Melbourne Rebels face Thai controversy | Inside the Ikon court case | AnalogFolk appoints ECD | How to run a newsroom during a flood crisis | Ever fancied stand up comedy? | 23 new jobs

[View Newsletter Online]( [Mumbrella Newsletter][Mumbrella Newsletter]( After Tuesday, earlybird tickets for Mumbrella CommsCon will disappear Make sure you lock in your tickets for [Mumbrella’s CommsCon]( by Tuesday to save $100. Not only will you get a front row seat to the biggest international line-up in the event’s history, you’ll also get key lessons in crisis management, insights on adding content to your remit, and the biggest trends the comms and PR industry is seeing right now. You won’t want to miss out, [book now for less.]( Features [Inside the client vs agency test case: Lessons learned from the Advangen litigation]( Ikon Communications’ recent court win against its former client Advangen provides compelling reasons for why it is time to hit ‘reset’ on the agency-advertiser relationship, write Stephen von Muenster, partner and Chris Paver, associate from DVM Law, who represented Ikon in the case. Who should be responsible when an ad campaign doesn’t meet the advertiser’s expectations? Is it the agency which developed, planned and executed the campaign and bought the media? Or the advertiser who requested and signed off on it? Or does responsibility lie somewhere in between? [READ MORE »]( News [Richard Morgan joins AnalogFolk as executive creative director]( Former 303 MullenLowe ECD Richard Morgan has joined Analogfolk to lead the Australian business alongside Matt Robinson and Ben Hourahine. Morgan left 303 MullenLowe last September after announcing his departure in May. Prior to that, he was creative director at DDB Sydney and Holler. [READ MORE »]( News [Melbourne Rebels stands by Thai Airways sponsorship despite Hakeem al-Araibi controversy]( Super Rugby’s Melbourne Rebels is standing by its sponsor, Thai Airlines, despite increasing pressure on the club to drop the deal as the al-Araibi crisis deepens. Hakeem al-Araibi, a refugee living in Australia, has spent the last two months in a Thai jail as he faces extradition to his birth country of Bahrain on what his supporters claim are spurious charges. [READ MORE »]( Features [How a flood crisis changes a regional newsroom]( As serious floods threaten to overwhelm Townsville, Mumbrella’s Zoe Samios speaks to Townsville Bulletin editor Jenna Cairney about how her newsroom has been forced to adapt to the crisis. In Queensland on Tuesday afternoon, Townsville Bulletin editor Jenna Cairney sits in her office, hopeful the worst of the flood crisis is over. It’s been more than a week of struggle for Cairney and her team, who have balanced the day-to-day news cycle on top of the ongoing natural disaster. [READ MORE »]( News [Pitch2Punchline to train Mumbrella readers for stand-up challenge – at the Opera House]( A new charity initiative from the creators of Pitch2Punch will train Mumbrella readers to perform stand-up comedy – at the Sydney Opera House. Pitch2Punchline takes place on Monday 3 June, the week of Mumbrella360, and will raise funds for mental health charity Batyr. TV comedian and presenter Cam Knight will mentor the 20 brave applicants for six weeks before they perform at the gala event in front of up to 300 of their industry peers. [READ MORE »]( News [Edison Research president Larry Rosin to headline Mumbrella Audioland plus more speakers announced]( Larry Rosin, President of Edison Research, the publisher of respected annual digital media consumption research The Infinite Dial, with Triton Digital, will fly in from New Jersey to present the headline keynote at Mumbrella Audioland. The Infinite Dial has become one of the most important sources of regular audio industry research, having launched in the USA in 1998. An Australian study has also been produced since 2017. [READ MORE »]( Sponsored Post This is your last week to enter and win yourself a real-life Logie Award year, the 61st TV Week Logie Awards will recognise excellence in the advertising industry, awarding…. “Most Popular Television Commercial” This award is voted for by REAL PEOPLE. The winning ad and agency will be included on the TV broadcast credits, and you’ll be invited to attend! Finally an award Mum and Dad have heard of. [Click here to enter.]( News [Mortgage brokers launch campaign to fight royal commission proposals]( The first advertising campaign following the Banking Royal Commission’s final report has been launched by the Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia. Backed by major broking companies including Aussie, Mortgage Choice and Pepper Money, the ‘Your Broker Behind You Campaign’ points out the Royal Commission’s recommendations to abolish certain types of payments to brokers will hurt consumers and benefit the big four banks. [READ MORE »]( Opinion [In a post royal commission world, can marketing even help banks win back trust?]( Australia’s banks are facing an unprecedented marketing challenge. So where should they even start, asks The Content Division’s Kurt Sanders? This morning as I knocked off my bacon and eggs – a luxury breakfast achievable only through my broker Dave securing me an extremely decent fee-free low fixed-rate home loan a few years back – a bank ad retargeted me on Twitter urging me to swap my loan to them. [READ MORE »]( Sponsored Post ad:tech Sydney Agenda is LIVE! The 2019 ad:tech Sydney [agenda is now LIVE](. With keynotes from IBM, Google, PHD, Zenith, Compare the Market, Salesforce, THE ICONIC and many more – now is the time to secure your seat in the room. There are only 30 seats left for the great ad:tech debate, so act fast and get your All Access pass before you miss out! [Click here to learn more.]( Opinion [Drop the emotion - banks must first communicate how they are fixing their problems]( Forget ‘celebrating Australians’ and convincing customers there’s more than to life than money. The banks have a serious clean up on their hands, and talking plainly about how they’re intending to do that is the first step, writes Reputation Edge’s Patrick Southam. As I was following media coverage of the Hayne Royal Commission into Misconduct in Banking and Financial Services this week, I couldn’t help but recall my own experience working for two of the big four banks in senior corporate affairs roles. [READ MORE »]( News [Married At First Sight powers through Wednesday night demographics]( Dinner party tensions saw Married at First Sight dominate Wednesday night’s TV ratings across all the demographics according to OzTam’s overnight preliminary ratings. The show recorded 1.28m metro viewers, well ahead of Seven’s My Kitchen Rules’ 816,000. Nine’s show also more than doubled MKR’s audience in the three key age demographics. [READ MORE »]( News [Walkley Foundation appoints John Bergin as project manager for Google News Initiative program]( John Bergin has been appointed by The Walkley Foundation to manage its Google News Initiative training program. Bergin was formerly digital editor at SBS and director of digital news at the Australian News Channel. [READ MORE »]( News [Australian Traveller launches US magazine for Tourism Australia]( Australian Traveller and Tourism Australia have launched a magazine in the US, in a bid to entice more travellers to visit. The new magazine, Australia, has a circulation of 50,000 and will be distributed for free around airports in the US, including Los Angeles International Airport, John F Kennedy International Airport and Dallas/Fort Worth International airport. Online distributions can be obtained on request and the magazine is also available through Press Reader. [READ MORE »]( News [Nine appoints Liana Dubois as Powered lead, Lizzie Young promoted]( Nine has re-shuffled its commercial team, appointing Lizzie Young as managing director of commercial partnerships, and promoting Sydney director of sales Liana Dubois to director of Powered, its strategic client solutions arm. The changes come two months after Nine CEO Hugh Marks revealed his new leadership team, which included Young as group director of content strategy. [READ MORE »]( News [Australian Greens start election push with 'a future for all of us' campaign]( The Australian Greens has launched a socially-led marketing campaign ahead of the Federal Election, which is expected to be sometime in May. Titled ‘a future for all of us’, the two minute ad celebrates the diversity in Australia and calls for the population to “turn hope into action”. [READ MORE »]( News [Research and brand agency Pollinate expands into Melbourne]( Sydney-based research and brand agency Pollinate has opened its doors in Melbourne and hired Allan Dib as MD. Prior to joining Pollinate Dib was the director of planning and strategy at WPP’s PR agency PPR. [READ MORE »]( News [Purplebricks hires King Kong as digital agency]( Real estate company Purplebricks has engaged King Kong as its digital agency in Australia. King Kong will be responsible for creating digital marketing strategies and campaigns across Google Ads, YouTube pre-roll and Facebook. [READ MORE »]( News [City of Karratha reveals brand positioning 'Karratha is calling']( The City of Karratha has unveiled its new brand positioning ‘Karratha is calling’ in a campaign created by 303 MullenLowe. ‘Karratha is calling’ aims to debunk the perception that Western Australia’s Karratha is simply a mining town. [READ MORE »]( Attention Australia’s media & marketing industry: Mumbrella Awards entries are open The [Mumbrella Awards]( is back and it will celebrate the best, bravest and brightest work in media and marketing. There are 30 categories up for grabs across campaigns, agencies, in-house teams, PR, advertising, production and more. So if you or your team have been shaking up the industry, [check out the categories today]( to see where you qualify and start thinking about your entry. Would you rather spend your precious time focusing on developing new business and relationships, rather than researching basic contact details or agency client lists? If so, say hello to [Mumbrella The Source,]( your industry data bank chock full of up-to-date contact details of hundreds of agencies, brands, industry bodies and more. Not sure how it’ll stack up? [Trial it FREE for seven days.]( FYI • [Wavemaker creates podcast for Paramount’s What Men Want]( • [Bastion EBA creates activation to promote Garnier’s commitment to nature]( • [Neil Martin joins The Brand Agency as art director]( Jobs [23 new jobs]( MOST DISCUSSED [Former Fairfax contributor Clementine Ford blasts managers and editors]( [ACCC launches initial investigation into rebates and discounts in outdoor advertising]( [Initiative Sydney's GM Nick Wokes made redundant]( [Press watchdog censures Daily Mail and nine.com.au for irrelevant use of 'transgender']( mumbrella.com.au Sent By Focal Attractions Pty Ltd 46-48 Balfour Street, Chippendale, NSW, 2008, Australia If you would rather not receive this newsletter, you can [unsubscribe]( or [manage subscriptions here.](