People can expect to see a different, more diverse AFL next year, following the appointment of Sarah Wyse as its head of media.
Wyse has been in the role for just over three weeks but is already clear on what she wants to achieve - and that’s growing its female and kids audience by using more targeted content.
She is responsible for all creative services, video production and editorial and commercial content.
Speaking to AdNews, Wyse said she’s aware she’s not the traditional exec for the role. She’s not from Victoria, hardly an AFL fan and is, of course, a woman.
However, she views her background as an advantage and credits the AFL for its “fresh thinking” in recruiting the former Allure Media chief creative officer.
Although the AFL has four million unique users across its digital platforms, Wyse sees space in the market for the brand to share more diverse and inclusive content.
“We need to ensure we’ve got diverse people in our business who can really understand the audience and create content that is meaningful to them,” she said.
“The most exciting opportunity is to really start trailing innovative ways to reach new audiences and to have the AFL as the launch pad for that in Australia is really compelling.”
With a fan base that’s 40% female and the women’s league heading into its third season, the AFL is confident the demand is already there.
“The opportunity around women’s content is far broader than what we see today on the AFL platforms,” Wyse said.
The AFL's digital platforms are popular with fans who seek up-to-date content relating to the game, but Wyse recognised the current audience skews male. In her new role, she will be driving the trial of new content in different formats to recruit more women to its assets.
Wyse said it will cater to women’s interests and go beyond the footy news cycle for more “lifestyle-driven” content.
As for appealing to kids, she said the AFL already has strong offerings, such as AusKick, but can produce content that better targets how children consume media.
“Kids are complete digital natives,” she said.
“They describe YouTube as TV and are really redefining the hardware of which we consume content. They think about how they can get content on demand from the creators they love and in most cases they’re not your traditional content providers.”
Sarah Wyse
The AFL isn’t chasing numbers
As she sets out on her task of growing AFL’s audience, Wyse said she is less focused on numbers and more focused on delivering quality content.
“We can get caught up with scale for scale’s sake in the media industry,” she said.
“For us it’s really about moving the needle on some of the bigger metrics. We want to engage existing and new fans moving forward with content they will share with their friends.”
She said the AFL has invested in a significant data analytics strategy to help it understand its audience better.
“Rather than just blasting out content to fans, we’ll start being smarter about how we’re reaching and satisfying people based on what they’re looking for,” she said.
The AFL continues to support Wyse Women
Wyse has been a spokesperson for women in advertising long before she founded her networking community for women, Wyse Women, in 2016.
It was through her work at Wyse Women that she met the AFL team and the opportunity presented itself.
“The AFL engaged Wyse Women as a way of being able to create a more strategic and diverse talent pipeline for some of its senior roles in the business and this role was one of them,” she said.
“They are very supportive of what we’re trying to do socially at Wyse Women.”
Still involved with the group from afar, Wyse said it’s set to launch a new product in the coming weeks to increase transparency on how businesses are operating, supporting gender equality and flexible working.
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