Founded in 2017, The Daily Aus (TDA) is a social-first news service aimed at providing young Australians a digestible and engaging way to access the news.

TDA faced the challenge of converting its large third-party social media followers into a more sustainable first-party audience. To address this, TDA team participated in a 15-month experience as part of the Google News Initiative (GNI) Lighthouse Program.

In this program, they worked with a strategic design and innovation consultancy to experiment with various ideas including partnerships with music festivals, developing an off-platform game that required email sign-up and registration to play, and conducting targeted polls. These experiments allowed TDA to gain quick feedback, refine ideas and iterate on new concepts with minimal risk.

TDA also refreshed its brand identity to appeal to its young audience and experimented with transparent storytelling about the importance of newsletter sign-ups to their business.

TDA was able to significantly increase its newsletter subscribers and website traffic, surpassing initial goals. This growth in first-party relationships enhanced TDA's resilience against potential social media instabilities and algorithm changes.

The success of initiatives like the Untitled Music Partnership demonstrated effective ways to attract their target demographic directly to their newsletter. The program allowed TDA to experiment with innovative ideas, setting a new standard for audience engagement in the Australian media landscape.