Summer is no time for slumber for media buyers, according to Sandra Wiles, The Media Store’s (TMS) head of sponsorship & integration.
With more than three decades in media, Wiles knows from experience that few of her contemporaries pay much attention to summer schedules that fall in the middle of the non-ratings period.
However, she has found great success by looking to the traditionally quieter months of summer - in particular the Nine Entertainment Company's hosting of cricket, Australia’s most watched sport - to deliver the holy trinity of advertising for clients: mass and prolonged reach and engagement, clear cut-through, and strong ROI.
She says the national game pulls Australians together in a way no other sport can.
“Unlike the footy season, this is the one time of year when Australians are all on the same side. Cricket unites the nation, so brands that can capitalise on that sentiment will engage audiences.”
And with the summer internationals set to commence with the First Test against the Kiwis at Brisbane’s ‘Gabba’ on 5 November, the time for buyers to secure spots is now.
Nine Entertainment Co.’s sport sales director Sam Brennan says with one month to go buyers need to nail down inventory to leverage the big opportunities on offer across the NEC network - which has the broadcast rights to The Test Series, the International T20 and the One day internationals, as well as the digital rights to every form of the game.
“This summer we’re on air for 38 days of cricket from early November through to the end of January. Because it’s such a diverse period of time it’s not to your detriment if you’re only advertising in November and December or December and January, you can flip brands in and out as required.”
Ikon Communications client service director Adrian Manca - whose agency represents another CA partner, Commonwealth Bank - says getting as much ahead of the game as you can is critical.
“This allows time to frame up the key client challenge, engage all parties in the process to interrogate the brief and provide how best it will be addressed.”
Speaking earlier this year, Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland referred to the cricket season as “part of the very fabric of Australian culture”.
"Our research over a decade consistently shows that the Australian men's cricket team is by far the country's most popular national sporting team. That's backed up by record crowds, television audiences and participation rates which demonstrate the game's health and continued popularity.”
The game attracts television audiences in their millions - 16.3 million over Nine’s last International Summer of Cricket - making it the perfect vehicle for many brands across many sectors.
Michael Stephenson, Nine Entertainment Co.’s national sales director, says Nine’s coverage reached 70 per cent of all Australians across the 2014/15 summer international season – 69.3 per cent more audience than the Australian Open Tennis and 44.2 per cent more audience than the Big Bash League. In addition it attracted an average of 1.1 million viewers to its Test and One Day Internationals during the period.
A big part of cricket’s appeal is the reduced advertising content offered by the way the sport is structured with cricket running 35 to 40 per cent less ad content per hour than across general programming - eight minutes per hour versus the typical 13 minutes.
There is also great opportunity to cut through by taking full advantage of the 85-plus solus 30-second ad breaks that run between wickets and overs each day of a Test match.
Manca says live sport attracts clients from all the major categories as the ratings have traditionally been able to break through the clutter that exists in the “heavily fragmented” Australian media market.
“The Summer of Cricket provides a true nationally reaching platform that is ingrained in all Australians across the summer period. It provides brands with the opportunity to communicate ongoing with mass reaching audiences.”
AdNews, in partnership with NEC, has compiled the Summer Planning Guide. Pick up your copy of the Guide, inside the latest print issue of AdNews, out now. You can subscribe here,or get it immediately on iPad. You can also contact our subscriptions team here
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