Credit: Boomtown
Boomtown’s inaugural Insiders cohort has met in Newcastle for its first advisory council session, bringing together agency and media executives to focus on regional marketing.
Representatives from Afterpay, Atomic 212, Enigma, Nine, Ptarmigan Media, Sanctuary Media, SCA and Starcom attended the two-day session, alongside Boomtown Collective members and facilitators.
Senior marketing manager at Reflections Holidays Matthew Hann told the group regional communities are central to the business.
“Regional is Reflections Holidays’ biggest market, which gives us a real opportunity to create meaningful impact as a leading brand in those communities,” Hann said.
“We have seen time and again that going beyond traditional advertising and investing in local activations and community partnerships delivers strong results.
“Supporting regional communities in a genuine way is not just strategy for us, it is fundamental to how we operate.”
Chief marketing officer at Inspiration Paints Joel Goodsir said more than half its footprint is outside metro areas.
“We take an empathy-led, member and franchisee-driven approach to everything we do. Around 55% of our stores are based in regional communities,” he said.
“We were born in regional Australia before expanding into metro, so we have a foot firmly in both markets and genuinely value operating across each.
“Regional media has therefore always been a no-brainer for us and, in some markets as a result, store awareness is reaching as high as 80 per cent.”
A panel on regional news and content featured Darius Winterfield, regional director of News at Nine and NBN, and Jase Allen, group content director, Hit and Triple M at Southern Cross Austereo.
Boomtown chairman Andrew Baxter said the cohort had set a strong foundation.
“Our first session with the Boomtown Insiders exceeded expectations. The group showed immense curiosity, energy and collaborative spirit, engaging deeply with the sessions and with each other,” Baxter said.
“These rising talents are already demonstrating how they will champion regional media in their agencies and workplaces across the industry.”
Zoe Gothard, sales executive at Nine and an Insiders member, said the session challenged metro assumptions.
“The session was an incredible deep dive into markets that are often misunderstood,” she said.
“It really highlighted the 'population unexpected' within regional Australia, completely challenging my misconceptions about the scale and nature of regional growth.
“Seeing the data on how these areas are evolving was a huge takeaway.”
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