CommBank CMO Jo Boundy Believes “Traditional Advertising and Paid Media is Losing Relevance”

Commonwealth Bank CMO Jo Boundy believes that brands need to shift from trying to compete with entertainment to becoming entertainment.

Streaming services and other apps have given consumers access to a virtually unlimited supply of content, much of it ad-free, with a click of a button. 

“Now that might sound scary, but it’s not, it’s actually an awesome opportunity for brands that are willing to be brave,” Jo said. 

Amidst this content landscape, and increasingly fragmented attention spans, Jo argued brands need to find shared passions with their audiences.

“Traditional advertising and paid media is losing relevance,” she said. In an ad-free, binge-watching, multiple-devices-being-used-at-any-given-time world, the consumer has been placed in the driver's seat. Brands need to become a part of the story. 

“Brands who can seamlessly integrate themselves into that cultural fabric and become more than just the products and services that they're trying to sell in advertising are the ones that will become the future category leaders,” she said. 

Jo explored CommBank’s ‘Brighter’ content ecosystem, which started as a magazine available to customers in branches and evolved to include a TV show. It was designed with the cost of living crisis in mind, Jo added.

“The beauty of the long form is we can slice and dice content to be placed online and on socials for Australians to consume whenever they want.”

Narelda Jacobs, one of the hosts of The Brighter Side TV show, was afraid of having to ‘sell’ a product. As a journalist, she was resistant to becoming a “brand ambassador.” However, the content presented in the show changed her mind. 

“I asked, ‘Am I going to be having to sell products?’ And the answer was, ‘No, you're actually there just to be a conduit for the stories that are being told. To meet small business owners who started with a side hustle.’ It was a really organic way of making people financially literate,” she said. 

Jo also referenced CommBank’s marketing work with the Matilda’s during the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

“When a brand stands for something that matters to the community. It organically builds cultural relevance,” she said. 

Matilda’s player and recent marketing graduate Tameka Yallop explored how influential CommBank has been in the team’s success. She explained that few brand sponsors actually ensured those sponsorships reflected the team’s dynamic. 

“Half the time I didn't even know what the sponsor did and what their product was,” she said.

CommBank’s CMO said its approach to branded content is to ensure it is integrated into people’s lives. The brand does not strive to change culture, but use culture to its advantage.

“Traditional advertising actually disrupts a consumer's world,” Jo said, “But branded content, when done well, actually becomes part of the consumer's world.”