7RED is the Seven Networks strategic cross-media unit that delivers end to end marketing solutions, connecting brands to the network’s content.
Mediaweek caught up with Seven’s chief revenue officer Kurt Burnette, and the director of 7RED Katie Finney about the progress that the team is making, its new campaign with McDonald’s and what is in store from 7RED for the rest of the year.
7RED’s performance
Despite the pandemic Burnette said that over the last 12 months they have seen an eagerness from clients to integrate and create.
“The work that 7RED has done has increased exponentially, this year to date we’ve created over four thousand pieces of content. That includes TVCs, integration, end to end delivery from creating the TVC to putting it inside the content itself as well as creating social content.”
7REDiQ
Last year Seven announced 7REDiQ an analytics and data science partnership with TEG Analytics (TEGA).
This enabled Seven to deliver new and enhanced audience insights, predictive modelling and machine learning capabilities to improve the outcomes for brands across Seven’s digital and connected TV platforms.
Finney said that it gives Seven the means to enable meaningful and valuable connections with its audiences as a planning tool.
“We now can understand the cultural drivers that are inspiring our audience, and the context of where is best to receive those messages. We’re also able to use the audience from REDIQ and optimise for future campaigns.”
Katie Finney
Burnette added that the product is in the education phase at the moment, as they show clients how it can simplify complex data by giving a very clear, strong visualisation of data points that are then actionable.
“It brings all our data points together, we can see the activity that’s happening across Seven and digital, and across our entire assets, and then work out – depending on who they’re targeting – who those people are, what time of day, and what sort of creative that would best suit them.
7RED’s Maccas campaign
7RED, has recently collaborated with OMD, DDB and Whooshka for a campaign for McDonald’s as part of Seven’s coverage of the AFL which launched on March 25.
The campaign kicked off during last night’s Carlton v Collingwood match and featured Seven’s Hamish McLachlan along with several AFL stars and senior officials which highlighted all the different type of Maccas in the sport.
Finney said that there is more Maccas in the sport than you would realise and there was actually a whole lot more that they didn’t use, but they got the biggest names in all of the Maccas in Bruce McAvaney and Gil McLachlan.
“Getting Hamish on board was the first tick because we needed him to front it and lead it as the Macca. Then we needed to get Bruce on board and set up a collaboration with the AFL to get Gil– which I think a lot of people are going to see that and go ‘wow.’
“The results of this are for our audiences to be really amused, and happy about Maccas and their involvement in the AFL, and our broadcast.”
The campaign will also feature custom social content on Seven and McDonalds channels and shorter versions of the TVC. The campaign will also be appearing during games on Foxtel that are simulcast with Seven.
What does 7RED have install for the rest of the year
Three months into the calendar year and Seven still has most of its major shows still in the pipeline with Big Brother, Farmer Wants a Wife, and SAS Australia all on the docket still for the year. Finney said that work kicks off very early on in the process of those shows to integrate commercial partners.
“We have brands involved from pre-production, so the moment a program is green-lit we’re offering bespoke opportunities to our clients. We have partners that are for Big Brother, SAS, and Farmer Wants A Wife that are all integrated into the format, and then we also have brands that come on through the process during production and then post.”
Burnette said that content slates are important because it’s a powerful piece for creating marketing momentum.
“If you think about it with Big Brother, Farmer Wants A Wife, SAS, the Olympics, The Voice, Australia’s Got Talent, into the Ashes, which goes straight into the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February next year, straight into Australian Idol returning to Australian screens. It’s the largest 18-month marketing platform that’s ever been available in this marketplace.”
While some shows are planned well in advance Finney pointed out that the team is also capable of quick turnaround campaigns.
“Programs like Sunrise and The Morning Show we can turn things around within 24 hours with our live programs. The Front Bar, they make big opportunities for brands as well as our live sport to come and be a part of our content without the long-term planning that we do have with our tentpoles.”
The Olympics is also going to appear on Seven later this year which Burnette said that the 7RED team got a head start on due to the postponement of the event last year.
“Before is obviously better because it gives you time to work up ideas and bigger creative, but what we’ve learned through Covid was this agility to work very short term when needed. But we can then also work six, eight months out from the Olympics.”
“A lot of that stuff now is in the can, as in its pre-produced so we’re ready with all of our content ready to roll. There are some very, very strong campaigns that are going to run through those shows and the Olympics. And then of course we head straight into an Ashes cricket series, which we’re starting to work with clients on as well.”
Seven’s Olympic team for Tokyo 2021
7RED goals for the future
When asked about the future Burnette predicted a lot of innovation to be on the way.
“Anything we’re doing is about enhancing the advertising, the viewer experience, and the technology that we’re going to bring in from e-commerce to brand tracking, there’s going to be a lot of innovation in that space.
“The real ambition is we would love to help with creatives, make advertising become part of the content – not an interruption but a welcome addition to people’s viewing experience.”
Finney added a desire for 7RED to focus on convergence.
“We want a fostering approach on every partnership that we have and an extension in engaging all of our audience on all of these channels and our partner’s channels as well.”