Brad Moran, the man behind Coles’ new online media platform, says "closing the loop" between ads and shopper purchases will spark a retail media boom. Moran wrestles with Nine’s Pippa Leary, Brand Traction’s Jon Bradshaw and Mi3’s Executive Editor Paul McIntyre on what it means for moving people through the classic marketing funnel from brand consideration to a transaction.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brad Moran, the man behind Coles&rsquo; new online media platform, says "closing the loop" between ads and shopper purchases will spark a retail media boom. Moran wrestles with Nine&rsquo;s Pippa Leary, Brand Traction&rsquo;s Jon Bradshaw and Mi3&rsquo;s Executive Editor Paul McIntyre on what it means for moving people through the classic marketing funnel from brand consideration to a transaction.See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.

A weekly wrap of the “must-know” developments in Marketing, Media, Agency and Technology for leaders and emerging leaders in the industry. Veteran industry journalist and Mi3 Executive Editor Paul McIntyre talks each week with guest marketers who are in the know on what matters at the nexus of marketing, agencies, media and technology. Powered mostly by Human Intelligence (HI).

A weekly wrap of the “must-know” developments in Marketing, Media, Agency and Technology for leaders and emerging leaders in the industry. Veteran industry journalist and Mi3 Executive Editor Paul McIntyre talks each week...

Mi3 Audio Edition

Marketing funnel wars - Coles’ new online media platform triggers debate on the future of the marketing funnel

Host: Nadia Cameron, Publisher | Editor – Marketing

Last year, one of the world’s leading minds on attention, Amplified founder Dr Karen Nelson-Field, set out to put a figure on the eye-watering cost of dull media. The job followed on from the esteemed Dr Peter Field and Eatbigfish consultancy lead, Adam Morgan’s original work ascertaining the cost associated with dull creative. The media work was based on attention volume – a metric that compares how much attention an ad actually gets versus how much is theoretically possible (the total time in view).

Globally, the tariff exposed was huge: US$198bn per year is being spent to make up for shortfall of dull media choices as attention collapses tenfold and the mental availability opportunity is lost. That’s an average of $0.43 in every dollar spent. And it’s even higher than the $189bn wasted on dull creative per the former research.

Now for the first time, the true cost of dull media has been revealed in Australia, and yep, it’s equally shocking: $6bn in annual wasted media budget. That’s over 20% of the nearly $30 billion Australian marketers reportedly spent on advertising in 2025.

The numbers behind the dollar headline are stark: Very dull media makes advertising up to 12× less efficient, meaning every dollar has to work dramatically harder to generate the same outcome. Only 38 per cent of viewers are reaching the crucial 2.5-second memory threshold – the point when advertising is encoding in memory, per Dr Nelson-Field – from the media choices brands are marketing right now.That means brand impact falls 35%, weakening brand growth – something marketers cannot afford to do.

“These are sticker shock moments for people because … we're not codifying the value, we're codifying the loss. And it makes people really gasp, quite frankly, because they don't really realise it at an aggregate level,” Dr Field says. “What that technically means is you need the same amount of money again, Australia, to get the same outcomes in non-dull if you continue to advertise in extremely or very dull media.”

An underlying conundrum is too many are chasing the cheapest CPM and reach, thinking that’s both efficient and effective, when in fact it’s an illusion: Too often the brand is sacrificing being seen to simply being served, says Dr Nelson-Field.

For Peita Pacey, chief strategy and behaviour change officer, Hearts & Science Australia, part of the Omnicom Media Group, Dr Field’s data finally puts a price on something many planners, strategists and marketers have felt intuitively.

“This is not about vilifying different channels, just to be really clear, it’s actually about understanding the role very specifically of channels in order delivering to specific objectives,” she says. “It’s also not about necessarily chasing a new metric. We have a number of different metrics we use when we're planning and when we're negotiating, and maybe some of them aren't as fit for purpose as they used to be, because we have more data now. But it's really about giving us the tools in our armour so we can go and more effectively plan to cognition and think about human processing, rather than just exposure or opportunity to see.”

Val Morgan MD, Guy Burbidge, goes further, arguing obsession with reach and CPMs has led too many down the garden path to media choices that do not pay off. “I don't think it's any secret that something like $0.75 cents or $0.80, and the dollar is going into the big platforms. That's really what the problem is,” he says.

“What we see is proxies like reach and CPM overtaking some of the other more important and more valuable proxies, like outcomes, windows of time – what we're all trying to actually deliver as marketers. An awful lot of channels, ours included, are being debased to those two very simple things.”

Listen to the full conversation here. 

Host: Nadia Cameron, Publisher | Editor &ndash; Marketing
Last year, one of the world&rsquo;s leading minds on attention, Amplified founder Dr Karen Nelson-Field, set out to put a figure on the eye-watering cost of dull media. The job followed on from the esteemed Dr Peter Field and Eatbigfish consultancy lead, Adam Morgan&rsquo;s original work ascertaining the cost associated with dull creative. The media work was based on attention volume &ndash; a metric that compares how much attention an ad actually gets versus how much is theoretically possible (the total time in view).
Globally, the tariff exposed was huge: US$198bn per year is being spent to make up for shortfall of dull media choices as attention collapses tenfold and the mental availability opportunity is lost. That&rsquo;s an average of $0.43 in every dollar spent. And it&rsquo;s even higher than the $189bn wasted on dull creative per the former research.
Now for the first time, the true cost of dull media has been revealed in Australia, and yep, it&rsquo;s equally shocking: $6bn in annual wasted media budget. That&rsquo;s over 20% of the nearly $30 billion Australian marketers reportedly spent on advertising in 2025.
The numbers behind the dollar headline are stark: Very dull media makes advertising up to 12&times; less efficient, meaning every dollar has to work dramatically harder to generate the same outcome. Only 38 per cent of viewers are reaching the crucial 2.5-second memory threshold &ndash; the point when advertising is encoding in memory, per Dr Nelson-Field &ndash; from the media choices brands are marketing right now. That means brand impact falls 35%, weakening brand growth &ndash; something marketers cannot afford to do.
&ldquo;These are sticker shock moments for people because &hellip; we're not codifying the value, we're codifying the loss. And it makes people really gasp, quite frankly, because they don't really realise it at an aggregate level,&rdquo; Dr Field says. &ldquo;What that technically means is you need the same amount of money again, Australia, to get the same outcomes in non-dull if you continue to advertise in extremely or very dull media.&rdquo;
An underlying conundrum is too many are chasing the cheapest CPM and reach, thinking that&rsquo;s both efficient and effective, when in fact it&rsquo;s an illusion: Too often the brand is sacrificing being seen to simply being served, says Dr Nelson-Field.
For Peita Pacey, chief strategy and behaviour change officer, Hearts &amp; Science Australia, part of the Omnicom Media Group, Dr Field&rsquo;s data finally puts a price on something many planners, strategists and marketers have felt intuitively.
&ldquo;This is not about vilifying different channels, just to be really clear, it&rsquo;s actually about understanding the role very specifically of channels in order delivering to specific objectives,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s also not about necessarily chasing a new metric. We have a number of different metrics we use when we're planning and when we're negotiating, and maybe some of them aren't as fit for purpose as they used to be, because we have more data now. But it's really about giving us the tools in our armour so we can go and more effectively plan to cognition and think about human processing, rather than just exposure or opportunity to see.&rdquo;
Val Morgan MD, Guy Burbidge, goes further, arguing obsession with reach and CPMs has led too many down the garden path to media choices that do not pay off. &ldquo;I don't think it's any secret that something like $0.75 cents or $0.80, and the dollar is going into the big platforms. That's really what the problem is,&rdquo; he says.
&ldquo;What we see is proxies like reach and CPM overtaking some of the other more important and more valuable proxies, like outcomes, windows of time &ndash; what we're all trying to actually deliver as marketers. An awful lot of channels, ours included, are being debased to those two very simple things.&rdquo;
Listen to the full conversation here.

Australia’s $6bn dull media tax: Quest for the Cost Per Meaningless Thousand, cheap reach sees brands sacrificing attention and impact, culminating in a 12X efficiency gap, finds Dr Karen Nelson-Field

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/fa326977-3de5-4283-9b8b-af3500c58607/clips/70fe9ad3-4e75-4f52-9d7c-b4160042612a/transcript

Host: Paul McIntyre, Editor-At-Large

95 per cent of St Kilda Football Club’s marketing budget goes into its owned assets. Chief Customer and Commercial Officer, Michael Scott, has worked across some of the world’s biggest and best consumer marketing companies. Now he’s packaging up “rich reach” and “mind-blowing” engagement rates to woo advertisers.

The likes of Chery are buying in: Across two years working with the Chinese car brand, “we've increased their awareness by 17 percentage points, consideration by eight percentage points, and trust by 14 percentage points,” says Scott. “For a new entrant brand that had almost no awareness … that's an incredible result, which we've been able to deliver through our owned media channels.”

Engagement rates among St Kilda’s fans and members eclipse anything Scott’s seen at the likes of Rip Curl and Nike. Email open rates are 60-70 per cent; TikTok engagement rates between 9-10.5 per cent. Instagram? “Our engagement rate is four to five times that of Nike.”

He’s betting advertisers will pay a premium for “rich reach” versus bigger audiences touted by media rivals. Scott sees Netflix, Paramount and Stan as competitors.

“I've always been an advocate of having a quality conversation with a small number of people on the street, rather than walking through the middle of the road with a megaphone. I’m not sure yelling at the top of your voice achieves much,” per Scott.

St Kilda’s is simultaneous stretching its own base beyond middle-aged male heartlands. Tweenage girls are a key growth target; the club sees major upside within the women’s game.

Scott has monetised owned media with the likes of Myer and Virgin Australia – and says functional silos are the biggest blockers, particularly for retail media networks.

“It just becomes far more powerful and easier to execute when the egos are dropped, the paradigms are put to the side, and everyone just recognises the incredible value which [owned media] offers the organisation.”

He suggests underlining the financial upside concentrates minds.

“I think the value creation – on a dollars and cents level – was the thing that probably captured most people's attention. You can talk to acquisition of data, personalisation and marketing sharpness and they are all nice to hear. But the CEO or CFO are the ultimate arbiters on where resource is placed. So you need to present a value creation story. That's probably the thing that allows organisations to shift gear.”

Jonathan Hopkins and Angus Frazer, founders of owned media consultancy Sonder, back that view to the hilt.

Host: Paul McIntyre, Editor-At-Large
95 per cent of St Kilda Football Club&rsquo;s marketing budget goes into its owned assets. Chief Customer and Commercial Officer, Michael Scott, has worked across some of the world&rsquo;s biggest and best consumer marketing companies. Now he&rsquo;s packaging up &ldquo;rich reach&rdquo; and &ldquo;mind-blowing&rdquo; engagement rates to woo advertisers.
The likes of Chery are buying in: Across two years working with the Chinese car brand, &ldquo;we've increased their awareness by 17 percentage points, consideration by eight percentage points, and trust by 14 percentage points,&rdquo; says Scott. &ldquo;For a new entrant brand that had almost no awareness &hellip; that's an incredible result, which we've been able to deliver through our owned media channels.&rdquo;
Engagement rates among St Kilda&rsquo;s fans and members eclipse anything Scott&rsquo;s seen at the likes of Rip Curl and Nike. Email open rates are 60-70 per cent; TikTok engagement rates between 9-10.5 per cent. Instagram? &ldquo;Our engagement rate is four to five times that of Nike.&rdquo;
He&rsquo;s betting advertisers will pay a premium for &ldquo;rich reach&rdquo; versus bigger audiences touted by media rivals. Scott sees Netflix, Paramount and Stan as competitors.
&ldquo;I've always been an advocate of having a quality conversation with a small number of people on the street, rather than walking through the middle of the road with a megaphone. I&rsquo;m not sure yelling at the top of your voice achieves much,&rdquo; per Scott.
St Kilda&rsquo;s is simultaneous stretching its own base beyond middle-aged male heartlands. Tweenage girls are a key growth target; the club sees major upside within the women&rsquo;s game.
Scott has monetised owned media with the likes of Myer and Virgin Australia &ndash; and says functional silos are the biggest blockers, particularly for retail media networks.
&ldquo;It just becomes far more powerful and easier to execute when the egos are dropped, the paradigms are put to the side, and everyone just recognises the incredible value which [owned media] offers the organisation.&rdquo;
He suggests underlining the financial upside concentrates minds.
&ldquo;I think the value creation &ndash; on a dollars and cents level &ndash; was the thing that probably captured most people's attention. You can talk to acquisition of data, personalisation and marketing sharpness and they are all nice to hear. But the CEO or CFO are the ultimate arbiters on where resource is placed. So you need to present a value creation story. That's probably the thing that allows organisations to shift gear.&rdquo;
Jonathan Hopkins and Angus Frazer, founders of owned media consultancy Sonder, back that view to the hilt.

‘All about rich reach’: ex-McDonald’s, Nike, Myer, Virgin, Rip Curl marketer builds owned media powerhouse at St Kilda’s with ‘mind blowing engagement’; Huge Chery auto gains prove it works

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/fa326977-3de5-4283-9b8b-af3500c58607/clips/3524b1e5-b229-45d7-94b5-b41101817a65/transcript

Host: Paul McIntyre, Editor-At-Large

Merging two massive holdco structures after the global Omnicom-IPG merger and culling 100 brands is not for the faint hearted. Overhauling the local operating model entirely at the same time? Fraught with risk. But Nick Garrett’s master plan has the blessing of Omnicom chairman John Wren, and Garrett says he wouldn’t have taken the job without licence to radically recut the ANZ business. 

If it works, “I think the US and other markets are all looking at this with support and optimism, hoping that this is a great test case”, says Garrett.

The new model puts a three-pronged upstream advisory layer at the top of its structure, supported by six ‘centres of excellence’, pooling and centralising resources to concentrate firepower as Omnicom heads “upstream”. It’s going head-to-head in “transformation” and business strategy through brand with the likes of Accenture, Deloitte, McKinsey and Bain while taking marketers and customer chiefs upstream with them. 

Too many marketers have been relegated to execution, per Garrett. He thinks Omnicom Oceania’s new approach can help both parties regain strategic high ground. Corporate and government relations firm GRACosway may play an outsized role in opening up that pathway.

A major content and creative automation play for the group is also imminent – but it’s not Ted Horton’s BRX. 

Garrett says not to undertake radical surgery poses the greatest risk for comms holding companies – they’ve become too narrow and communications focused and lost the strategic high ground across industries and inside corporate executive leadership teams. With IPG absorbed, he thinks widespread industry speculation that at least one, perhaps two fewer direct holdco competitors by year’s end is plausible - a WPP break-up and piecemeal sell-off being one of them. But it’s telling that while eyeing consulting firms’ turf and moving away from a media and creative-led holdco into marketing transformation services, Garrett, when pushed, reckons Publicis is a bigger threat to Omnicom’s new growth model than Accenture Song.

Despite the seismic overhaul, Garrett claims Omnicom Oceania is six months ahead of where the market thinks it is. But the proof is in the pudding – there’s a lot riding on whether Omnicom’s people can actually stretch to the new model’s intent.

Garrett’s confident. Here’s what’s coming next. 

Host: Paul McIntyre, Editor-At-Large
Merging two massive holdco structures after the global Omnicom-IPG merger and culling 100 brands is not for the faint hearted. Overhauling the local operating model entirely at the same time? Fraught with risk. But Nick Garrett&rsquo;s master plan has the blessing of Omnicom chairman John Wren, and Garrett says he wouldn&rsquo;t have taken the job without licence to radically recut the ANZ business.&nbsp;
If it works, &ldquo;I think the US and other markets are all looking at this with support and optimism, hoping that this is a great test case&rdquo;, says Garrett.
The new model puts a three-pronged upstream advisory layer at the top of its structure, supported by six &lsquo;centres of excellence&rsquo;, pooling and centralising resources to concentrate firepower as Omnicom heads &ldquo;upstream&rdquo;. It&rsquo;s going head-to-head in &ldquo;transformation&rdquo; and business strategy through brand with the likes of Accenture, Deloitte, McKinsey and Bain while taking marketers and customer chiefs upstream with them.&nbsp;
Too many marketers have been relegated to execution, per Garrett. He thinks Omnicom Oceania&rsquo;s new approach can help both parties regain strategic high ground. Corporate and government relations firm GRACosway may play an outsized role in opening up that pathway.
A major content and creative automation play for the group is also imminent &ndash; but it&rsquo;s not Ted Horton&rsquo;s BRX.&nbsp;
Garrett says not to undertake radical surgery poses the greatest risk for comms holding companies &ndash; they&rsquo;ve become too narrow and communications focused and lost the strategic high ground across industries and inside corporate executive leadership teams. With IPG absorbed, he thinks widespread industry speculation that at least one, perhaps two fewer direct holdco competitors by year&rsquo;s end is plausible - a WPP break-up and piecemeal sell-off being one of them. But it&rsquo;s telling that while eyeing consulting firms&rsquo; turf and moving away from a media and creative-led holdco into marketing transformation services, Garrett, when pushed, reckons Publicis is a bigger threat to Omnicom&rsquo;s new growth model than Accenture Song.
Despite the seismic overhaul, Garrett claims Omnicom Oceania is six months ahead of where the market thinks it is. But the proof is in the pudding &ndash; there&rsquo;s a lot riding on whether Omnicom&rsquo;s people can actually stretch to the new model&rsquo;s intent.
Garrett&rsquo;s confident. Here&rsquo;s what&rsquo;s coming next.&nbsp;

Omnicom Oceania chief Nick Garrett rejigs 100 brands, ditches old holdco media-creative model for CMO, CCO growth focus, takes on consultants with new upstream unit,  reshapes 1000 staffers as specialist group-wide ‘T-shape leaders’, lobs Publics over Accenture Song as biggest competitive threat 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/fa326977-3de5-4283-9b8b-af3500c58607/clips/566679cd-c8a6-4563-9a8a-b40f000eda08/transcript

Marketing funnel wars - Coles’ new online media platform triggers debate on the future of the marketing funnel

In 1 playlist(s)

Mi3 Audio Edition

Social links

Follow podcast

Recent clips