Bringing a bit of delight into people’s lives while building brand salience is the ambition of Fantastic Delites’ first above-the-line campaign activation released last week.

The AANA has released its new code of ethics for advertising, following a comprehensive review, initiated in 2019. The new code applies to all advertising in Australia and is intended to ensure advertising is legal, honest and reflects prevailing community standards.

National ad spend is showing signs of recovering, with lower declines in June and July and August numbers already showing stronger spending than previous months, according to the latest Standard Media Index data from July.

Brands that ignore the coronavirus crisis in their advertising do so at their own peril, according to the latest stats on pandemic advertising.

A new campaign from the Alcohol and Drug Foundation has been rolled out with a message urging Australians to examine their drinking habits during the COVID-19 pandemic. The integrated campaign, developed by Icon Agency and funded by the federal government, is titled ‘Break the Habit’ and aims to highlight that it takes only around 66 days, on average, to form a habit – roughly the amount of time many Australians spent in lockdown.

The significant impact of COVID-19 on advertising spend in the last six months has proven apparent as media companies from across channels report their full-year and half-yearly results.

Advertising industry body, the Communications Council, has relaunched under the new name, Advertising Council Australia (ACA). The relaunch entails an overhauled strategic direction that will see a number of key initiatives rolled out this year and next, aimed at supporting members and the advertising industry as a whole.

The adtech industry is responding favourably to efforts to provide alternative user identification data mechanisms to replace traditional cookie tracking. But several have warned privacy and security concerns remain a significant hurdle to adoption.

Australian activewear brand, Lorna Jane, has defended its decision to advertise its ‘LJ Shield’ technology after being fined $40,000 by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for claims relating to the product’s resiliency against viruses and bacteria.

Australia’s alcohol marketing watchdog has joined Ad Standards in reminding brands to be mindful of content aligning to responsible advertising practices during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Global ad spend will fall by almost 12 per cent this year (excluding US political advertising), but this will be followed by growth of 8.2 per cent on a comparable basis next year, according to GroupM’s twice yearly This Year, Next Year report.

The COVID-19 pandemic has seen local news outlets reach a new high of 18.2 million readers, the highest figure recorded since the introduction of Enhanced Media Metrics Australia (emma) in 2013, with consumption of digital news sites the key driver.

Jobs advertised across Australia’s marketing and communications industry fell by nearly 61 per cent between April and May, according to new figures from Seek.

Out-of-home advertising (OOH) hit its lowest point in early April, but is picking up again ahead of formal easing of COVID-19-related restrictions, according to data compiled by QMS.

Information, connection, comfort and escapism are dominating the behaviour of Australian consumers as they strive to get through the COVID-19 crisis.

Increasing your brand’s share of voice in news media and taking advantage of positive attributes these environments provide not only makes your advertising more effective, it’s likely to weaken your competitor’s position too.

Former Infotrack marketing leader and CMO50 honorary, Roni Millard, has taken the step up to executive leadership as joined GDR as managing director to build out its agency offering.

The current COVID-19 pandemic that’s gripping the world is forcing the type of strict isolation and distancing on people most have never experienced before. Yet, with so many connected platforms and services, we’ve never been more together while being apart.

Eight in 10 consumers believes brands have an important role to play through the COVID-19 crisis according to a new survey undertaken by Havas Agency. And the survey is proving one of many indicators highlighting the need for brands to focus on their usefulness and value to consumers in their everyday lives during this time.

Some 86 per cent of brands have changed their digital ad spend over the last month, with more than half reporting they are reviewing advertising plans on a daily basis, according to the COVID-19 Digital Ad Impact survey conducted by IAB Australia.

Radio network operators, Southern Cross Austereo and Australia Radio Network, have become the latest media operators to confirm staff pay cuts and reduction of hours across teams as they battle again declining advertising spend in the COVID-19 crisis.