Ashleigh Millar

Ash's key areas of interest are social media and entertainment, short-form video, and online marketing.

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BE THE CHANGE
Gender equity in music

Hanna Kahlert, Tatiana Cirisano, Sophia Oleksiyenko, Ashleigh Millar, Samuel Griffin and Kazia Rothwell

8 Mar 2024

Free Report

Business Strategy Audience Insight

In many ways, women ruled the music industry in 2023. Women swept the 2024 Grammy Awards, winning all the “big four” categories. Taylor Swift and Beyoncé completed record-breaking tours and, according to the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, the share of women artists on Billboard’s US Hot 100 year-end chart reached a 12-year high of 35%.

Paramount’s marketing for the new Mean Girls movie was totally fetch, but like, did it pay off?

Ashleigh Millar

18 Jan 2024

musicals Mean Girls TikTok

It’s official: the Mean Girls 2024 movie is the new Regina George of cinema (for now), topping last weekend’s US box office by bringing in $28 million, raising to $32 million on Martin Luther King Jr.

Cover image for Paramount’s marketing for the new Mean Girls movie was totally fetch, but like, did it pay off?

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MIDiA's 2024 predictions webinar
The algorithm is not listening

Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Hanna Kahlert, Kriss Thakrar, Tatiana Cirisano, Perry Gresham, Kazia Rothwell, Ben Woods and Ashleigh Millar

12 Jan 2024

Free Report

MIDiA analysts dive into our 2024 predictions, and why we believe the algorithm isn't listening. Watch the webinareither on YouTube or LinkedIn ....

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MIDiA’s 2024 predictions report
The algorithm is not listening

Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Hanna Kahlert, Kriss Thakrar, Ashleigh Millar, Tatiana Cirisano, Perry Gresham, Kazia Rothwell and Ben Woods

14 Dec 2023

Business Strategy

2023 was another year of change and disruption. 2024 will be even more defined by change than the years that preceded it. But much of this change will be defined by reaction more than action. The unintended consequences of years of innovation have resulted in environments where many consumers are getting further away from their wants and needs, not...

Snap’s attempt to be the real creator-focused MVP

Ashleigh Millar

4 Aug 2023

Snapchat Snap Inc TikTok

On August 1st, 2023, Snap announced its Lens Creator Rewards program that will see to rewarding the creators / creator teams behind top-performing Lenses on Snapchat. This is yet another push in favour of creators from social networks hoping to encourage them to stay on their platform, instead of st...

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Virtual artists and virtual influencers
A new (virtual) reality

Ashleigh Millar

24 Jul 2023

Apple Instagram AI

While North America and Europe are on a path towards authenticity (due to an authenticity crisis), with such trends as #definluencing and #dupes loudly and quickly gaining traction, social media users in Asia Pacific (APAC) have a growing focus on artificial “virtual” influencers (VI’s).

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Nobody Sausage
A masterclass in relatable content from a virtual sausage

Ashleigh Millar

24 Jul 2023

Rihanna Samsung TikTok

From its simplistic beginnings in 2020, to its now established online presence, the cartoonish (albeit with realistic hair and clothing movement) sausage, Nobody Sausage, is taking the social media world by storm. Nobody Sausage launched into stardom on TikTok during the Covid-19 pandemic, and subsequently other short-form video platforms such as Y...

BeReal: The app’s missed entertainment-fandom opportunity

Ashleigh Millar

10 May 2023

BeReal Snapchat Instagram

By the end of 2022, the novelty of BeReal’s uniquely ‘authentic’ take on social media was spreading like wildfire across the internet. Consumers and the industry alike were watching closely to see if the app could one-up itself and compete with the seemingly unseatable Instagram and Snapchat, ...

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Gig tickets: artist discovery versus consumer satisfaction

Ashleigh Millar

13 Apr 2023

Music Media and Marketing Marketing Strategy

Since the return to normal, superstars and up-and-coming artists alike are creating new ways to adapt to the attention economy – and live performances are no exception. In a world accustomed to on-demand content, where trends and interests are fleeting, and the music market is hugely oversaturated...

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Swift and Healy set the tone for live music in the 2020s

Ashleigh Millar

23 Mar 2023

Taylor Swift the 1975 Marketing

When P!nk released her Greatest Hits…So Far! album back in 2010, radio show presenters were quick to respond by discussing what they believed would become the death of her career. According to them, greatest hits albums were essentially the nail in the coffin for music artists; a struggling attemp...

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The AI entertainment revolution
How artificial intelligence will reshape media consumption

Hanna Kahlert, Ashleigh Millar, Tatiana Cirisano and Annie Langston

20 Mar 2023

Innovation Creators YouTube

2023 has been jump-started by rapid progression in the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI). From the launch of ChatGPT to AI-powered DJs, this technology is revolutionising common practices, impacting consumers, creators, and industry leaders alike.

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AI use cases in the entertainment industry
Electric Sheep, Mubert, Unreal Engine 5, Descript, Uhmbrella, and My AI

Hanna Kahlert, Ashleigh Millar, Tatiana Cirisano and Annie Langston

20 Mar 2023

Cultural trends Critical Developments

Electric Sheep | Using AI to introduce accuracy and efficiency into the VFX industry Rotoscoping, an element of visual effects (VFX) where the background of either an image or video is removed so that effects can be added, has traditionally been an intricate and time-consuming endeavour.

The Meta push for efficiency

Ashleigh Millar

16 Mar 2023

Meta Instagram Facebook

This week (14th March), Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg released a memo for his employees entitled “ Update on Meta's Year of Efficiency ”, forewarning its upcoming strategy changes, organisational restructuring, and job cuts (10,000 of them).

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Snapchat and TikTok: The hAIghs and the lows of AI in social

Ashleigh Millar

9 Mar 2023

Snapchat Media and Marketing Marketing Strategy

Thanks to the record-breaking success of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, all eyes are on artificial intelligence. From generative AI to social media filters, consumers have a growing expectation from entertainment, considering the quality of output from tech that they have at their disposal – not to mention t...

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Authenticity in the West versus artificiality in the East

Ashleigh Millar

23 Feb 2023

AI artificial intelligence virtual reality

You might have heard the term “deinfluencing” floating around the internet recently. For context, earlier this year, a popular American TikTok beauty influencer, Mikayla Nogueira, took to the app to promote L’Oréal’s new ‘Telescopic Lift’ mascara , a brand with which she is a paid partn...

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Year of change
Themes that will shape entertainment in 2023

Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Hanna Kahlert, Kriss Thakrar, Ashleigh Millar, Tatiana Cirisano, Annie Langston, Perry Gresham, Samuel Griffin, Ben Woods and Srishti Das

15 Feb 2023

Spotify YouTube Amazon

This report deep dives into the themes identified in MIDiA’s 2023 predictions report. These themes will drive innovation in the digital entertainment landscape in 2023 across music, video, games, audio, cultural trends, and the creator economy. Expect 2023 to be a of period significant disruption and innovation forced upon the digital entertainme...

Blue ticks and adverts and meta (AI)!

Ashleigh Millar

14 Feb 2023

AI Media and Marketing Marketing Strategy

Another Super Bowl Sunday (and half-time show) has left us as quickly as it arrived. [SPOILER] Chiefs won 38 to 35, Rihanna’s “surprise guest” was in fact her baby bump, and Fox Sports reported that ad spots during the game cost circa $7 million per 30 seconds.

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Pivot point
MIDiA 2023 predictions

Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Hanna Kahlert, Kriss Thakrar, Ashleigh Millar, Tatiana Cirisano, Annie Langston and Ben Woods

12 Jan 2023

Free Report

Business Strategy

MIDiA analysts dive into our 2023 predictions, and why we believe it will be the ' pivot point '. Watch the webinareither on YouTube or LinkedIn ....

Netflix adds a splash of colour to 2023 content marketing

Ashleigh Millar

11 Jan 2023

Netflix Netflix originals Kaleidoscope

Netflix has catapulted itself into being one of the first viral entertainment-focused discussions of 2023. Its new original series, Kaleidoscope , released on January 1st, has caused chatter throughout social media platforms – not because of its plot, but because of its unique viewer experience.

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Social 2.0
Social media’s survival of the fittest, and how marketers fit in

Ashleigh Millar

21 Dec 2022

YouTube Netflix Facebook

The history of social media has long been defined by continual evolution and iteration, but now shifts across the value chain are becoming more substantive, heralding a new era. Social platforms themselves are changing, and so too are the attitudes, expectations, and behaviours of their users, with audiences’ appetites for carefully curated, heav...

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