Latest / What the Flux / NAB plans major job cuts | KFC swaps PepsiCo for Coca-Cola | Cadbury’s Rugby World Cup play

Transcript

NAB plans major job cuts | KFC swaps PepsiCo for Coca-Cola | Cadbury’s Rugby World Cup play · What the Flux

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  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: This is What The Flux. I'm Brett.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: And I'm Larissa, and it's Wednesday the.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: 21st of October. Larissa, Australians might be in for a
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: shock with power bills this summer. According to Origin Energy's CEO,
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: the Super El Nino weather system could put extra pressure
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: on our electricity supply and infrastructure. Get this one. Power
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: prices in New South Wales were significantly higher than normal
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: last week, and that was down to a burst of
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: hot weather and a closure of coal units.
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  Speaker 1: Scary stuff.
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  Speaker 2: Three massive stories today, Larissa.
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  Speaker 1: For our first story, NAB Bank is slashing 2,500 jobs
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  Speaker 1: over the next nine months, cutting its workforce by 6%.
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  Speaker 2: That is, unfortunately, a lot of people who will be
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  Speaker 2: forced to brush up their CVs. So what is going
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  Speaker 2: on here?
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  Speaker 1: Well, Brett, National Australia Bank, or NAB, is the third
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  Speaker 1: largest bank in Australia and currently employs more than 42,000 people.
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  Speaker 2: Which makes it one of Australia's biggest workforces.
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  Speaker 1: But the banking sector's been facing a bunch of job
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  Speaker 1: cuts as AI shakes up the sector, with NAB cutting
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  Speaker 1: around 400 local jobs last year and hiring workers overseas.
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  Speaker 2: And now, NAB's announced it'll be slashing 2,500 jobs over
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  Speaker 2: the next nine months, with 1,500 workers to lose their
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  Speaker 2: jobs by Christmas.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, NAB is cutting local jobs in a few key
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  Speaker 1: areas of the bank.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, we're talking its strategy area, IT, compliance, risk, people
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  Speaker 2: and culture teams as well. NAB says that customer-facing roles
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  Speaker 2: won't be on the chopping block this time around.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, but get this, NAB's still hiring overseas with a
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  Speaker 1: number of India and Vietnam-based jobs posted on LinkedIn this week.
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  Speaker 2: It's interesting, why is NAB cutting so many local jobs?
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  Speaker 1: Well, Brett, the cuts are focused on removing what the
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  Speaker 1: bank described as unnecessary management. And NAB's chief executive said
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  Speaker 1: it's also trying to improve outcomes for customers by reducing
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  Speaker 1: duplication and speeding up decision making.
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  Speaker 2: Interesting. So what's the key learning here?
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  Speaker 1: Having too many cooks in the kitchen is bad business.
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  Speaker 2: Duplication of work is when multiple people or systems carry
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  Speaker 2: out a task for a business. That's similar or the same.
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  Speaker 2: When it could have just been done once.
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  Speaker 1: Think more than one person entering the same data into
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  Speaker 1: different systems or having separate teams writing similar reports.
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  Speaker 2: And speaking of cooking in the kitchen, when everyone's trying
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  Speaker 2: to make the same meal from a different recipe or
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  Speaker 2: fighting over ingredients, you end up with a bit of
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  Speaker 2: an expensive mess.
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  Speaker 1: It's the same in any workforce. Too many people doing
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  Speaker 1: the same task isn't efficient or cost-effective.
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  Speaker 2: And when a company realises it could be paying less
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  Speaker 2: people to get the same job done more efficiently, it means, unfortunately,
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  Speaker 2: jobs get cut.
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  Speaker 1: We know for banks like NAB, AI has had a
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  Speaker 1: huge impact on admin and bookkeeping roles.
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  Speaker 2: In fact, the tech and finance sector in the US
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  Speaker 2: has been losing around 28,000 jobs per month due to
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  Speaker 2: AI automation.
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  Speaker 1: And Australia's banks like ANZ, Commonwealth and Wispac all have
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  Speaker 1: been shitting jobs recently.
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  Speaker 2: So while NAB didn't directly mention AI in this latest
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  Speaker 2: round of job cuts, they did say it's due to
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  Speaker 2: rapid technological change. So for NAB, these cuts might not
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  Speaker 2: just be that there are too many cooks in the kitchen,
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  Speaker 2: but that AI has started cooking too.
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  Speaker 1: And for our next story, after many, many years working
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  Speaker 1: closely together, PepsiCo has been dropped by KFC in the
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  Speaker 1: US and it's being swapped out for Coca-Cola.
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  Speaker 2: Sounds like a pretty bad corporate breakup, Larissa. So what's
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  Speaker 2: happened here?
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  Speaker 1: Well, Brett, PepsiCo is the food and drinks giant behind
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  Speaker 1: the famous Pepsi drink and many more brands.
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  Speaker 2: Now get this, Pepsi was invented all the way back
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  Speaker 2: in the 1890s.
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  Speaker 1: Pepsi was initially sold as a drink to help boost
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  Speaker 1: energy and aid digestion.
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  Speaker 2: And Pepsi's been rivaling Coke pretty much ever since it
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  Speaker 2: hit shelves.
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  Speaker 1: Pepsi's been trailing behind recently with 8.1% of the US
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  Speaker 1: market share compared to Coke's 18.5%.
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  Speaker 2: And how about this? Pepsi was swapped out for Coke
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  Speaker 2: in Costco food courts in 2025 and Marriott Hotels just
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  Speaker 2: a few months ago.
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  Speaker 1: And now PepsiCo's taken another hit in the cola wars
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  Speaker 1: with KFCs in the US switching Pepsi fountains for Coca-Cola ones. Yep.
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  Speaker 2: And from the start of 2027, KFC will make the
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  Speaker 2: swap at its US stores after having Pepsi on tap
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  Speaker 2: for more than, get this one, 40 years.
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  Speaker 1: The Colonel no longer a loyal Pepsi drinker.
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  Speaker 2: No, and losing KFC could cost Pepsi a lot when
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  Speaker 2: it comes to brand value.
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  Speaker 1: So what is the key learning here?
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  Speaker 2: Brand equity is the inherent value a company gets from
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  Speaker 2: building a strong reputation.
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  Speaker 1: Basically, the name on the tin sometimes matters more to
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  Speaker 1: the customer than the product inside it.
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  Speaker 2: Having a positive brand or brand equity means people will
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  Speaker 2: buy your product because they trust what you're making is
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  Speaker 2: of high quality.
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  Speaker 1: Businesses build this through making recognizable products or associating with
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  Speaker 1: other brands who have a strong reputation.
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  Speaker 2: For PepsiCo, KFC was a great source of revenue, but
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  Speaker 2: it's also one of those big names.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, every time someone walks into KFC for a takeaway,
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  Speaker 1: they walk away with a PepsiCo logo in their hand too.
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  Speaker 2: And this switch means those same customers now are taking
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  Speaker 2: home a cup with the logo of Pepsi's biggest competitor.
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  Speaker 2: And PepsiCo stock is down about 10% just this year
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  Speaker 2: and dropped by almost 1% the day KFC announced the
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  Speaker 2: big switch.
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  Speaker 1: Sounds like investors aren't fizzing about this news.
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: Nup. For our third and final story, Cadbury is launching
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  Speaker 2: limited edition Rugby World Cup products and fan experiences ahead
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  Speaker 2: of the 2027 tournament.
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  Speaker 1: Watch out, Willy Wonka, the new golden ticket might be
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: to the Rugby World Cup final. Tell me more.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, Larissa, so we know Cadbury, their chocolate company, famous
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  Speaker 2: for its creamy dairy milk, its caramilk, and everyone's favourite, favourites, boxers.
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  Speaker 1: I'm ashamed to tell you how many times I've demolished
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  Speaker 1: a box of those.
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  Speaker 2: You're only human. We've all been there.
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  Speaker 1: Now, Cadbury is owned by food-making giant Mondelez and has
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  Speaker 1: a huge presence here in Australia.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, get this. Cadbury uses 11% of Tasmania's entire milk
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  Speaker 2: supply and makes around 50% of Australia's choccy market.
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  Speaker 1: We do love our chocolates. And back in 2021, Cadbury
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  Speaker 1: started sponsoring Rugby Australia with the deal being extended into 2030.
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  Speaker 2: And now Cadbury's is launching limited edition Rugby World Cup products,
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  Speaker 2: in-person fan packages and experiences for next year's tournament.
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  Speaker 1: So why is Cadbury going all in on rugby fever?
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  Speaker 2: Well, Cadbury's actually had a pretty good year with the
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  Speaker 2: launch of its products like Biscoff Caramilk and a new
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  Speaker 2: and more range. That's largely been a key part of
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  Speaker 2: its growth in Australia.
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  Speaker 1: So now Cadbury's trying to find ways to keep feeding
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  Speaker 1: the craving for novelty.
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  Speaker 2: And tapping into national sporting pride through its rugby sponsorship
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  Speaker 2: might just be the way to consumers' hearts and bellies.
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  Speaker 1: But only if they can cut through the noise in
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  Speaker 1: the stands.
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  Speaker 2: That's true, so what's the key learning here?
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  Speaker 1: Sponsorship activation is when a brand connects with customers and
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  Speaker 1: fans through experiences, events and limited edition products.
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  Speaker 2: Because when someone shows up to a match to watch
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  Speaker 2: some rugby and leaves with some free Wallabies Chokies, that
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  Speaker 2: sticks in their head the next time they see a
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  Speaker 2: block of Cadbury on the supermarket shelf.
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  Speaker 1: Think about it. Sports sponsorship is more than just slapping
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  Speaker 1: a logo on the team uniform.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, the sponsorship is kind of the ticket into all
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  Speaker 2: the awareness and eyeballs that come with the sports viewership.
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  Speaker 2: But the sponsorship activation can be how a company makes
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  Speaker 2: it all pay off.
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  Speaker 1: And get this, 85% of working professionals visited a company's
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  Speaker 1: website after attending a live activation.
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  Speaker 2: And brands who can create meaningful customer experiences are two
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  Speaker 2: and a half times more likely to increase their market share.
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  Speaker 1: For Cadbury, tying yourself to a sports event the whole
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  Speaker 1: nation gets behind can help you win the fans that
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  Speaker 1: come with it.
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  Speaker 2: Let's just hope the Wallabies can do their part of
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  Speaker 2: the bargain and do well.
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  Speaker 1: Or Cavry might end up with a few fans turning
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  Speaker 1: to them for emotional support when the All Blacks win. FluxFam,
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  Speaker 1: great to be in your ears again today.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks for listening and we'll see you on Friday.