The Abbott government has its sights set on everything from media ownership rules to competition policy. For the peddlers of political influence, it's snatch and grab time.
Pick up a copy of today's AdNews in print or download it to your iPad, for Paul McIntyre's report delving into the dark arts of the hidden persuaders.
"We knew Hawker Britton was a vulnerable business model," says STW's Chris Savage. "We needed two hardcore lobbying companies operating on both sides of politics."
And that "evil twins" strategy is making a motza – the lobbying sector's lucrative margins mean a 30-person firm is the equivalent of an 80-person advertising or PR agency.
News in this issue:
• No more publishers' club: the IAB brings in the entire industry. Online advertising is like a "teenager that needs to grow up"
• Augmented reality: the next big thing, the "next internet", and … the saviour of print? You can "measure the hell out of it"
• Super Bowl brings out super ads: ad effectiveness firm Ace Metrix reveals which brand made the most of its $4 million investment
• Health – it's big business, big data, and there's a big play between DMG, News Corp and Ten to mine it all. Brands are queuing up
• News Corp says the future is "membership", not subscriptions. Damian Eales reveals the publisher's roadmap for the future
• Price check in 2014: Suncorp wants to put a total lifetime value on each of the group's nine million customers
• Divided loyalty: new research shows young Australians are defecting from loyalty programs in droves – and you can forget about an app
Also in this issue, our Western Australia special report – Nine has rolled into Kerry Stokes' backyard and is eyeing up the house. Seven says it's armed and ready. Local man David Mott has been tasked with orchestrating the raid, which is apt. WA is a local state for local people. Seven's Kurt Burnette is confident audiences will remain loyal, but is taking the threat seriously.
"Nobody is taking their foot off the accelerator," he says. "We expect a battle. Will they make ground in some areas? There might be some days, some weeks where they will. But our guys are ready for the fight from all competitors trying to come in." Mott admits Seven's newspaper business is a barrier: "Clearly we'd like to do more press but one player might not give us that much coverage. Although they are happy to take our ad dollars, apparently."
Elsewhere: Naked's Carl Ratcliff admits "clever media planning isn't something you can survive alone on these days" and it's time to turn a profit. Starcom's global operations head, John Sheehy, says Google doesn't scare him, and News Corp's Damian Eales brings retail thinking to the publisher. And Bram Williams, Sandor Moldan, Lee Stephens, Justin Graham, Mike Wilson and Nigel Marsh chime in with an opinion.
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