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A chat with Pippa Leary, the Managing Director and Publisher of Free News and Lifestyle at News Corp Australia – Out of Office podcast

Pugpig’s Jonny Kaldor takes a sunny stroll through Prince Alfred Park in Surrey Hills Sydney with Pippa Leary, the Managing Director and Publisher of Free News and Lifestyle at News Corp Australia. It’s digital advertising masterclass for publishers.

15th May 2025

This episode was recorded with Pippa Leary, the Managing Director and Publisher of Free News and Lifestyle at News Corp Australia on a walk through a beautifully sunny Prince Alfred Park in Surrey Hills Sydney.

They dig into the work she’s been doing in recent years – building a finely-tuned first-party data-driven advertising machine, achieving huge growth in engaged reach. They talk about the shift from text to video, the importance of evergreen content and the challenges of monetising off-platform audiences.

Here are some the key takeaways from the episode, to give you an idea of what to look forward to:

  1.  Chasing mass reach through shallow “social one-and-done” content, is much less impactful than “engaged reach” — focusing on page views per user and time spent. This encourages deeper user engagement.
  2. We learn about the power of Intent Connect, the first-party data platform NewsCorp Australia has built, as a tool to enable advertisers to target specific customer intents using 2.5 billion monthly user signals.
  3. Video content, especially vertical video optimised for mobile, is delivering super high CPMs for NewsCorp Australia.
  4. While News Corp is testing AI-driven content targeting they are cautious not to over-automate. Pippa stresses the value of editorial “magic” and editorial curation, especially on the homepage.
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