Jo Horgan, co-founder of the 100-store and online beauty juggernaut Mecca Brands opened her flagship store - and the biggest beauty retail space in the Southern Hemisphere - last November in the iconic Sydney CBD Gowings building when Covid was in full swing and CBDs were shopping wastelands. But custom is booming at pre-Covid levels and bricks and mortar is powering. Here’s how the beauty boss wants technology to reinvent the online-offline beauty game. But it’s still all about Mecca’s humans.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jo Horgan, co-founder of the 100-store and online beauty juggernaut Mecca Brands opened her flagship store - and the biggest beauty retail space in the Southern Hemisphere - last November in the iconic Sydney CBD Gowings building when Covid was in full swing and CBDs were shopping wastelands. But custom is booming at pre-Covid levels and bricks and mortar is powering. Here&rsquo;s how the beauty boss wants technology to reinvent the online-offline beauty game. But it&rsquo;s still all about Mecca&rsquo;s humans.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

Mecca Brands founder Jo Horgan on why customer experience triggered an in-store Covid boom, dropping an anti-advertising policy and her sweeping brief to Salesforce to reinvent online and offline beauty retailing

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

Host: Nadia Cameron, Publisher | Editor – Marketing

Live shopping, a blend of live video, real-time interaction and in-stream checkouts, is becoming a significant incremental ecommerce growth lever. Global figures suggest living shopping will tip an eye-watering US$2 trillion by 2030 and hit $1 trillion this year. It’s already revolutionising retail in Asian markets: Live shopping in China represents 80 per cent of the incremental growth in the ecommerce sector.

A big driver for this gamified commerce phenomenon? FOMO. Per eBay research, almost half of Australians (48%) are driven by fear of missing out in their shopping habits, and one in two say they’ve missed out on coveted limited edition or rare items they would have liked to have purchase.

With such insights to hand, eBay Live launched in Australia just in time for Christmas, coupling the livestream broadcasting format with its goods marketplace. First port of call: The growing collectables audience of buyers and sellers on its platform (30 per cent of Australians are collectors).

Over the last 3-4 years, eBay took a position that it wasn’t going to be a marketplace for everyone and everything, says eBay head of marketing and communications, Zannie Abbott. Core categories for eBay include car parts and accessories, pre-loved fashion and the ballooning category of collectibles and trading cards. 

“There are other places where you can buy your tissues and your nappies, but we really are the place to go for the things you love, and we have really doubled down in specific focus categories where we know we have a right to win here locally in Australia,” she says. “There is a perfect synergy around community, commerce and culture as an opportunity that really is ripe for us.”

eBay Live has been natively built into the marketplace and app. Users can go straight into a live stream and start bidding and buying, participating in short auction bursts running for just seconds. The local rollout took a snappy six weeks thanks to learnings from US and UK launches, cross-functional collaboration and an “agile” all-in approach to innovation fuelled by a low-ego culture, says Abbott.

Trust is at the heart of the offering, continues eBay Live category manager, Eric Chen. Every seller is vetted, handpicked as much for personality and broadcast potential as they are for their selling prowess.

Tapping directly into FOMO and culture, eBay chose to make its first Aussie livestream secret, featuring AFL superstar, Buddy Franklin, who auctioned rare, signed AFL trading cards for just $0.01. The global trading card games market is forecast to grow to $18bn in the next five years.

“It's incredibly exciting for everyone tuning in at the moment, but that also then turns into content afterwards that reaches a much bigger audience,” Chen says. “We just had a stream last week with Veronica Taylor, who was the original voice of Ash Ketchum for the Pokémon 30th anniversary event. These moments are something we’re able to build through eBay Live, which previously we didn't have a platform for, and create these special moments.”

To grow awareness and education, eBay Live’s marketing strategy emphasises owned channels and grassroots connection. It’s leveraged five collectible toy events, undertaking live activations on stage to build momentum, interest and excitement in the entertainment-with-commerce proposition.

Using the starting point of behaviour, iProspect national managing director, Marcelle Hoyek, says the agency worked with eBay to identify two audiences: Those ready for Live now, and those who will be ready sometime in future. Live wasn’t an unfamiliar concept, but the habit wasn’t ingrained, she points out. “It all starts with audience and that’s the biggest role we play with eBay when they’re launching something new into market,” she says. “Who's the audience? What are they into? What are their drivers? And what's the opportunity for us?

Commercial data is indicating eBay is onto a winner. In the US, one seller sold $1M USD of watches in 3 hours. A livestream in Australia featuring Pokémon cards clicked over $100,000 AUD in one night.

“There are a number of metrics we're monitoring as a business to understand whether we're getting traction or not, and that's everything from number of sellers to number of live streams to sales,” comments Abbott, adding a fine balance of new buyers coming to site, content density and number of sellers is critical to success.

Host: Nadia Cameron, Publisher | Editor &ndash; Marketing
Live shopping, a blend of live video, real-time interaction and in-stream checkouts, is becoming a significant incremental ecommerce growth lever. Global figures suggest living shopping will tip an eye-watering US$2 trillion by 2030 and hit $1 trillion&nbsp;this year. It&rsquo;s already revolutionising retail in Asian markets: Live shopping in China represents 80 per cent of the incremental growth in the ecommerce sector.
A big driver for this gamified commerce phenomenon? FOMO. Per eBay research, almost half of Australians (48%) are driven by fear of missing out in their shopping habits, and one in two say they&rsquo;ve missed out on coveted limited edition or rare items they would have liked to have purchase.
With such insights to hand, eBay Live launched in Australia just in time for Christmas, coupling the livestream broadcasting format with its goods marketplace. First port of call: The growing collectables audience of buyers and sellers on its platform (30 per cent of Australians are collectors).
Over the last 3-4 years, eBay took a position that it wasn&rsquo;t going to be a marketplace for everyone and everything, says eBay head of marketing and communications, Zannie Abbott. Core categories for eBay include car parts and accessories, pre-loved fashion and the ballooning category of collectibles and trading cards.&nbsp;
&ldquo;There are other places where you can buy your tissues and your nappies, but we really are the place to go for the things you love, and we have really doubled down in specific focus categories where we know we have a right to win here locally in Australia,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;There is a perfect synergy around community, commerce and culture as an opportunity that really is ripe for us.&rdquo;
eBay Live has been natively built into the marketplace and app. Users can go straight into a live stream and start bidding and buying, participating in short auction bursts running for just seconds. The local rollout took a snappy six weeks thanks to learnings from US and UK launches, cross-functional collaboration and an &ldquo;agile&rdquo; all-in approach to innovation fuelled by a low-ego culture, says Abbott.
Trust is at the heart of the offering, continues eBay Live category manager, Eric Chen. Every seller is vetted, handpicked as much for personality and broadcast potential as they are for their selling prowess.
Tapping directly into FOMO and culture, eBay chose to make its first Aussie livestream secret, featuring AFL superstar, Buddy Franklin, who auctioned rare, signed AFL trading cards for just $0.01. The global trading card games market is forecast to grow to $18bn in the next five years.
&ldquo;It's incredibly exciting for everyone tuning in at the moment, but that also then turns into content afterwards that reaches a much bigger audience,&rdquo; Chen says. &ldquo;We just had a stream last week with Veronica Taylor, who was the original voice of Ash Ketchum for the Pok&eacute;mon 30th anniversary event. These moments are something we&rsquo;re able to build through eBay Live, which previously we didn't have a platform for, and create these special moments.&rdquo;
To grow awareness and education, eBay Live&rsquo;s marketing strategy emphasises owned channels and grassroots connection. It&rsquo;s leveraged five collectible toy events, undertaking live activations on stage to build momentum, interest and excitement in the entertainment-with-commerce proposition.
Using the starting point of behaviour, iProspect national managing director, Marcelle Hoyek, says the agency worked with eBay to identify two audiences: Those ready for Live now, and those who will be ready sometime in future. Live wasn&rsquo;t an unfamiliar concept, but the habit wasn&rsquo;t ingrained, she points out. &ldquo;It all starts with audience and that&rsquo;s the biggest role we play with eBay when they&rsquo;re launching something new into market,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;Who's the audience? What are they into? What are their drivers? And what's the opportunity for us?
Commercial data is indicating eBay is onto a winner. In the US, one seller sold $1M USD of watches in 3 hours. A&nbsp;livestream in Australia featuring Pok&eacute;mon cards clicked over $100,000 AUD in one night.
&ldquo;There are a number of metrics we're monitoring as a business to understand whether we're getting traction or not, and that's everything from number of sellers to number of live streams to sales,&rdquo; comments Abbott, adding a fine balance of new buyers coming to site, content density and number of sellers is critical to success.

The rise of live shopping: eBay taps fandom, collectibles obsessions, and the consumer’s penchant for entertainment-laden commerce with debut of eBay Live in Australia as global spending looks set to hit $2 trillion by 2030.

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/fa326977-3de5-4283-9b8b-af3500c58607/clips/806cd0de-1cb5-48c8-8998-b40b0067bfa0/transcript

Host: Nadia Cameron, Publisher | Editor – Marketing

For Expedia Group country director and marketing activation lead, Philippa Durant, completing an MBA culminated in three leadership pillars reflecting her own personal brand: Kindness, passion and creativity. For Monash IVF head of marketing, Stuart Matthewman, securing a new formal tertiary qualification meant being uncomfortable – especially when squaring up to financial acumen – but also turned into growth and ultimately, compounding learning. And for Fitness and Lifestyle Group EGM of marketing and PR, Sara Dunseath, time at Harvard studying corporate revitalisation – “after a kick up the bum from my CEO” – fostered adaptability, confidence and relevance.

These three marketing executives join Mi3 Publisher and CMO Awards program leader, Nadia Cameron in the first of our new series of CMO Awards podcasts for 2026 to explore how formal knowledge is power, and why these mid-career learning experiences have proven of such benefit professionally and personally. There’s no doubt the pressure is piling on marketing executives to be constantly learning and adapting their skill sets to suit rapidly changing marketing, business and customer environments. And it can be exhausting, all three agree – especially when there is such scrutiny of marketing ROI and an onus to know how to always deliver success. But surprisingly, taking the time to tackle formal learning in courses that first appeared to be outside the boundaries of the marketing function gave them renewed energy to tackle tasks at hand. Even more significantly, it elevated their own respect for the very discipline of marketing itself in organisations today.

Tune into the conversation here.

Host: Nadia Cameron, Publisher | Editor &ndash; Marketing
For Expedia Group country director and marketing activation lead, Philippa Durant, completing an MBA culminated in three leadership pillars reflecting her own personal brand: Kindness, passion and creativity. For Monash IVF head of marketing, Stuart Matthewman, securing a new formal tertiary qualification meant being uncomfortable &ndash; especially when squaring up to financial acumen &ndash; but also turned into growth and ultimately, compounding learning. And for Fitness and Lifestyle Group EGM of marketing and PR, Sara Dunseath, time at Harvard studying corporate revitalisation &ndash; &ldquo;after a kick up the bum from my CEO&rdquo; &ndash; fostered adaptability, confidence and relevance.
These three marketing executives join Mi3 Publisher and CMO Awards program leader, Nadia Cameron in the first of our new series of CMO Awards podcasts for 2026 to explore how formal knowledge is power, and why these mid-career learning experiences have proven of such benefit professionally and personally. There&rsquo;s no doubt the pressure is piling on marketing executives to be constantly learning and adapting their skill sets to suit rapidly changing marketing, business and customer environments. And it can be exhausting, all three agree &ndash; especially when there is such scrutiny of marketing ROI and an onus to know how to always deliver success. But surprisingly, taking the time to tackle formal learning in courses that first appeared to be outside the boundaries of the marketing function gave them renewed energy to tackle tasks at hand. Even more significantly, it elevated their own respect for the very discipline of marketing itself in organisations today.
Tune into the conversation here.

The CMO Awards Podcast Episode 9: Fountains of knowledge: CMOs on the power of mid-profession learning

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/fa326977-3de5-4283-9b8b-af3500c58607/clips/776c6fc6-8c30-4cb3-8215-b4010048b3ef/transcript

Mecca Brands founder Jo Horgan on why customer experience triggered an in-store Covid boom, dropping an anti-advertising policy and her sweeping brief to Salesforce to reinvent online and offline beauty retailing

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