Are Media is Australia's largest content company for women, reaching nine in ten women every year through its portfolio of leading brands including The Australian Women's Weekly, marie claire, Gourmet Traveller, Better Homes & Gardens, Woman's Day, Country Style, beautyheaven and bounty.

In a candid and in-depth conversation, Jane Huxley shares her vision on how Australia's publishing landscape is evolving; resetting Are Media's technology stack and investing in data to support the ten profitable business models which sit under its content engine; making moves in e-Commerce; and the challenges and opportunities of building an inclusive and thriving culture that attracts and retains talent.

A music industry in crisis. A pandemic ravaging the country. The state of print media. The Brag was up against it when it decided to relaunch the iconic Rolling Stone masthead in Australia, adding another chapter to the title’s storied history. From publisher to publisher, the title has changed hands time and again, but in 2020 it faced a market unlike anything before.

Now, in 2022, its readership has pulled ahead of established titles, its online presence has grown, it has made a profit in print, and The Brag Media is now the largest youth publisher in Australia.

Jake Challenor takes to the Mumbrella Publish stage to discuss what it took to see Rolling Stone succeed against difficult circumstances. Joined by Luke Girgis and Poppy Reid via remote link, they’ll reveal the journey of reinventing the classic brand for a new audience.

Guardian Australia's open, factual and fearless journalism has driven significant audience growth and affinity over the past few years.

As the publisher approaches 10 years in the market, Guardian Australia is entering a new phase of growth. Last month, it launched its first-ever brand platform, produced by Howatson+Co, complemented by an editorial partnership with JCD. This multi-year growth strategy positions the Guardian as a trusted and mission-driven news source at a moment when trust in media is at an all-time low.

In this session, Jocelin Abbey from the Guardian and Chris Howatson from Howatson+Co will discuss the thinking, strategy and goals behind the Guardian Australia's first brand platform and campaign.

Despite its benefits, native content also presents significant limitations for marketers and advertisers. Constrained by established mindsets, it hasn't evolved at the same rate as alternate digital channels.

The opportunity is there to make native content not only more accessible for the general marketer and agency person, but to unlock its potential across the board. Luke Spano will speak to Mumbrella Publish about Avid Collective’s decision to launch Avid Native, a native content network that leverages a custom-built platform that has currently attracted over 70 Australian independent publishers.

Luke will explore the issues he observes plaguing the current digital publishing model, the reasons behind establishing this new native network, and where he sees native content as an advertising solution heading.

They're apathetic, lazy, lack resilience, and are disengaged with the news. Or at least, that’s the common misconception of Australians under the age of 30.

Over 360,000 young Australians follow The Daily Aus, an independently owned Instagram-based youth news outlet. These readers are responsive, engaged and – by much of the market – largely overlooked.

The Daily Aus co-founders Sam Koslowski and Zara Seidler will provide audiences with a thoughtful, in-depth, and entertaining understanding of this demographic, exploring exclusive research that puts this group at the forefront of politics, culture and society. The pair will also discuss their approach to monetisation, efforts towards supporting quality journalism and plans for future growth.

Discover how you can authentically connect to this switched-on market and take immediately actionable learnings back into your brand.

The last 24 months have seen marked success for The Local Project. The design community publication has used its niche focus to its advantage, developing unique and strategic approaches to partnerships and branded content across every platform: editorial (print and digital), social and video.

While commercial arrangements have the potential to affect editorial integrity if not handled with diligence and respect, the approach of The Local Project has not only resulted in an increase in its audience, but also increased sales for its partners.

In this session, The Local Project’s James Lyall Smith, and Laminex Australia's Rachel Oakley will reveal how it all came together, and discuss the path to achieving mutual success between publisher and brand. Sharing insight and data to chart the growth journey, the two will reveal the key to creating authentic and engaging branded content.

For publishers: discover how to integrate successful native content without compromising on your editorial; for brands: learn how to pick a title and work with them to craft a partnership that succeeds. It's an era where audiences are more discerning and results count more than ever – are you ready to turn the page?

In March this year, more than 50 independent Australian websites decided to stop the news. For 24 hours titles such as Broadsheet and Pro Bono News put a freeze on publishing any new stories or articles, in response to Facebook overlooking independent publishers via commercial deals or the company’s Australian News Fund. The initiative was called #WaitingOnZuck, and it was a pointed one.

Since the media bargaining code was introduced last year, publishers have been in a negotiation process described as a ‘three-way tug-of-war’ between the government, the digital platforms and the news media. While bigger media companies have long secured commercial deals with Facebook, many indie publishers continue to be left in the dark.

In this session, four speakers from independent publishers and organisations will provide an overview of their dilemma, discuss how things have changed - or not - since launching the #WaitingOnZuck campaign, the transparency (or a lack thereof) of the media bargaining code, and most importantly, what needs to be done in order to ensure the vitality and variety of Australia's news and media industry.

Sitting between affiliate and 'hand-sold' advertising, cost-per-click strategies hold the power to win back key spend from the big platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Google.

Used by global and local publishers alike to retain SME and direct-to-consumer brand spend, the CPC approach carries unexplored benefits for mastheads to compete in this David vs Goliath landscape.

Pedestrian Group and Linkby co-founder Chris Wirasinha will explore the path towards making CPC the missing link in your publisher monetisation toolbox. From arbitrage strategies to finding the most valuable second page to maximise your revenue, this session will showcase examples that have won over brands born on social and search, many of whom have never before allocated any spend with publishers.

Their metropolitan headquarters and audience focus puts major publishers at some distance from regional matters, with most resources focused on issues within the concrete jungle.

Yet for the sake of media diversity, local news needs to be supported as a central component of a publisher’s stack, not just an afterthought. And beyond the big publishers, independent regional players are investing and innovating to serve their communities – but are they getting the recognition and reward they deserve?

In this session, board member of Region Media Group and former ABC News head Gaven Morris will discuss why it’s vital to break out of the city bubble and reach audiences in the outer and regional suburbs. You’ll learn how traditional and digital mastheads alike can drive innovation, support local journalism, and support diverse voices across regional Australia.

Digital publishers are increasingly being squeezed to deliver more from the products with less time, resources and money. While it can feel like an overwhelming and impossible task, creating a lean and efficient media business is achievable if you approach it with a minimalist attitude. 

For the last decade The Code Company’s Ben May has helped publishers of all sizes simplify their technology and scale for success. In this practical session, he’ll discuss some of the biggest tech game-changers, reveal learning points from current publishing trends in the creator economy, and reveal the best way to balance technology and teams

From empowering your editorial team to turbo charging your social output, discover the secrets to powerful, high-performance publishing. 

A decade ago, Australia's news publishers faced commercial and structural challenges, and were scrambling to forge a path towards the next.  Now, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and the Australian Financial Review remain some of the highest-read news titles nationally, boosted by a growing and loyal subscription model.

In this session, Managing Director of Nine Publishing, James Chessell sits down with Mumbrella Senior Journalist Calum Jaspan to discuss how the business has shifted its leading mastheads since its blockbuster merger with Fairfax Media in 2018.

Depending on who you talk to, the rise and approach of web3 is either set to reform the foundations of the internet, or burn out as just another buzzword. But amid its seemingly scattered concepts such as decentralisation, the blockchain and token-based currency, it’s a space being explored by Australia’s youth, where notions of taking back ownership of data and content from large tech companies are gaining appeal.

Pedestrian Group is betting on that momentum with the launch of its new digital publication, The Chainsaw. CEO Matt Rowley will discuss the behind-the-scenes thinking and the research that lead to the publishing group creating Australian’s first web3 news website. Cut through the buzzwords to learn the challenges and the opportunities of reporting within this space, the key to reaching young Australians where they are, and the importance of rising above the noise of ‘opinion leaders’ with decisive action.