‘Long may we play’ might have been TAB’s chosen brand platform well before the COVID-19 crisis hit, but it’s become even more salient as the organisation navigates through the unprecedented pandemic.

As the COVID-19 restrictions continue to ease across the country, two separate measures of business sentiment and consumer confidence show the ongoing negative effects of the crisis.

Brands must be agile, adapt communication to their audience, treat people well and adopt principles based on individual safety and embrace flexibility as they strive to recover from the COVID-19 crisis.

Brands spent somewhere well above $750 million sponsoring sporting events and clubs in Australia in 2019. That number was on track to be bettered in 2020 thanks to the benign economic climate and the Tokyo Olympics.

Panadol has partnered with mental health and wellness non-profit organisation, Smiling Mind, in a new initiative to help Australians look after their mental health and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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.

​In this week's instalment of Conversations over a Cuppa with CMO, we talk with Coles Group CMO and our former #1 in the CMO 2018, Lisa Ronson, about how the supermarket giant has approached marketing and customer engagement and how she's coped with the transformative and significant impact of the COVID-19 crisis as a leader and brand strategist.

SAP’s head of marketing A/NZ, Rushenka Perera, is a big believer in brand building in a time of downturn and crisis. Why is why she’s committed to brand-led activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rising customer expectations have pushed marketers into being engagers, beyond just messengers, fostering customer engagement well beyond the first purchase, according to the latest Salesforce State of Marketing report. And in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, standards of customer engagement are shifting yet again, with marketers on the forefront of new trends.

Movember’s digitally-driven MayEight festival has been heralded a success after chalking up more than 33,000 views this year.

In times of crisis, Australians turn to their homes, focusing on food and maintenance, according to the results from a Roy Morgan survey. It’s revealed that at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Australians nominated Bunnings and Woolworths as their most trusted brands.

Internal communications may not be the most glamourous task within the marketing function. But in a time of crisis, it plays a vital role in both distributing information and creating social cohesion among the workforce.

Air New Zealand has made its chief marketing officer redundant as part of a sweeping set of changes to it executive ranks.

​NBN Co, operator of Australia’s national broadband network (nbn), has taken its customer ambassadors online with a new virtual offering designed to replace the face-to-face time lacking during COVID-19.

A digital distribution platform for marketing content, created by Gefen Technologies, is set to launch in Australia with plans for an initial public offering (IPO) and to list on the ASX by year-end.

Klarna, the buy-now-pay-later fintech outfit, had just launched in Australia with its global campaign, ‘Get What You Love’, featuring Lady Gaga, when the COVID-19 pandemic broke.

Looking to create a point of difference on customer service, health fund, Bupa, has launched a WhatsApp messaging channel that customers can use instead of waiting on hold.

The coronavirus pandemic is affecting everyone the world over, bringing unprecedented disruptions and challenges both to the way we work and the way we live. Marketers seeking new tools for navigating the changing operating environment will find many martech outfits have been quick to retool solutions to meet the coronavirus challenges.

As an energy wholesaler, Jemena is one step removed from electricity and gas users. But wanting better visibility of customers, the B2B company decided to adopt an entirely new customer experience (CX) platform.

A product launch that out of necessity became a virtual event first for John Frieda’s brand team has set the scene for more marketing innovation and transformation, its marketing chief says.

Partnering with Deliveroo to provide board games to Australian stuck at home is about looking outside the box as a brand and responding to an unprecedented situation, Winning Moves’ marketing leaders says.