Live from Compass Hobart: Avoiding invisibility, a burnout epidemic and the foolishness of hustle culture

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today we share the highlights from the opening chapter of this year’s Compass roadshow. And further down, the Unmade Index’s green streak comes to an end.If you’ve been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade’s events, including HumAIn (2025), REmade (2025), Unlock (2025), and Compass (November);* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade. Brand fame, burnout and doing more with lessUnmade’s six-state Compass roadshow kicked off in Hobart last week.Today we share highlights from that first session. The discussion, recorded in front of a live audience, featured Ally Bradley, GM of Southern Cross Austereo in Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria and the NT; creative Chas Bayfield; Lindene Cleary, CMO of Tourism Tasmania, Abe Udy, founder of audio production house Abe’s Audio; and Simon Crerar, editor-in-chief of SmartCompany.The evening kicked off with a warning from Bayfield that timidity from brands in their advertising is a far bigger risk than controversy because unremarkable advertising will not be seen. “The big challenge is invisibility,” Bayfield warned.Other topics in the debate, moderated by Unmade’s Tim Burrowes, included the journey of Tourism Tasmania’s ‘Come Down for Air’ positioning, the business challenges being faced by SmartCompany and other publishers, the effects of burnout on over-stretched teams, and the threats and opportunities offered by AIFor those curious about the reference to Blackcurrant Tango, this was Bayfield’s famous 1998 ad, ‘St George’:The Compass roadshow continues next week. We’re in Perth on Monday, Adelaide on Tuesday and the tour concludes in Melbourne on Wednesday. Tickets are on sale via this link.Unmade Index slips back into the redThe Unmade Index’s four-day winning streak came to an end yesterday with falls almost across the board for media stocks.Among the larger businesses, Southern Cross Austereo has the worst of it, losing 2.8%. Audio rival ARN Media dropped 2.1%The Unmade Index lost 0.69% to land on 429.8 points.Time to leave you to your Thursday.Today’s podcast was edited by Abe’s Audio.We’ll be back with more tomorrow.Have a great day.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - [email protected] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit unmade.substack.com