Redundancy and reinvention on the agenda at Mumbrella360
Shackell, Hopkins, Guerrara, Dally, Baxter
Mumbrella360 2026 has added two new sessions to its program: examining the risks and rewards of founding a brand, and a candid look at redundancy across the media and marketing industry.
The sessions add to the growing list of must-see content at Australia’s premiere media and marketing conference, to be held May 26-28 in Sydney.
Get your early-bird tickets now.
Strategy meets jeopardy: Mat Baxter on building a brand from scratch
Mat Baxter has spent decades advising brands from senior roles across agencies and media organisations. This session examines what changed when he moved from advising clients to becoming a founder with full commercial accountability.
The case study centres on the launch of Skingraphica, a luxury skincare brand created to establish an entirely new category. The session is not focused on tattoos as a cultural trend, but on how real-world insight informed the brand’s development, positioning and go-to-market strategy.
Baxter will reflect on which parts of his background in strategy and holding-company leadership translated into brand ownership, and where those frameworks did not hold under commercial pressure. The discussion includes how decision-making shifts when consequences are direct, how risk appetite adjusts under ownership, and how he has approached being both founder and client.
Drawing on the experience of building the brand from the ground up, the session also considers how marketing theory performs in practice, including the construction of a media mix spanning influencer engagement and out-of-home.
Baxter
Personal experiences of the redundancy crisis
A discussion titled “Redundancy Unmasked: ditch the shame, own your story” brings together senior leaders to examine how redundancy is experienced personally and professionally, and how careers are being reshaped as a result.
The panel includes UK-based Marketing Academy’s founder, Sherilyn Shackell, Mel Hopkins, founder, The Hopkins Effect, and former CMO, and Pat Guerrera, founder and director, Rebellion Consulting; former CEO of Re (Global) and M&C Saatchi Consulting APAC, and will be moderated by Katie Dally, founder, The Growth Multiplier and former GM Marketing.
Hopkins will share her experience of mid-career redundancy, the process of resetting expectations, and her contribution to the book All the Cool Girls Get Fired. Shackell will provide a global view based on her work with senior leaders navigating redundancy, informed by her earlier career running a recruitment agency. Guerrera will reflect on redundancy as a turning point for his career, including the process of starting again.
Previously confirmed keynote sessions include perspectives on platform power and online behaviour from Roblox, creative quality and courage in an era of automation and content saturation from Sweathead, and large-scale effectiveness data from Ebiquity, examining what actually drives growth.
The conference will run across ten content streams, including a dedicated AI stream, masterclass stream and structured networking formats, covering exclusive research findings, strategy, creativity, media, effectiveness, organisational change and talent.
Super early bird tickets are on sale until 12 Dec.
