M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment has launched a new lifestyle marketing division, M&C Saatchi Fabric, responding to increased demand from brands’ looking to connect with audiences in the emerging ‘hyper-passions’ category.
The new division has been built to address the "rapid" evolution of Australians’ passion points.
Research from M&C Saatchi Intelligence identified that interest areas that were traditionally considered hobbies, including fashion, food, beauty, health, and wellbeing, have exploded into "passion areas", with lifestyle purchases in these categories making up one in every two online transactions in Australia last year and news stories across the category growing by up to 80% in the last three years.
The division will be spearheaded by M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment’s head of communications, Krystyna Frassetto who joined the business in February, bringing with her over a decade of experience working with lifestyle brands.
“The way we cultivate our passions is evolving. It’s no longer just about a favourite celebrity, team, or game - passions have become an outlet for creative expression, a way to forge a new identity, upskill, campaign for change, and even gain a professional advantage," says Frassetto.
"M&C Saatchi Fabric helps brands identify these audience ‘hyper-passions’ and designs creative communications solutions that reflect the new ways they experience and share stories.
“In the lifestyle category, we’re seeing a proliferation of fragmented, heightened and often quite niche interests, particularly in areas of food, style and wellbeing and this is changing the way consumers discover, engage with and express what they love.
"With our Australian media industry in a state of flux and the democratisation of creativity - inspiration and influence can come from anywhere. An integrated editorial approach has never been more critical for brands looking to form a relationship with customers.”
For sixteen years, M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment has been connecting brands to audiences through the things people love, with a deep understanding of Australians' love for sport, film, and music.
M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment global CEO Steven Martin says as the way consumers spend their time and money evolves, the new lifestyle division identifies new, innovative ways for brands to connect to audiences.
“A lot can be learnt from sport and entertainment marketing on how to build fandom and drive loyalty," says Martin.
"There are traditional, sophisticated ecosystems centered primarily around long-term sponsorship deals and broadcast rights, as well as athletes, celebrities, and major events, that offer created well-established ways for brands to activate.
“In Australia, we are seeing increasing crossover and blurred lines between what were traditional ‘sport’ or ‘entertainment’ brands, and what is now perceived as ‘lifestyle’.
"The Sport & Entertainment team has unparalleled experience across this spectrum of passion-marketing, which when developing the new division, ensured there was a competitive and compelling offering that can be applied to the world of lifestyle communications and marketing.”
Australia is the first market to introduce the new M&C Saatchi Fabric, with offices in London, New York, Johannesburg, and Berlin to follow in the coming months.
M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment is a communications agency that delivers creative, experiential, media relations, influencer engagement, and social.
It works with local and global brands including Commonwealth Bank, Golf Australia, Smeg, and Sonos.
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