Weekly Roundup: Agency heads react to new Australian employee law and more

It has been a big week for the MARKETING-INTERACTIVE team as we launched our first-ever Digital Marketing Asia conference in the Philippines. We saw L’Oréal Philippines, Unilever, Shakey's Pizza, Jollibee and more and it was an incredibly insightful and engaging day. 

This week has also been monumental in the news especially for Australia, because employees now have the right to disconnect after work hours. This has sparked discussions among agency leaders and companies worldwide about how this new law will impact company operations, particularly in the advertising industry.

If you need a quick summary, welcome to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE's weekly roundup, a podcast and article feature in which we take you through the biggest stories of the week and take a deep dive into trending topics we've seen in the industry. 

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1. Ex-Publicis ECD and ex-Germs CEO launch new Sweatshop agency

The former CEO of Germs Digital, James Chua and the former ECD at Publicis, Adrian Yeap has started up their own agency called Sweatshop.

According to the duo, Sweatshop specialises in solving a brand’s business problems through communications and offers different approaches such as sprints called “Quick Sweat” and fractional marketing services called “Sweat Buddy”, on top of the traditional agency model. The new hotshop promises to help brands “get hot” by combining intelligence with intuition.

Read more here.

2. Barbie asks parents what they would give children in heartwarming inclusive campaign

Mattel has unveiled its latest Barbie brand campaign titled "Give limitless possibilities", recognising the powerful role play has in giving limitless possibilities to young girls. Created in partnership with global advertising company 72andSunny, the campaign asks the question "What would you give?", and celebrates doll play in its joyous, messy and loud forms. The campaign also supercharges the brand's "You can be anything" tagline. 

In addition, "Give limitless possibilities" taps on Barbie's belief that doll play and gifting Barbies provides limitless benefits such as the power of imagination to project dreams, build self-esteem, tell endless stories, nurture empathy and more. 

Read more here.

3. Australians no longer need to respond out of work hours: Agency heads react

Australian employees now have the right to ignore their employers outside working hours with a new right to disconnect law.

The law, which was passed in February this year, protects employees who choose not to respond to contact from their bosses outside work hours, according to Reuters. 

Saying that, the law does allow for certain circumstances where an employee's right to refuse to reply is unreasonable. This will depend on their role and the reason for the contact amongst others, said Reuters. 

Read more here.

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