'The moats are gone' Unmade's Compass live at Mumbrella360

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade.Today’s edition contains highlights from the finale of Mumbrella360, with our Compass panel reflecting on FY25 and projecting for FY26. Plus, Vinyl Group is the worst performer on the Unmade Index for a second day in a row.To get maximum value from a paid membership of Unmade, sign up today.Your annual membership gets you tickets to September’s REmade conference on retail media; to October’s Unlock conference on marketing in the nighttime economy; and to Unmade’s Compass end-of-year roadshow.You also get access to our paywalled archive.Upgrade today.AI b******t; agency ageism; and finding reasons for optimism - Compass live from Mumbrella360It was a strong finish to Mumbrella360, with our Compass format coming to the conference for the first time.In a panel moderated by Tim Burrowes, we heard from Josh Faulks, CEO of the Australian Association of National Advertisers, Natalie Harvey, CEO of Mamamia; Jacquie Alley, chair of the Independent Media Agencies Association and John Schoolcraft, the brains behind the Oatly brand.In a fast-paced conversation, the panel romped across topics including the benefits and perils of LinkedIn, the state of the market, and the permanent staple of the effectiveness versus creativity debateSchoolcraft, who earlier in the day had delivered Mumbrella360’s opening keynote, focused on the sweeping changes being caused by generative AI: “The moats are gone now - AI just leveled the playing field.”Faulks was slightly more sceptical and argued that concerns about job losses in the industry are overblown: ”We’re hitting the peak of the AI hype cycle. There’s a lot of b******t. I don’t think it’s about job losses. We spend way too much time talking about the bad things that could happen with AI and not enough on the opportunities.”Alley nominated a topic that requires more discussion: “The ageism that sits in this industry. My prediction is that strategic thinking is only going to get more important. I’m hopeful the more experienced employees will finally start to be valued. They (clients) want the head of strategy in the retainer… Experienced people aren’t billable, and that’s a problem.”And Harvey urged publishers and platforms to seek a peace process: “With the globals, the challenge is, it’s not about creativity, it’s about mass reach and getting things cheaper. That’s what’s weird about the fight with Australian publishers - we make their platforms better.”More from Mumbrella…* Schwartz Media to sell 7am podcast* Ten names The Project’s replacement news show: Ten News+* Adam Sadler to lead Scentre Group’s Brandspace retail media push* M+C Saatchi kills off Bohemia brand* Starcom appoints Matt Houltham as CEO* Mumbrellacast: The Project and Q+A get the boot; Challenges women face in media; and Greg Hywood’s verdict on NineUnmade Index grows as Vinyl falls againVinyl Group saw the biggest fall on the Unmade Index for the second day in a row on Wednesday. It lost 4.2% to land on a market capitalisation of $144m.Vinyl had briefly traded on a bigger valuation than audio companies Southern Cross Austereo and ARN Media. SCA gained 1.6% to land on $152m; ARN lost 1.9% to land on $158m.Elsewhere on the Unmade Index, Ooh Media gained 2.5% and Nine gained 1.6%.The Unmade Index closed up 1.1% on 564.1 points.Today’s podcast was edited by Abe’s Audio. We’ll be back with more soon.Have a great dayToodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - Unmade + [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