AI Is Making Too Many Ads

Episode 156 is Wednesday 7 October, and Mal is recording from a booth at WeWork Pitt Street in Sydney, still getting going after the long weekend. Alex spent hers at a packed Bunnings, photographing products and asking Claude which one to buy instead of finding a sales assistant. Mal's mother-in-law is doing the same with Gemini. Every shopper now does their research with an AI first, and that changes what a store is for. The big one this week is Marley Spoon. The meal-kit company says demand for its GLP-1 Support range has almost tripled since May, and the range is now around 6.5% of revenue. Mal and Alex talk about the GLP-1 customer as a new kind of shopper: they eat less, want more protein and need a whole new wardrobe. They also look at which categories should be building for that customer now. Frasers vs Accent turns into a board fight, and shareholders finally get their say at the AGM on 20 November. TikTok will now run your ads outside TikTok, across nearly 400,000 apps, mostly mobile games. Mal is sceptical, because Meta's Audience Network never performed. Nike's revenue is down 4%, China is down 26% for a ninth straight quarter, and there's another restructure. The performance range is growing while Dunks, Air Force Ones and Jordans fall, and cheaper Chinese brands are coming for the running market. Three closures: Valley Eyewear drew seven offers after an owners' dispute, Suboo had over a third of its $655k debt with Shopify and Wayflyer, and TVSN shuts after 30 years. Marley Spoon's GLP-1 Support range has almost tripled since May and is now around 6.5% of revenue. Country Road Group is pulling about a third of its concessions out of David Jones. Department store research says more than half of menswear is bought by women. AI is making more ads than anyone can watch, so now machines pick which ones we see. Mal argues for podcasts, digital out-of-home and brand campaigns you control.