WPP AUNZ slumps further | 72andSunny ECD walks | Can we re-create the great Australian agency? | Isentia's woes deepen | Hugh Marks discusses Nine's digital future

[View Newsletter Online]( [Mumbrella Newsletter][Mumbrella Newsletter]( Where do you qualify for this year’s Mumbrella Awards? Entries are coming in for the [Mumbrella Awards]( across media, marketing, content, advertising, leadership, sales and more. It’s one of the most respected media and marketing awards in the country, and offers a chance to build your reputation in front of senior industry judges, as well as your peers. [Be sure to see where you qualify]( today and start thinking about your entry, due March 15. News [WPP AUNZ reports profit slump following sales decline]( Local holding group WPP AUNZ has continued its run of bad news, reporting a 12.8% fall in earnings before interest and tax on the back of a 4% sales decline. The group’s previous report to the ASX last October saw the business’ share price collapse 28% and the abrupt departure of then-CEO Mike Connaghan. [READ MORE »]( News [Micah Walker departs 72andSunny as ECD after eight months]( The executive creative director at 72andSunny Sydney, Micah Walker, has departed the agency after eight months in the role, Mumbrella can reveal. Walker joined the agency in July last year after a four year stint as creative director at Wieden + Kennedy Portland. [READ MORE »]( Features [Mumbrellacast: Nine and News fight over breakfast, Google and Facebook battle the ACCC]( On this week’s Mumbrellacast, we chat to Mark Green, CEO and co-founder of The Monkeys, and Nicole Taylor, CEO, McCann Australia (otherwise known as chair and deputy chair of The Comms Council) about the #MeToo movement, industry body overload and tackling the problem of talent. Plus, Tim makes a reference that dates back to 1898 about the Irish newspaper The Skibbereen Eagle. For some reason, he thinks we’ll know what he’s talking about. We don’t. [READ MORE »]( Opinion [It’s time to re-create the great Australian agency]( Australian ideas are a means to an end. And that end is pumping up a share price in Tokyo, London, Paris or New York, writes Bastion Collective CEO Jack Watts. Every day starts the same. Get up, get moving, get positive. Today is a new day. Slowly, the day deteriorates. Every time the phone rings it’s a toss of the coin between triumph and disaster. Is this the ‘yes’ I’ve been waiting for, or another problem waiting for me to solve? [READ MORE »]( News [Nine boss: 'We are the only ones with a decent-sized digital business in this market']( Nine is the only operator with a “decent-sized digital business” in the Australian market, according to CEO Hugh Marks. In an interview following the financial results, Marks told Mumbrella the digital side of the business was its key differentiator, adding he would focus his attention on growing its share of revenue in the coming years. [READ MORE »]( News [Isentia's woes continue in face of declining spend and increased competition]( The woes of media intelligence group Isentia have deepened, with the ASX-listed company reporting a $22m operating loss for the first half of the 2019 financial year. Isentia, last year’s worst performer among ASX-listed media and marketing companies, reported EBITDA moving from a $11.4m surplus last year to a $12.8m loss this year. [READ MORE »]( News [SCA CEO still sees a bright future for television despite write downs]( Southern Cross Austero boss Grant Blackley still sees a future for television despite his group’s $228m write down of its TV broadcasting assets, which were revealed in its half yearly financial report. Discussing the results with Mumbrella, Blackley said: “There’s no question it has come under pressure in recent years.” [READ MORE »]( News [Digitas Australia hires James Hudson as head of media]( Publicis Groupe’s Digitas has hired James Hudson as its head of media. Hudson joins the agency from Zenith where he was the head of digital for almost four years. [READ MORE »]( News [Blair Crouch joins MKTG as GM of strategy and marketing]( Dentsu Aegis Network’s lifestyle marketing agency MKTG has hired Blair Crouch as its general manager of marketing and strategy. Crouch joins the agency from his previous stint at Moonee Valley Racing Club where he was the general manager of marketing and commercial for nearly two years. [READ MORE »]( News [Virgin Australia appoints Hardie Grant Media to publishing and sales account]( Virgin Australia has appointed Hardie Grant Media to its publishing and sales contract. The content and publishing agency was previously held by incumbent agency Pacific+. [READ MORE »]( News [Astrid Serventy set to depart Cannings Purple as director of government relations]( Cannings Purples’ director of government relations, Astrid Serventy, has departed the PR agency. Serventy joined the agency five years ago as an associate director and was promoted to director of government relations in 2017. [READ MORE »]( News [Seven's new drama pulls 463,000 metro viewers on debut]( The premiere of Seven’s new Australian drama, Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries, attracted a metro audience of 463,000, and a national audience of 741,000. Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries ran against Nine’s Australian Crime Stories, which had a metro audience of 279,000, and Ten’s Gogglebox, which attracted 650,000 metro viewers and was the most watched non-news program of the evening. [READ MORE »]( News [Edge documents the life of a six-foot tall donut in latest work for Donut King]( Edge has released its latest campaign for Donut King, which documents the life of a six-foot tall donut. The campaign showcases Donut King’s new ‘Xtra Collection’, which features donuts covered in Kit Kat, Smarties and Milky Bars. [READ MORE »]( News [Bupa hires Roger Sharp as director of corporate affairs]( Heath care insurer Bupa has hired Roger Sharp as its director of corporate affairs. Sharp is replacing Dieter Lehmann who departed the business to join Coles as its head of corporate communications in November last year. [READ MORE »]( News [ANZ prepares for Mardi Gras with Oxford Street 'Signs of Love' campaign across Australia]( ANZ bank has extended its long-running link with Sydney’s Mardi Gras festival by transforming signage for Oxford Streets across Australia. In the campaign masterminded by creative agency TBWAMelbourne and production house Revolver/Will O’Rourke, eight of the 123 Oxford Streets across the country have has Mardi Gras sculptures installed. There is at lease one installation in every state. [READ MORE »]( The Mumbrella360 program is heating up day by day Australia and New Zealand’s biggest media and marketing conference, [Mumbrella360,]( is three solid days of breakthrough ideas that will change the way you think about media and marketing. The program is already packed with giant global brands like Microsoft, Twitter, Dollar Shave Club, FCB Ulka, Kraft Heinz Australia, Samsung Australia, banking’s 86 400, Initiative and more. [Book today to save $600]( Is business growth on your agenda? [The Source]( is your very own little black book of major players in media and marketing. Uncover fresh business leads and sales opportunities, access leading advertisers and marketing decision-makers and stay on top of the constantly shifting industry landscape, FREE for seven days. 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