Val Morgan Digital

This week, our content team is taking a trip down memory lane, all the way back to 2014 to revisit a year full of iconic (and sometimes cringe-worthy) trends and cultural moments. Why 2014? We were in one of our monthly content meetings, and went down a rabbit hole reliving that point in time. When we were reflecting, it felt like a pivotal moment for fashion, entertainment and pop culture. What have we covered so far? Everything from the celebrity couples that were together then (and whether they made it to 2024), the strides we've made in women's sport, blockbuster films and whether they aged well, right through to the way we used social media then vs now. We even had Lucinda Price join us on Tasty TikTok Live last night so we could revisit 2014 while cooking up a feast alongside our resident chef, Tanika Douglas (if you missed it, the cut downs are coming to @TastyOz TikTok soon). But our commitment doesn't end there. The team are dressing up "2014 style" for the office this week and the logo Bernice Corral designed to accompany the series on site is even a nod to 2014 graphic design. You'll have to click through to a story to check it out. (I don't even what to show you what everyone's Slack names have changed to but it's a "L()T of Thi$".) Join us all week on BuzzFeed, POPSUGAR, Tasty, The Latch and SPORTbible as we relive everything that made 2014 memorable. Shout out to the team for bringing this incredibly fun series to life: Sohan Judge Ben Tyers Bernice Corral Kailah Haddad Zara Meier Tanika Douglas Sangeeta Kocharekar Bryce Webster Angeline Barion Kriti Gupta

Val Morgan has announced multiple appointments and promotions today across BrandFit, its group strategy and client solutions team. Jo Scott has joined as Head of Strategy, bringing 18 years of strategy and business experience within media and communications agencies. In her new role, Jo will work across the Val Morgan group of brands, including Val Morgan Cinema, VMO and Val Morgan Digital, and report to Paul MacGregor, Director of Strategy & Marketing. Paul MacGregor commented on Jo joining the team, noting it was a pivotal move as the company continues to build out its group approach. “Over the last two years, our partnership revenue has gone from strength to strength, we’re thrilled to bring Jo on board to lead our strategy team and continue driving this momentum. Jo brings a wealth of experience to the Val Morgan business and her unique combination of strategy, creativity, and leadership skills will be critical in delivering greater value to our partners and more innovative solutions to our clients.” Val Morgan has also announced the promotion of Lizzy McDonald to Group Strategy Manager. Diana Demetri has also been promoted to Group Client Solutions Manager leading the post-sale implementation across Val Morgan Digital’s suite of publishing brands including The Latch, POPSUGAR, BuzzFeed, LADbible, Tasty, and Fandom. Christelle Quillien is expanding her role as Group Client Solutions Manager to lead the post-sale implementation team across Val Morgan Cinema and VMO. Cassandra De Francesco and Ben Foyster have also been promoted to the role of Client Solutions Manager. Finally, Eden Cloeraine recently joined the team from Carat as Strategy Executive within the strategy team. Read the full announcement: https://lnkd.in/g4mpm76d L-R: Christelle Quillien, Lizzy McDonald, Diana Demetri, Jo Scott, Eden Cloeraine, Cassandra De Francesco

Drumroll please... Our Campaign of the Month is Here! 🥁🥁 We've partnered with Swinburne University of Technology and Initiative across SPORTbible, The Latch, BuzzFeed and LADbible to show the value university education provides for future-proofing your career and even helping you forge a more "unconventional" career path. The campaign kicked off across SPORTbible. We spoke with Billy Zebra, studying a Bachelor of Health Science Honours at Swinburne University of Technology. He also studies at the Richmond Institute, a partnership between Sinburne and Richmond Football Club. This cross-platform campaign continues across The Latch, BuzzFeed and LADbible until September where we'll spotlight different trailblazers, highlighting the value university education played in helping them curate their careers across different industries. Why we loved it? 🏉 Creative use of our channels, utilising our brands across relevant passion points to speak to different target audiences. 🏉 Content from SPORTbible was amplified on the big screen at the MCG in front of 92,500 people. A big congrats to Swinburne University of Technology, Initiative, and everyone involved for bringing this epic campaign to life. Agency and client partner: Initiative, Anna Sythong, Harris Sandadi, James Probyn, Oliver Prosser Client: Rachel Bennett Rachel Bennett Senior Account Manager: Georgia Maccan Head of Video: Evelyn Bevans (Syd) Video Team: Rizcel G. and Vincent Moody Branded Editor: Jackson Langford Client Solutions: Ben Foyster Account Coordinator: Calvin Ranford-Mills Head of Content Operations: Bec Mowbray

If you were at our ValFronts at the start of the year you would've heard us talking about The Greenlight — our revolutionary project management tool that will streamline content campaigns for our agency partners. Our National Sales Director Liam O'Meara shares, "We understand the challenges agencies face in managing complex content campaigns across various platforms. The Greenlight was developed with the specific needs of our partners in mind, to streamline the entire process — managing collateral like logos and creative, to sharing drafts, and ultimately delivering final assets all in one place." The Greenlight is slated to launch next month with select agencies currently participating in successful test campaigns. Sophie Walsh, Head of OMD Create shared "We're incredibly excited to be among the first agencies to utilise The Greenlight. The potential to streamline our content campaign workflows and improve efficiency is significant." Read more on AdNews Australia: https://lnkd.in/gBPycQva

Hold on for dear life ‘cause the storm of the century hits the big screen with TWISTERS in cinemas July 11! 🌪️🌪️ We've partnered with Warner Bros. Entertainment and EssenceMediacom Australia to celebrate the release of TWISTERS across BuzzFeed Australia and share more about the legendary 90s movie that's getting a hot new take, with a hot new cast. Shout out to Zara Meier who's convinced everyone in the office to drop everything and go see it on release day.

Drumroll please... 🥁🥁🥁 Introducing Val Morgan Digital's Partner of the Month for June, Zach O'Dwyer, Client Executive at Carat Australia! "Zach is all aboard the VMD train and been a champion of our brands since he started at Carat. A true legend who wants to do fun and exciting work for his clients. He’s always there for a quick chat or collaboration on a proactive response and pushes the boundaries for his clients. Congrats Zach." — Mark Smith & Keith Mitchell

After a decade defined by influencer growth, audience appetites are changing. In a recent survey across our brands including BuzzFeed, The Latch, LADbible, POPSUGAR, we found 34% of our respondents are more likely to have trust in product recommendations from publishers, vs creators and influencers. Our Growth and Partnerships Director Julia Willing shares her view on the return to the OG influencers — established publishers, and how they work successfully alongside micro-influencers aligned to niche topics and interests. #VMDPerspectives

It's that time of the week where we share some of the incredible SLAYS from our content team! ⭐⭐⭐ This week our Publisher Amanda Bardas shares — "We have had a HUGE week across our brands, creating engaging content that's resonating with our passionate audiences. BuzzFeed has reached over 7m accounts this week, with our Bridgeton x HOTD meme shared over 100k times. Nice work Zara Meier! Over on SPORTbible, our newest team member Bryce Webster has hit the ground running and his TikTok about Danta Exum has had over 30k views in a few days and the IG page found 1000 new fans in the last week. POPSUGAR's post of the week was the biggest celebrity breakups of 2024, reaching 1.5m accounts. This was flipped from Kailah Haddad's article on site. The most recent installment of our Weekender series on The Latch amassed over 50k cross-platform views and 800 shares on TikTok alone! Another shout out to Zara Meier for bringing this one to life. And finishing on a delicious note over on Tasty, Tanika Douglas combined two of our greatest loves, to create a hot chocolate cob loaf recipe which had over 18k people salivating, and if you're not eating that this weekend, then what are you even doing?!"

Last week, BuzzFeed, LADbible and BINGE hosted a reader screening for the highly anticipated second season of House of the Dragon. The event was a roaring success, with House of the Dragon fans mingling and gushing over the series over pre-show bites and ‘black or green’ themed cocktails — a visually striking (and delicious) display of their loyalties. Ahead of the screening itself, fans were given an opportunity to win one of two Hubbl Glass TV’s by putting their knowledge of the show to the test. In classic BuzzFeed fashion, they partook in a quiz hosted by the enthralling Zara Meier and Vincent Moody. It was a close match — the final two battling in a speed-fire round until only the most mega of mega-fans reigned victorious. The screening commenced, and following the pre-show festivities, the energy of the room was electric — with fans cheering for the series title as it appeared on screen, as well as at the end of the episode — expressing their delight and excitement for the new season. Congratulations to the team who brought this epic event to life. We're ready to do it all over again when season three is ready for release 😉 Client: Hari Caulfield BINGE National Sales Director: Liam O'Meara Senior Account Manager: Anshika Grover Client Solutions Team: Christelle Quillien Bec Mowbray Video Team: Evelyn Bevans (Syd) Rizcel G. Samuel Moss Hosts: Zara Meier Vincent Moody Branded Content Editor: Hameda Nafiz Social Campaign Manager: Rebecca Fowell

Do you know exactly who your audience is? Are they health-conscious families? Busy professionals seeking convenience? Foodies on a budget? We can utilise our first party data to curate custom grocery buying segments so you can reach the right high value audience at scale. Reach out to our team to learn more about how you can unlock our Community+ offering across VMD brands: Liam O'Meara Jemima Courtney Mark Smith Jack Meldrum Julia Willing Amanda Bardas Brian Florido