Below the Fold is the monthly newsletter from Cognito, an independent PR and communications agency specialising in financial services and technology, with a team based in Sydney.
This post is part of our newsletter archive series, sharing insights and observations from our monthly Below the Fold editions. This one is from October 2025 — some of the market specifics have moved on, but the thinking behind them hasn’t.
Earlier in October, some research produced by Muck Rack, “What Is AI Reading?”, caught my eye. It told us what we’ve been telling clients for the last 12 months or so, but (as any good PR practitioner will tell you), it’s good to have a narrative backed up by strong data.
- 95% of AI citations come from non-paid media
- 89% come from earned media and 27% come from journalistic content
- 49% of citations for recent queries originate from journalistic content
In my last newsletter, I mentioned ‘job security’ for those in the PR industry. These stats help to hammer that home, highlighting that the role of PR continues to evolve and change, but certainly not diminish.
While feeding content to insatiable LLMs isn’t our only role, these changes to the landscape have certainly tweaked the way that we think about certain situations.
A real-world example of this is the role of corporate announcements and product news, for which, in the past, we would have advised clients that were not ‘worth a press release’ as they wouldn’t elicit interest from an earned media perspective.
These days, the term ‘corporate housekeeping’ has crept back into our vocabulary in relation to these kinds of announcements, and press releases have made their way back into our strategies.
Even if it’s not the kind of breaking or headline news that we know our journalist contacts would splash on the front page, reaching the LLMs via pushing the news on owned channels (websites, socials, etc.), or supercharging their reach via the likes of a PR Newswire distribution, is now a strategic decision to influence and inform audiences.
Within this latest edition of the newsletter, I’ve also included some key narratives from the Australian media landscape that are influencing headlines locally, a short note on a communications catastrophe that caught our eye (read, cockroaches), which journalist we spoke to over coffee this month, and a quirky client win from October that we’re especially proud of.
As always, feel free to get in touch if any of the points included caught your eye, or if there’s something you’d like to see discussed in next month’s edition.
Until next time,
Jonathan Buxeda, Director, Cognito ANZ
Narratives Down Under
As observed by Scott Schuberg, Managing Director, Cognito ANZ
In a fitting follow-up from last month’s comments, Australians lost all hope in the disinflation required to drive RBA cash rates any lower, after YoY Sept quarter inflation rose to 3.2%, above the Bank’s target band — this was published on 29 October, and led to the predictable ‘no change’ from the RBA on 4 Nov. Luke Kinsella from the AFR reported that economists from CBA, HSBC, BoA & Goldman Sachs all expect no more cuts!
WARNING! This next section is strictly adults only, after ASIC updated the salaciously-titled ‘Information Sheet 225‘ in late October. Beyond the saucy title, the amended info sheet swaps ‘crypto assets’ for ‘digital assets’ and contains more jawboning aimed at the crypto industry to get ready for tighter regs. Frankly, the digital asset firms Cognito observes are not only capitalised and resourced to cope with regulations akin to traditional financial services institutions, but actually seek out more government legislation as a means to building greater trust in their exchange & custodial services. More here from CoinDesk.
Lastly, kudos to law firm Allens for its excellent summary published in early Oct on the Australian Government’s late Sept announcement on an updated 2035 GHG reduction target, which aims for 62%-70% reductions on 2005 levels by 2035, en route to net zero in 2050. There’s a great table comparing countries and their 2030/25/50 targets.
It’s also worth noting New Zealand’s walking back of methane inclusion in their GHG measurement, a gas far more potent for trapping heat than CO2 in the short term, to protect the short-term financial interests of its agricultural industry — Greenpeace was quick to respond, and I found this piece in the Irish Times interesting from a policy contagion perspective.
Client Spotlight
Securing coverage in the AFR is a core part of what Cognito does for its financial services and technology clients in Australia — and this month’s client story was one we had a lot of fun with.
We worked on a story that brought the passion and hobby of Minh Phan, Head of AI Innovation at actuarial firm Finity, to life.
Minh isn’t your typical actuary; he’s also a musician who’s found a creative way to make complex AI concepts more engaging and memorable.
In collaboration with Rachael Bolton, Work and Careers reporter at the Australian Financial Review, we helped share Minh’s story of how he combines his love for music with his work in AI.
Performing under the rap name LLMILTON, Minh closes his client presentations with original raps that make even the most technical topics come alive.
Beyond the performances, Minh’s approach is a reminder that the best innovation often comes when we bring our whole authentic selves to work.
Read the full story in the AFR here.
Kudos and Catastrophes
This month, I felt a pang of sympathy for the PR team at JP Morgan.
On J.P. Morgan’s September results call, Jamie Dimon started a response with, “I probably shouldn’t say this”. Those five words, when used at the start of a sentence by one of the biggest and most influential personalities in banking, are enough to make any communications professional sit up in their seat.
He then went on to compare recent failures in the private credit sector to cockroaches, in the context of pain in the sector, with more expected to come. I.e., lift up the mat, and more are likely to crawl out.
Given the breakneck pace of private credit issuance globally, there will be a lot who agree with his comments. Nonetheless, from a stakeholder communications and management perspective, his comments have caused a stir and directly impacted trust in a sector that J.P. Morgan has ~US$50 billion exposure to.
Interestingly, I did a little bit of digging on J.P. Morgan’s positioning on private credit prior to these statements, and found an article written by the Bank’s Head of Alternative Investment Strategy titled, Private credit: Promising or problematic?
While the article does include some specific opinions from Jamie regarding risks to the sector, the conclusion notes that fears of private credit leading to a systemic crisis are overstated.
The real question is whether it was a simple off-the-cuff slip-up or a very cleverly crafted statement issued from a bank that would prefer to see businesses use traditional lending methods rather than private credit.
Coffee With a Journalist
Building strong journalist relationships is central to how Cognito ANZ approaches financial services and technology PR in Australia. This month, our team caught up with Crystal Wu, Sydney reporter at Sky News Australia.
You might recall we featured a story by Crystal in our very first newsletter, covering Australia’s surcharge ban and how local businesses like PYNG are becoming more innovative in how they approach payments.
As the Sydney reporter, Crystal’s days move quickly. She’s often reporting five to six stories on the ground each day, covering everything from business and technology to policy and current affairs. Over coffee, we spoke about what goes into turning complex topics like these into engaging broadcast stories.
She shared that she looks for clear, visual angles, credible experts who can simplify the narrative, and fresh insights that help audiences connect the dots between policy changes and their real-world impact. With the pace of the newsroom, concise, well-timed pitches, backed by strong examples, make all the difference.
As always, these face-to-face conversations are invaluable. They help us build stronger relationships with key journalists, better understand what drives their day-to-day, and how to share stories that genuinely add value for their audiences.
Cognito is an independent communications and PR agency specialising in financial services and technology, with offices in Sydney, London, New York, Singapore, Hong Kong and other major financial centres around the world. If you’d like to work with a team that understands your sector, get in touch at [email protected].
