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.