydney Morning Herald, where she served as Editor of its art supplement, Spectrum. The Walkley Foundation has announced its decision to move the 66th Walkley Awards Gala dinner from Tamworth to Sydney, due to current COVID-19 circumstances. The dinner was scheduled to take place on 11th February but will instead proceed on 25th February at the International Convention Centre in Sydney’s Darling Harbour. (Tellum Media)
- Trudy Harris is joining The Australian Financial Review as deputy world editor.
- Sonya Gee has stepped into the role of Acting Editor at ABC Everyday. She will remain in this position while Bhakthi Puvanenthiran is on maternity leave. (Tellum Media)
- Jonathan Barrett has started a new role as Deputy Editor at AAP, based in the newswire’s Sydney office. He was previously Deputy Bureau Chief (Australia and New Zealand) at Reuters.
- Research from wealth management firm Morgan Stanley compares American radio listening with music streaming service consumption. (Radio Today)
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- IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond says streaming exclusives “became some of the most pirated movies ever”. (Yahoo! Finance)
- Providoor has hired its first chief marketing officer – Michael McCash – who joins the business from DoorDash, where he was senior manager of consumer growth marketing for Australia. His resume also includes senior marketing roles with HotDoc, Assembly Payments (now Zai), Australia Post, MYOB and Eftpos Direct. McCash reports to Providoor’s recently appointed CEO and former eBay leader and marketer, Tim MacKinnon. (CMO)
- CMO Ellie Doty is leaving the fast-food chain Burger King after less than 2 years. (a.list)
- The very first McDonald’s store in Australia has reopened. And for just two hours, the hamburger was priced at 20 cents at Sydney’s Yagoona outlet – the value it was way back when it first opened in 1971. (Inside Franchise Business)
- Former head of Sky Media Tim Pearson will be in charge of Lad360, LadBible’s content marketing and digital advertising division. Pearson will start in April and report to chief growth officer Colin Gottlieb. (Mediatel News)
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- Comscore has announced plans to launch Comscore Everywhere, a cross-platform measurement suite that will eventually combine TV, connected TV, video, digital and social media measurement into one deduplicated offering. Comscore will roll out its new suite in phases throughout 2022. (Ad Exchanger)
- Time Out Media names former Ogilvy executive Mary Keane-Dawson as CEO. The role follows a leadership shake-up under recently promoted group chief executive Chris Ohlund. (Ad Week)
- Momentum Worldwide appoints new UK president. Matt Lewis will replace Luke D’Arcy. (Campaign)
- Catherine Zengerer has finished up as the chief of staff at ABC Riverland to take on a new role as producer of ABC Radio National’s Late Night Live with Phillip Adams. Catherine will relocate to Sydney to begin her new role on 17th January. (Tellum Media)
- ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence fell 2.4pts to 106.0 during the first week of January, and it is now 2.9pts below the same week a year ago (108.9). Meanwhile, 38% (down 3ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 32% (up 2ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.