Welcome to SWOT by Sound Story, your inside track on the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats looming for the creative industries.
If you're not already subscribed, you can join SWOT here.
⚡ Trending: A new streaming player will deal a blow to Foxtel, which stands to lose HBO shows like Succession, True Detective and Game of Thrones. Words by Sam Buckingham-Jones. Source: The AFR.
🎵 Music: Independent music licensing representative Merlin says that TikTok has “refused to negotiate” a new licensing deal ahead of its expiry on October 31. Words by Murray Stassen. Source: Music Business Worldwide.
📰 Media: ‘Linear TV will continue to be plagued with the same instabilities’: Foxtel Media CEO speaks after company drops out of OzTAM. Words by Rosie Drew. Source: Mumbrella.
💰 Advertising: Advertising spend, as measured by media agency bookings, fell 6.3% in August but Olympics broadcaster Nine Entertainment and outdoor partner QMS cleaned up. Words by Chris Pash. Source: AdNews.
📲 Tech: Meta debuted its first pair of augmented reality glasses – devices that show a combined view of the digital and physical worlds, a key step in chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg’s goal of one day offering a hands-free alternative to the smartphone. Words by Kurt Wagner & Aisha Counts. Source: The SMH.
📜 Government: Creative Australia has launched the first round of First Nations First industry development initiatives, informed by extensive community consultation on the sector’s priorities and needs. Source: Creative Australia.
🌶️ Spicy: James Blunt has given fans the “power to f**k my life” if the re-release of his debut album reaches number one on the charts. Words by Christine Estera. Source: News.com.au.
Strength: Sydney Prepares for Round 2 of SXSW
In two weeks, the second iteration of SXSW Sydney will be nearing its end. Here’s what you can look forward to in the coming weeks.
👉 Rolling Stone House is coming to SXSW Sydney, with three nights (16 - 18 October) of live music from some of Australia’s best performers.
👉 The opening night of the UTS Underground takeover will be curated by independent Australian music powerhouses LLA and UNIFIED Music Group, with Hockey Dad, The Grogans, Full Flower Moon Band, and Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers (DJ set) slated to perform.
👉 Across other nights, performers include Voice of Baceprot, The Buoys, Alibii, Bri Clark, Bakers Eddy, Divebar Youth, Mulga Bore Hard Rock, and Nitecall.
👉 Harry Moore, the General Manager of Sound Story client Lonely Lands Agency (LLA), will also be moderating a panel, Asia Unlocked: Navigating New Tour Routes in APAC, which promises to offer fascinating insights into emerging markets and export opportunities.
👉 And Sound Story’s own Jake Challenor will be participating in a live action session which will pull back the curtain on how the industry’s sharpest minds handle chaos in real time. Cancelled? A Crisis PR Firedrill will explore mastering the art of resilience and humility, turning disaster into opportunity, and keeping cool when the spotlight burns hottest.
Weakness: That’s The Way The Cookie Crumbls?
Who would have thought that a cookie ‘scam’ would have been the story of the week?
👉 On Sunday, Sound Story team member Viv was driving down Old South Head Road, and was confronted by an annoying level of congestion (even for a Sunday), teenagers spilling onto the road, and a boy who ran into the mayhem brandishing a pink sign that seemed to say something about cookies. It was confusing, particularly as Viv had never heard of the apparent cult-like brand.
👉 Fast-forward a few days, and it seems like everyone is talking about Crumbl. After the social media hype, there was social media disappointment, social media furore, social media investigations and, as these things go, the mainstream media then followed the same cycle.
👉 Essentially, some Aussies went overseas. Bought A LOT of famous cookies. Brought them back. And sold them for $17.50 a pop. Cookie consumers, it seems, were unaware this was an unofficial pop-up.
👉 Somehow, the questionable importation of $6,000 worth of cookies has become a story about branding risks, the role of social media in brand hype (and brand damage), the reputational risks of having super fans (even when you’re not directly involved), and everything in between.
👉 On the one hand, it seems legal action could be on the horizon. While on the other, the actual Crumbl could very well use all of this free attention to expand into Australia, and profit off those so desperate for a bite.
Opportunity: A Turning Point For Aussie Music
We’ve all read the negative headlines about the state of the Australian music industry – whether it be perceived issues with the Charts, our apparent inability to create enough export-ready stars, and the cancellation of multiple festivals – however a raft of recent announcements indicates the tide could be turning.
👉 Ausmusic T-Shirt Day will be back in 2024 on 28 November, in a bid to celebrate the country’s music and raise critical funds to support music industry workers in crisis.
👉 The Screen Music Awards have also revealed their nominees ahead of the October ceremony.
👉 And off the back of the ARIA Awards nominations, CEO Annabelle Herd declared “Aussie music is back, baby”, noting 55.1% of nominees are women (up from last year’s 35%), 3.4% are non-binary, 19% are First Nations artists, 52.4% are independent, and there was a record-level of entries as well as votes received for Round 1 of voting.
👉 On the live music side, there is much hype and speculation about Laneway Festival, which has announced its 2025 dates ahead of next week’s lineup reveal.
👉 In another return, Live Nation’s On The Steps is back, with artists including Glass Animals, Troye Sivan, Tones And I, Missy Higgins and more. Promoter Mike Ross noted the sheer number of shows was a testament to the enthusiasm from fans, and the interest from artists to perform in such an iconic location.
Threat: Shifty Supermarkets
The two major supermarkets suck. That would be a fairly accurate (if basic) summation of Australian sentiment towards some of our biggest brands – Coles and Woolworths. The Brains Trust at Sound Story can do many things, but solving a branding, reputational (and indeed operational) crisis of this size would take more than one SWOT newsletter.
So this week, we ask the simplified question: If the supermarkets could make one comms move to flip the script or change the narrative, what would it be?
Zanda: It was probably inevitable that the big two supermarkets would be thrust into the spotlight amid the cost-of-living crisis, and to some extent, through no fault of their own. The COVID pandemic left supermarkets as one of the only places that Australians could physically go – leading to increased affinity with Woolies and Coles. The other result of this, as pointed out by The Guardian’s Full Story podcast this week, was that their profits grew during this period as they spent significant portions of 2020 and 2021 with virtually no competition. The mistake they made was assuming this was the new normal, and thinking the counter-point that their profits haven’t skyrocketed in the last couple of years would be an argument that could hold water. If the dodgy practices that had come to light recently had been in a vacuum, the public response would likely have been less intense. The duopoly needs to strike a better balance between keeping shareholders and consumers happy, if they’re of any chance of rising back up those trust rankings.
Vivienne: Wars. Natural disasters. Low profit margins. “A series of concurrent and unprecedented cost drivers and supply shocks”. A surge of price increases for commodities, shipping, oil and fertiliser. International supply and demand dynamics. Higher production costs. Weather events. Price increases imposed by major global food brands. General inflationary pressures. These are just SOME of the excuses the big two have delivered in recent months as to why it’s not actually their fault that prices are sky-high.
People simply don’t care about how hard life might be for multi-billion-dollar entities raking in record profits, with highly-paid execs delivering terrible performances. The level of resentment building up against Coles and Woolworths is hard to overcome, and listing off why it’s everyone’s fault BUT theirs just grates on people who are the ones paying the price. Then they go into the store. They’re monitored by security cameras from every angle. They check out their own groceries with yet another camera watching their eye movements and making sure they don’t put an avocado through as a potato. The prices appear and it’s more than they bargained for. And OMG, there’s NOT an unexpected item in the bagging area!
The Fun Stuff
Quote of the Week: “I know you’ve heard the rumours, and they are true, I’m re-releasing my debut album Back To Bedlam on October 11. Something that has kept me consistently rich for the past 20 years. So as a way to give back to you, my adoring public, if Back To Bedlam re-enters the charts at number one, I will legally change my name. What will I change it to? Well, it’s entirely up to you,” – James Blunt issues a tantalising challenge to fans (and non-fans).
📺 Show of the Week: The very nature of being a taxpayer-funded broadcaster means the ABC has always been an easy target for the media and taxpayers alike. But from the most recent racism review and various legal battles, to struggles in the radio ratings and criticism over its unimaginative television programming, 2024 feels like Aunty has been copping it from all sides.
It’s only fair then that when the ABC does something good, possibly even great, that they are praised for that. Getting your own TV show on the ABC is difficult at the best of times (unless you happen to be called Shaun Micallef) but that’s just what New Zealand comic Guy Montgomery has done – and Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee is an absolute blast.
Starting as a web series during COVID before being picked up on Kiwi television in 2023, the program has now been adapted to an Australian version on the ABC. From the 70s-inspired set design and Montgomery’s outfit to his trusted assistant, fellow rising comedian Aaron Chen, the show ranges from satisfyingly entertaining to hysterically funny. Unlike your average game show, there are literally dozens and dozens of different segments, with only the best being repeated – meaning that viewers have no idea what to expect from each episode.
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the Guy Mont-Spelling Bee has, both in New Zealand and Australia, done a fantastic job at casting a mix of fresh faces alongside established comics (something Question Everything and Ten’s Taskmaster Australia have also done recently, but has been sorely missing from Australian game and panel shows for some time) – Zanda.
🏆Client Win of the Week: Sound Story client The Brag Media has experienced an incredible quarter of milestones and moments, capped off by two wins at the Mumbrella Publish Awards last week. The team was awarded Magazine Cover of the Year for their eye-catching collaboration with Crowded House for the June-August issue of Rolling Stone AU/NZ, as well as Branded Content Studio of the Year for its Brag Studio operation. Congrats team!
