Jane Huxley.
The AdNews end of year Perspectives, looking back at 2024 and forward to next year.
Are Media Chief Executive Officer, Jane Huxley
What a year it's been! There's been instability across the globe. Trump is returning to the White House. Our own political landscape has been volatile, to say the least. Business and consumer confidence in Australia has been battered by the cost-of-living crisis. Most local advertising markets have been – to use the most-heard word of 2024 – tough.
The good news is that there are green shoots. There are signs on the horizon that things are going to start to get a little bit easier with positive indicators coming out of the US economy, and slight optimism around our own economy, including the retail sector. At Are Media, we are seeing strength in our lifestyle, fashion, beauty, home and weeklies brands.
History shows that advertising and media markets always come back after one of these cycles, but they very rarely come back to where they left off, which will create opportunity for all of us.
With that in mind, over the past three years at Are Media we've been focusing on fundamentally changing our business. We have not sat still in these difficult times. We've been focusing on becoming an omnichannel media company with strong content commerce capability, and have made significant investments in our platforms, people and capability, including our first party data strategy. We are ready to make the most of the foundations that we've spent the past three years resetting.
At Are Media, we hold two very strong beliefs about the company and its future: first, that trusted, relevant brands matter more than they ever did, and secondly, that content legitimises transactions.
In such a world of generated copy and content, our brands stand out. Our content is original. It's credible. It's created by journalists, artists, stylists, creators, sub editors and editors, people who have a really deep connection to their brand and a very, very deep connection to their audience. They bring what AI can't. They bring emotional intelligence to AI and bring EI and AI together.
Our people bring our brands to life, not only through our magazines, but through our websites, through our social footprint, through emails, through newsletters and through events. We have diversified our brands to be where our readers want to be and where they want us to be: a trusted advisor, helping them with decisions that they are, quite frankly, too tired and too busy to make for herself – what to wear, what to buy, what to cook, what to read, where to go and how to take the best care of themselves and their family.
We create cultural capital that influences buying behavior. Many people come to our brands with an intent to buy, and it's our job to convert that intent to action for our commercial partners.
Secondly, we believe that content legitimises transactions. Frankly it’s the role magazine brands have played for decades, now translated into the format people prefer to shop.
The content serves both as a guide and a persuasive tool. You may think you want to buy a set of earrings, but when marie claire tells you that they're the next big thing, well, you buy them. You may look around your living room and think it's getting a little tired but you’re not really sure what to do. Along comes Home Beautiful showing you seasonal looks and how to style your home on a budget – and you know that it's time to do it. Who hasn’t clicked on a link “I’m a beauty editor and here are my top 10 buys”? You might be looking for somewhere to eat, to celebrate, to holiday… the list goes on.
Nothing is more important than being able to contextualise decision making for our customers, and that's exactly what we're doing. We think it is the magical ingredient in turning intention into action.
The combination of trusted brands and content that legitimises transactions sits at the heart of Are Media and our strategic direction. And when combined with the transformation we have been through over the past three years, I am both confident and optimistic about the year ahead.
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