Think TV’s – Marketing during a crisis

ThinkTV have put together some useful links to help marketers and agencies in planning and managing their brands successfully through the COVID-19 crisis.

Source: ThinkTV.com.au

Broadcast Video in Demand

How we consume content has changed.

The television is ‘smart’.
Your phone is the remote.
Screens come in all shapes and sizes.
On demand content is in demand more than ever before.

So what are Australian audiences consuming?

And how? Let’s look at the facts, figures and
trends for 9Now, Australia’s leading Broadcast
Video on Demand platform.

Download facts here.

Your Brand in Demand

Leverage the power of 9Now to engage with millions of Australians anywhere,anytime, with the leading broadcast video on demand platform.

Premium Content in Demand

Welcome to the complete streaming experience. Audiences demand premium content how and when they want it. Whether live or on-demand, the world of broadcast video streaming has evolved and premium content is king.

9Now has become an unrivalled destination for the biggest locally produced sporting, entertainment, news and lifestyle formats for Australian viewers. From the power of love with Married at First Sight and Love Island to the breakout family hit, Lego Masters.

A test of all our brand’s values

During this once in a generation opportunity, institutions that clearly define what they mean now to stakeholders will be best positioned to benefit from a recovery.

Hugh Marks, Chief Executive Officer of Nine

These are indeed testing times. Testing times for our families. For our staff and colleagues. And for our businesses. For Nine, it’s caused us to reflect not just on how we position the business to trade through the economic implications of COVID-19, but what it means for us as a business and our role in the community, particularly our news and current affairs services across television, radio, print and digital.

Australians are consuming news and current affairs like I haven’t seen for many years. And they are not just watching, reading or listening. We can see from the metrics that they are deeply engaged with a 20 per cent increase in news consumption across the board year on year.

Of course, this is hardly surprising in the current circumstances but we can also see a much broader shift in the public mood that all institutions, government and private, should really consider how they respond to in the current environment.

If we as an organisation are to be good at anything, it is understanding Australians. If we don’t, our business suffers. And we get measured every day on this metric. And what’s happening now is fascinating.

The public mood is open. They want guidance. Real leadership. They want transparency. They have never liked bullshit but they are now much less cynical. It’s a big shift, and maybe a permanent one. They have a thirst for things that make them feel better about life. More reassured.

As a result, this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Not just for us as a business but for all institutions. Because as we move through this crisis and out the other side, which we will, it will be those institutions that are able to truly and clearly define what they mean now to stakeholders that will be best positioned to benefit from a recovery – whether those stakeholders are customers, businesses, the government or indeed the general public.

What is your brand – whether that be a company or a product or a service? What do you want it to stand for? Now – in this world of ours, a world that will be different as we evolve from a succession of crises? And are you telling that story in the right way?

Important questions

Most importantly, is it clear and simple and actionable? Is it something that you’ve taken for granted as not needing to be changed. Have you questioned what this crisis means for your brand – in the long term? It will be well worth the effort and as important as anything else you do as an institution through current events.

Because now is definitely the time of the brand and not the latest thing or deal. Yes, price will always remain very important in the context of constrained budgets but take time to define your brand as something of value, beyond just price or ubiquitous service. These are the businesses that will thrive.

You can see many brands already picking up on this and responding. It’s been great to see. Certainly we’ve had to do a lot of this thinking ourselves. And we continue to do this work. Do we have the tone of our content right – across all of our platforms? What have we been saying to the public about Nine News as a brand, The Australian Financial Review, The Sydney Morning Herald or The Age or 3AW.

And Pedestrian.TV? How has it been tackling this when it, as a brand, speaks to young people who have never experienced an economic shock like the one we are now living through. How did that flow down to our people – including our presenters and journalists? Did we stand for the things that the public rightly demands?

These are the questions we ask of our business and how we communicate to the public. These are the questions our reporters, editors and producers are asking themselves with every story they prepare.

In response, we’ve made several changes. And we will continue to refine the things we do and say. We will need to tell our audiences that and live that as the media brands that are within Nine.

It’s a great challenge – one we talk about all the time, and one we will invest in as we move through current events to beyond.

First appeared in The Australian Financial Review, 23 March 2020.

Nine’s Successful 2020 Start to Continue with Strong Post-Easter Slate

Nine’s television business has had a successful launch to the year and the momentum will continue with its strong post-Easter slate.

Nine’s Program Director, Hamish Turner, says: “We’ve had a fantastic launch to the 2020 year. The Australian Open coverage was up 15 per cent in terms of raw prime-time numbers and the BVOD audience for the tournament was up 100 per cent. This provided fantastic momentum into the Q1 slate which started with Married at First Sight.”

Married at First Sight continues to deliver exceptional results year after year, with growth across multiple platforms.

“The first episode was up 15 per cent and the BVOD numbers are already at 300,000, a great start to the year,” Turner said.

“The power of MAFS is its cross-platform presence and ability to engage audiences live, through our BVOD platform, as well as by editorial on nine.com.au. It is the number one show of Q1 and is dominating all demos and total people, as well as the BVOD audience.”

Following on from MAFS, Nine will move into its number one family show of 2019, LEGO Masters, with the return of Hamish Blake and The Brickman.

“LEGO Masters is all about creativity and the power of imagination and we’re expecting fantastic numbers for series two as the skill this year goes to a difficult new level,” Turner said.

Another family favourite, The Voice, returns for its ninth season with coaches Kelly Rowland, Delta Goodrem, Guy Sebastian and Boy George all sitting in their red swivel chairs again.

“For the first time we have four returning coaches, along with brand new host Renee Bargh straight from Los Angeles, and co-host Darren McMullen,” Turner said. “This year we’re also featuring the All Stars component again. It was super-successful in 2019 and some big names that you’ve seen in the past are coming back this year. There will also be some surprise tweaks in the format that will continue to engage viewers.”

The explosive drama Informer 3838 also enters the slate in Q2. Turner describes it as a premium two-part drama that is edge-of-your-seat viewing, taking the audience back into the world of Underbelly with returning real characters played by actors like Gyton Grantley and Robert Mammone.

The post-Easter period will see the return of Travel Guides after an incredible third season in 2019 which produced year-on-year growth across all key demographics, as well as BVOD.

“We’ve moved Travel Guides from Q1 to drive better results in Q2 this year,” Turner said. “The team are travelling wide and far once more, from Turkey to the Kimberleys in Western Australia, from South Korea to the Maldives. At its core this program is family viewing with heart and laughs.”

The toughest television challenge on the planet, Ninja Warrior, will add further strength to Nine’s Q2 slate.

“Australian Ninja Warrior is back for its fourth season and the prizemoney this year has jackpotted to $400,000. If our fastest ninja makes it up Mount Midoriyama, he or she will take away a big stash of cash. We’ll see all our returning favourites as well as some fantastic new competitors,” Turner explained.

Nine’s sporting momentum will increase with coverage of the 2020 NRL competition, which promises to deliver an expanded and enhanced cross-platform presence under the new vision of “Your Footy, Your Way”.

“This year we will give you everything you need and everything you want from the NRL – Nine is your one-stop shop,” Turner said. “We are engaging with rugby league where you want it and how you want it, across multiple platforms including TV, publishing, digital and radio.

“Plus, Australia’s number one program of 2019, the State of Origin series, will return in 2020 with three more blockbusters. For the first time we are heading to Adelaide to kick off the series, on June 3, and looking forward to it with great anticipation.”

For more information, contact your Nine sales representative.

Kia’s top marketer says Uber Eats kicked other brands ‘in the teeth’ with its Australian Open sponsorship. Kia wants to match it.

Kia’s GM marketing, Dean Norbiato, admits the auto company has a major “brand rejection” challenge among Australians and undercooked its two-decade backing of The Australian Open. But that’s all changing massively.

Kia and Uber Eats top marketers reveal their inside thinking on the worth of broadcast sponsorships.

This was first published on Mi3, click below to listen to the audio edition.