Lou Barrett.
News Corp, with adland’s own Lou Barrett fronting the D_Coded pitch, takes a less than subtle dig at social media when it presents as the platform with first class engagement and with content that’s hand made to be safe for brands.
D_Coded, News Corp's annual big pitch to media buyers, was all about positioning the media group as a solution to marketing problems, about real engagement and return on investment.
And now, with Foxtel sold, News is out there selling made for advertising streaming service Tubi in the Australian market.
“The new powerhouse of the big screen,” said Barrett at the Sydney D-Coded event. “It's a streaming service that unapologetically is built for advertisers.
“Unlike other streaming services, advertising on TV isn't an afterthought. It's the model the platform was designed for.
“More importantly, it's the model viewers want in a win-win situation. Audiences enjoy premium content for free, and brands get to connect with engaged viewers in a highly receptive environment.
“And this value exchange of free content for engaging protection is something News knows better than anyone.
“We built the largest free news of lifestyle brands in Australia, like news.com.au and taste.com.au and while Tubi might be relatively new to some here in the audience, we are about to throw a full weight of News Australia's assets behind building the brand.”
Steve Allen, at Pearman Media, describes D_Coded -- which attracted a Sydney audience of 1,000 media buyers, brands and prospects -- as the best presentation of the year.
“Best prepared, best pitched, best presented,” he told AdNews.
“But beyond the slick, comprehensive, condensed, presentations, is the overriding News Corp narrative; they are marketing problem solvers, in concert with clients and agencies.
“News has the largest audiences by far, 17.5 million monthly, plus the greatest spread of assets, they are the best equipped to assist.
“To back this up, News implements, uses, and embraces some of the best data and targeting tools around.
“The big sell this year is Audience Engagement. This was a subtle dig (and on many occasions throughout the presentations) at social and search media.”
People come to News Media assets for information….trusted reliable, fact checked, information. Therefore the audience/s are engaged. Not merely browsing or scrolling, or passing the time aimlessly.
The proposition is Engaged Reach … reach versus engagement.
“They came up with a new metric for establishing and calculating this: Page Views divided by Unique Audience/Users. A metric I well know (as many of you would) which is a calculation of engagement.”
The big announcement was all about video, News Australia is now selling collateral on ad-supported Tubi, owned by Fox in the US.
“They see video as a vital part of the News suite of problem solving channels; Mobile/OnLine/Video,” said Allen.
Natalie Morley, general manager, Adelaide and Perth at Atomic 212° said the big announcement for her was the video expansion with Tubi’s free streaming service.
“This move broadens their video reach to larger screens, where the competition is fierce,” she said.
“With News backing Tubi’s promotion in Australia, we should see its 1.3 million-strong audience grow. It’s an exciting new direction for News.”
Morley said D_Coded showed News Corp in a fresh, relaxed and fun light while still getting down to business.
“Prioritising case studies that showcased real business results was a smart move for News,” she said.
“There was a nice balance between emphasising key messages around brand safety and professionally researched content – content that drives engaged reach – and demonstrating what News platforms and placements can actually deliver. A few product announcements sprinkled in kept things exciting as well.
“The advances in AI within Intent Connect were particularly interesting. The long language model query chatbot to help with recommendations looks like it will be fun to play with and should bring real efficiency gains.
“Our teams are already using AI for basic search and insights, so seeing it come to life with News-specific recommendations is definitely powerful.
“The buyer-ready targeting capabilities of Intent Connect were also well showcased with case studies that highlighted its real-world value, rather than just the usual hype.
“Finally, the candid on-stage chat with Subway’s CMO, Rodica Titeica, was a fantastic way to bring partnerships to life. It really showcased how News’ innovations, insights and opportunities can drive solid business outcomes and deliver on performance metrics.”
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