Mag giant axes circulation audits | Media agency CEO returns to Oz | Facebook finally acts on fake news | 76 new jobs | Agency rebrands into global network

[View this email in your browser] [Mumbrella Newsletter] [retail_600x120] Earlybird tickets now available to Australia's premier event for public relations, social media and communications professionals [commscon_enewsletter_header] [Mumbrella CommsCon] is Australia’s premier event for public relations, social media and communications professionals. 2017 will delve into a range of issues and topics designed to help PR and communications professionals better understand their discipline and the issues their ever-changing industry is facing. Speakers have already been announced from Telstra, Cavill + Co, MultiConnexions, Weber Shandwick, The Remarkables and Bupa. Book before February 16 to [save $100 off your ticket]. News [Bauer Media pulls out of audit body AMAA, leaving market without circulation data] Bauer Media has resigned from the Audited Media Association of Australia (AMAA), meaning the industry will no longer have access to independently verified circulation numbers of Australia’s largest magazine publisher. Bauer – whose titles include Australian Women’s Weekly, Cosmopolitan, Gourmet Traveller, NW and Woman’s Day – is also understood to be in talks to acquire the magazine assets of Seven West Media’s Pacific Magazines. [READ MORE »] [105542_enewsletter_banner_v01_animation] News [Match Media to rebrand as part of Publicis's Blue 449 media network] Media agency Match is set to rebrand to Blue 449 in January, two years after its founder John Preston sold to Publicis Group. The move is part of a global push by Publicis to unify its second media network to sit alongside Zenith. The network created Optimedia | Blue 449 in March this year as the “open source” brand for the group, merging Optimedia with Blue 449. The six remaining Optimedia offices globally will all rebadge as Blue 449. [READ MORE »] [rasnsw-banner] News [Andrew Livingston to return to Australia to head up 303 MullenLowe's media division] 303 MullenLowe has appointed former Initiative CEO Andrew Livingston as managing partner, media to lead the full-service agency’s media division across Sydney and Perth. He replaces Gavin Gibson, who departs the agency after 18 months, is moving to San Francisco, Mumbrella understands. [READ MORE »] [copy-of-copy-of-banner-v16-1] Features [From Afghanistan to a Gold Walkley, how war ignited a new passion] You wouldn’t expect a Gold Walkley winner to feel like a second-class citizen in the media world, however for Andrew Quilty it was a feeling all too familiar. Mumbrella spoke to the winner about the war-torn country that re-ignited his passion for photography. For many the thought of moving to a war-torn country riddled with devastation and harsh landscapes would instil more fear than inspiration, but for a photographer like Andrew Quilty the fear was nothing compared to the creativity it spawned. [READ MORE »] [sf17_mamamia-stripad_600x90_v3] News [Facebook to flag potential fake news stories as 'disputed'] Facebook is set to tackle the issue of fake news by marking articles shared on the social platform as “disputed” to flag to readers the story is potentially fake. The measurements, announced in a blog post by the US social media behemoth, follow on from Mark Zuckerberg committing to looking at the fake news issue after accusations Facebook had an influence on the US election outcome. [READ MORE »] [m360_600x90_seb-1] News [Victorian Government urges families not to make excuses for bad dads] The Victorian Government has released two powerful ads aimed at showing families there is no excuse for domestic violence. The campaign, created by The Shannon Company, urges women experiencing violence, and men engaging in violent behaviour to get help. [READ MORE »] [retail_speakers_600x90-1] News [AKQA San Francisco lands award-winning Gavin McLeod as executive creative director] AKQA has announced Gavin McLeod will be joining the agency’s San Francisco office as executive creative director just a fortnight after he resigned from R/GA in Sydney. His departure from the agency was one of a number of senior exits in recent months. [READ MORE »] Opinion [Charities need to remind themselves what they stand for, then own it] Brand awareness is what, brand image is why. And image should be the key point of focus for any brand. Especially for not-for-profits who need to reshape their brand to make profit with pride, says Meals on Wheels CEO John Carroll, in this guest post. Many companies agonise over vision and mission statements, or some flavour-of-the-month visioning tool. Usually, these pieces of rhetoric are no sooner created than forgotten in the humdrum of daily operations. [READ MORE »] [600x90-2] News [Bupa promotes Jane Power as new CMO to replace John Moore] Australia’s largest health insurer Bupa has completed a frantic couple of weeks in its marketing division with the announcement of its new CMO, Jane Power. Power will take over from current CMO John Moore who is moving to the UK to take on a role developing the company’s digital-first strategy. [READ MORE »] [cc_600x90_v2] News [John Dawson joins Initiative after short-stint with Ensemble] Former Mindshare strategist John Dawson has joined IPG Mediabrands’ Initative as communications design director following a short stint with fellow Mediabrands agency Ensemble. Dawson was the strategy and communications director for Ensemble since August 2016 and prior to that was at Mindshare for three years, most recently working as a strategist in Mindshare’s specialist team Co-Creation. [READ MORE »] News [Red Balloon to throw Santa out of a plane in world record bid] After capturing global attention with a world record surfing lesson last year, Red Balloon will attempt a similar feat on the weekend by throwing Santas out of a plane – a vital part of driving sales on Christmas morning. The online experience and gift company is relying heavily on the earned media the world record bid will produce after hitting pay dirt last year as hundreds of surfing students dressed in Santa costumes made news feeds a round the world. [READ MORE »] [600x90-1] News [Nine wins the night as the Aussies give Pakistan cricket lesson] The Australian cricket team’s easy handling of Pakistan on day one of the first test at the Gabba in Brisbane, helped deliver the night to Nine. During the 7pm session on Nine 643,000 viewers tuned in to watch as captain Steve Smith’s stellar innings placed Australia in a commanding position. [READ MORE »] [600x90] Opinion [How to meet regional marketing challenges in Asia] Isn’t it time marketers moved to make our northern neighbours key to strategy? Ashleigh Hall from Atomic 212 makes a case for progression, and flags where things can go wrong, in this guest post. With President-elect Trump flagging that one of his first orders of business will be to withdraw America from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the idea that Australia’s trading future lies in Asia has been rammed home over the past few days. [READ MORE »] News [Australian micropayment service Inkl set to open up to smaller publishers] Aggregated news subscription service, Inkl, is set to launch a new product to allow publishers of all sizes to charge readers for each individual article they read. The existing model of Inkl, which was founded in Australia in 2014 by former Fairfax Media subscription executive Gautam Mishra, sees users pay a $15 monthly fee to access content from a number of top-tier titles such as The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Washington Post, New Zealand Herald and Chicago Tribune. Readers access the content on Inkl’s own platform in an ad-free environment. [READ MORE »] News [Federal Court backs blocking of piracy websites] Foxtel has welcomed the decision made by the Federal Court to block five of the most prominent online piracy websites. Australia’s largest ISP’s will block pirate sites including The Pirate Bay, Torrentz, Torrent Hound, IsoHunt and SolarMovie in the first step to combat piracy. [READ MORE »] News [Morning Update: News UK doubles podcast output; Unruly's 10 most viral Christmas ads; Dove mannequin challenge] Digiday: News UK plans to double podcast output next year News UK has announced plans to double the number of podcasts as part of an expansion of its coverage, including a new gardening show presented by an 81-year-old employee. The expanded range of podcasts will give News a new vertical through which it can sell advertising beyond its legacy mastheads and comes on the back of its acquisition The Wireless Group earlier this year. [READ MORE »] Sponsored Post Coles, Danone, Aurora VR, The General Store, Supercheap Auto and Just Cuts announced for the summit. Earlybird tickets on sale until January 10 [retail_edm_header-2] Marketing and customer experience experts from Coles, Danone, Aurora VR, The General Store, Supercheap Auto and Just Cuts have been announced for the summit. They join speakers from Sainsbury’s, McDonald’s, Myer, L’Oreal and Jeanswest. After the sold-out success of the first [Mumbrella Retail Marketing Summit], the country’s leading retail and FMCG brand owners and experts will converge to discuss the key issues impacting the industry. [Book your ticket] by January 10 to save $100. FYI: • [AMAA announces 2017 board] • [Romanca Jasinski joins BWM DentsuÂ] • [Spiral Media rebrands as Showdown] • [REA Group expands Media and Marketing Business] Jobs [52 New Jobs] MOST DISCUSSED [Exiting R/GA boss Holloway claims agency was 'floundering' and 'all over the place'] [Fairfax: 'News Corp dress up their bile as news'] [Radio ratings: Syd - 2GB posts lowest share; Melb - FoxFM takes crown from ARN; Bris - 97.3FM regains breakfast lead] [APN Outdoor Group and Ooh Media to merge] 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.] [unsubscribe]