Reach Australia’s most influential business audience with AFR Intelligence

The Australian Financial Review has long been essential daily reading for Australia’s business, investor and policy communities. Now, AFR Intelligence sees The AFR collaborating with leading companies to provide in-depth analysis of the issues shaping Australia's future. Going beyond traditional branded content, AFR Intelligence connects with The AFR's influential audience through editorially independent, research-driven insights.

The Action Exchange is proud to be The AFR’s exclusive thought leadership provider. We spoke with James Daggar-Nickson, Director of AFR Ventures, for his perspective on how AFR Intelligence gives Australian businesses a thought leadership edge.

The Action Exchange: What is AFR Intelligence?

James Daggar-Nickson: AFR Intelligence is the Australian Financial Review's new thought leadership offering. It allows The AFR to partner with clients to publish thought-provoking and unique analyses of business and policy issues. 

For some time, The AFR has collaborated with corporate clients through summits, events, and special reports. Recently, discussions with long-term partners have highlighted the potential for creating editorially independent long-form content together. AFR Intelligence augments our existing branded content products with sponsored thought leadership that is both credible and substantial and reaches The AFR’s high-level audience.

What sets the AFR apart for clients seeking thought leadership?

The Australian Financial Review holds a unique position in the market. We have a substantial readership comprising the leaders and decision-makers of corporate Australia and the political realm. Partnering with The AFR allows our partners to engage in a conversation with this influential audience.

Another important aspect is the credibility of the content produced by the AFR. In my view, The AFR's newsroom stands out as the most impressive and the strongest in Australia, owing to the leadership of the editor-in-chief and the exceptional work of the journalists who are the engine of The Australian Financial Review. 

The opportunity to reach The AFR’s subscriber base with editorially-led content providing deep insight is a powerful draw. 

What does great AFR Intelligence thought leadership look like?

It has to be thought-provoking. It needs to be credible. It should be independently researched and fact-based, but critically, it must be unique and even provocative. The aim is to cut through the noise of whatever conversation, theme, or vertical you're wading into. It shouldn't just repeat what's already being discussed. Our objective is always to bring a fresh perspective, a new opinion, or a unique angle backed by substantive independent research.

How does the process work?

We typically select a topic in consultation with the client to ensure it is relevant and thought-provoking for an AFR audience. AFR Intelligence thought leadership can be based on expert interviews, surveys, independent research and quantitative analysis. Our thought leadership is editorially independent and rigorously researched, but we are transparent about the research findings with the client throughout production. Our clients often give us great insights from the ‘front line’ of their sector.

The Action Exchange is AFR Intelligence’s exclusive thought leadership partner. The Action Exchange works closely with our editorial and sales teams to create thought leadership that meets both the client’s commercial objectives and The AFR’s rigorous editorial standards. Often, we collaborate with clients to create thought leadership as part of a broader campaign that may include event sponsorship, special reports and other branded content. 

What do you see as the main themes and opportunities for thought leadership in 2025?

We're at an interesting inflection point, with a change of government in the United States and a federal election in Australia. The combination of these two factors means that almost every aspect of business and the economy in Australia is up for discussion and reimagining. 

For example, what does the energy transition look like, given the shifting political winds? How will we get there, and how will we fund it?

The cost-of-living crisis means that business practices will continue to be closely scrutinised. In the last year or two, we've seen businesses’ social licenses under the microscope. This cuts across industries including finance, tech, healthcare, resources and retail. Given these growing and often competing pressures, what does the new ‘business-as-usual’ look like?

One of the other critical things that continues to gain attention, and I still believe isn't fully understood, is the long-lasting impact of artificial intelligence. It seems every business wants to align some aspect of their operations with the adoption and race surrounding artificial intelligence. But how genuine is it, and what will it look like in terms of business models, consumer demand, and trends in the future? 

Ensuring Australia remains a cost-effective place to do business will be a crucial theme for several sectors. Challenges around skill shortages, productivity, permitting and red tape and the overall cost of doing business are top-of-mind for Australian businesses and remain unsolved. How to address Australia’s competitiveness problem is an important and topical question.

These are all issues that The AFR’s audience wants to know more about and where we see real opportunities for our partners to take a proactive approach to leading the discussion in 2025.