WAMA cracks open 2025 with a deep dive into the forces shaping consumer behaviour
Another bright weekday morning, another insightful WAMA brekky at Fraser’s (who have pivoted to double insulated glass coffee cups and man they are a good time to drink out of).
Breakfast began with the quintessential Perth sun rising above the trees over the sparkling Derbarl Yerrigan. With a sunny view comes a price however, and while the audience appeared to be asleep for the first 20 minutes, they were actually just squinting. Some even sported sunglasses inside. Power move.
Design Lead, Leigh Wood, and Copywriter, Ash Broadway, kicked off proceedings by revealing WAMA’S new brand. They geeked out unashamedly on words and the Adobe Pen Tool, and presented a brand that accurately reflects WAMA – who they are and what they stand for.
Dan Krigstein, Director of The Growth Distillery and News Corp Australia’s Growth Intelligence Centre, shared his insight into a world where consumers are faced with more choice than ever and have less time to make decisions, while being disrupted regularly and often. To ease this cognitive load and become the brand of choice, brands need to:
1. Shift from building trust to breaking cynicism.
2. Build agency in their customers, who are their most valuable asset.
3. Understand that simplicity is the greatest advantage they’ll ever have.
Krigstein was later joined on stage by Kristen Turnbull, Founder and Deputy Managing Director of CoreData WA, who facilitated an excellent fireside chat and calmly navigated a deluge of online questions from the audience likely riddled with spelling errors.
Both Krigstein and Turnbull agreed that the biggest misconception about what drives consumer decisions is that it’s logic, when it’s in fact, emotion.
Who knew – at the end of the day, it’s our big dumb heart that leads the way instead of our head.
WAMA Chair, Rene LeMerle, said: “What an epic start to our 2025 breakfast series! Dan nailed the importance of leveraging consumer insights to drive growth as behaviours shift and markets reset from a conservative mindset. Kristen brilliantly distilled it into practical takeaways—build affinity, prioritise experience over product, and simplify to cut through in today’s sceptical market.
“I’d also like to say a big thanks to our brand team for bravely facing the firing squad with the launch of our new identity, which was received by the WAMA community with overwhelming praise and support.”
And that’s a wrap. The morning ended with a handful of very tired WAMA volunteers realising they now need to plan the next one. Like asap.
Good news for the fans I suppose.
Written by Ashley Broadway.
