After having lost $231.2 million in the half-year ending in February 2017, Ten Network’s hike back to financial viability will be equivalent to climbing the Himalayas in Alexander McQueen Armadillo shoes.

Ten needs to take baby steps and set both short and long-term checkpoints if they are to redeem themselves from this extreme and public blunder. It calls for a complete overhaul of all structure or lack thereof currently in place; and the need for cut throat renegotiation on contracts and suppliers.

In the long term, Ten will need to readjusts to stay afloat with the falling television advertising industry in general. As we all know, free to air television is taking a hit, just as print did; due to the fierce emergence of a completely digitally inclined society. Lachlan Murdoch and his minions are required to construct a plan for Ten to purchase content cheaper and more aligned to new age viewing. This means they are currently desperately trying to renegotiate domestic contracts and generate new ideas to capitalise on.

How to resurrect Network Ten

According to The Conversation; entering voluntary administration provides an opportunity to reorganise Ten completely. Changing media ownership laws would undoubtedly make this easier, by allowing some of the major shareholders to take the company private.

Ten should aim to reduce expenses, aiming for annual savings of A$80 million. In a release to the ASX, Ten talks about renegotiating contracts with the studios it buys content off, notably CBS and 20th Century Fox. Ten had already identified these cost reductions, but entering voluntary administration will give the company a stronger bargaining position.

Ten needs to protect and expand its revenues. With television advertising declining, Ten needs to reach more viewers so that it can maximise the revenue from the content it has. Distributing content through more channels, such as realising the full potential of streaming, would enable more efficient use of content and increase the potential audience.

But developing these channels by itself might not be a viable option as Ten has neither the time nor financial resources. This is why it makes sense to tie up with Foxtel, already a major shareholder and a big player online.

A common theme to these strategies is that Ten needs to compete more effectively for content and advertising revenues. This means that regulatory constraints must be removed if it is to fight for long-term financial sustainability.

Lachlan Murdoch pictured above. 

The Instagram stories feature has overtaken snapchat by a landslide with over 200mil users per day; this is a major win for Facebook who have been competing with the app since its emergence.

We all know Instagram revolves completely around being aesthetically pleasing, hilarious and helpful – which is why staging a singular shot has the capacity to take up a gigabyte in your camera roll.  

There is a proven engagement increase for profiles when they are actively posting on their Instagram story as well as their actual profile.

In our reality TV, social media creeping, YouTube make-up tutorial inclined world, people naturally want to have backstage access to what’s going on in your world or your “brands”.

This is what gains organic traction for your brand and has the potential to make or break you to a viewer.

A rule of thumb is to maintain your level of posting quality across both aspects of the app; this encapsulates general aesthetic, keeping it timely, brand alignment and cultural awareness.

Here are prime examples of brands that utilise their Instagram stories in inspiring ways.

1. NASA

2. Huffington Post

3. Mercedes-Benz and Mercedes AMG F1

4. McDonald’s

Can readers really tell the difference? And if they can, do they really care?  

In a world with an endless desire to gain people’s attention, native content is creeping into spaces previously reserved for editorial content.

Advertising in Australia is self-regulated, with guidelines administered by the Advertising Standards Bureau and Advertising Standards Board - both with a focus on community standards in advertising.

The advertising industry shouldn’t be reprimanded for getting so creative with concepts that you as a consumer don’t even realise you’re being advertised to; and in fact, legitimately enjoy reading this paid content.

The only time this has the potential to become an issue is when advertised content is misleading or deceptive to viewers; this is where Australian Consumer Law (formerly Trade Practices Act) will become involved to punish commercial dishonesty.

Here are some prime examples of extremely successful executions of native advertising: 

The Onion and Starbucks

Starbucks partned with The Onion to promote its Doubleshot Espresso by sponsoring a post on productivity on the weekends.

Mashable and MasterCard

MasterCard and Mashable collaborated and published a native article outlining how people use their mobile devices and how your relationships with your device has changed. The sponsored post was disguised to detail MasterCard's new digital payment system. 

The New York Times and Netflix

The New York Times launched its sponsored content in January 2014, and the publication has become a prime example for the media in regard to how to present native advertising -- from the use of a subdomain to the labelling in the header. 

Below is a paid post to promoting the release of the second season of the Netflix series "Orange is the New Black." The in-depth article discussed the many problems women face in prison, the effect of incarceration on their family, and prison reform -- issues that are also highlighted in the popular show.

Some prime examples of advertising scandals that have cost brands millions due to commercial dishonesty:

Volkswagen falsely advertising environmentally friendly diesel cars.
On top of potential fines for false advertising, the company could have to pay out up to $61 billion for violating the Clean Air Act, according to Wired.

Red Bull said it could “give you wings”.
The company settled the class action case by agreeing to pay out a maximum of $13 million — including $10 to every US consumer who had bought the drink since 2002.

New Balance said its shoe could help wearers burn calories.
They agreed to pay a settlement of $2.3 million, according to The Huffington Post.

Native advertising has become an important component of most major brands' marketing repertoire, which understandably has called for a growth in the number of native advertising platforms worldwide.

Despite this being a relatively new concept, native advertising has emerged as the third most popular publishing strategy. There is an obvious distinction between brand dishonesty and native credibility and these two realistically don’t overlap in any way. With clear labeling, brand stamping and a good story, your native content has the ability to speak to consumers on the same level as editorial.