Are Media’s first-ever BODfest, presented by OGX, attracted more than 900 people in-person and online and reached millions across its digital and social media footprint.
The one-day mini-fest, held at Sydney’s Paddington Hall on Saturday, October 8, was a sell-out, with close to 600 people attending in-person for live panel discussions and sponsored experiences, with additional viewers online via on-demand content from October 12.
The event, delivered in partnership with production partner RSPM, featured guest speakers including supermodel Emily Ratajkowski, American curve queen Remi Bader, and mental health advocate Brooke Blurton, aimed to shift the self-love conversation and promote body positivity.
The event delivered significant brand awareness and reach for clients, including major sponsor OGX, who hosted an in-person activation, the OGXperts hair salon.
Other creative brand activations included Maybelline New York’s “Brave Together” mental health break-out space, La Roche-Posay’s skin check station, the Grey Goose Essences range pop-up bar, sugar-free food sampling from Lakanto, and White Glo’s glow-up station, featuring a custom tutorial from TikTok stars Ginger and Carman on how to “glo up” your style.
Leia Berryman, senior brand manager for OGX said BODFest was a great opportunity to connect directly with their target market.
“OGX is the loving brand that delivers salon quality, high performing formulas for every hair type. Diversity and inclusivity is integral to everything we do from the range of products we make to the real, diverse people who represent and work on our brand.
“Bodfest is a perfect platform to engage our audiences with meaningful and authentic communications and enjoyed working with the Are Media team to bring it to life,” Berryman added.
Are Media also hosted a creator lounge, which enabled some of Australia’s leading influencers to create immersive content, as an extension of its #magazinelover initiative.
The event utilised Are Media’s significant social media footprint (one of the biggest of any publisher in the world per capita) to amplify its offering for sponsors, reaching more than 5 million people in over 150 pieces of organic social content across Instagram, Facebook and TikTok on the event day alone.
Are Media commercial director, Andrew Cook, said BODFest demonstrates that the content company is continuing to deliver bespoke events at-scale, partnering with brands to achieve real outcomes.
“Are Media is committed to delivering innovative, brand-led experiences for our advertising partners and readers, and events like BODFest are a critical part of that vision,” he said.
“Our depth of thought leadership into Australian women, led us to create this agenda-setting initiative, as our research shows eight in ten Australian women feel dissatisfied with their bodies, and two-thirds say their self-image is impacted by social media.”
“Events like these bring our clients and our brands to life. They provide a unique experience for all attendees, while also raising awareness and delivering incredible customer insights and data for advertisers.”
Cook continued: “As a content company, Are Media has the ability to bring together communities of like-minded people and use events like BODfest to tap into what is important to our audience, particularly those important conversations around diversity, inclusivity and self-love.
“It really provides an opportunity for brands to engage audiences with meaningful, authentic content at-scale, via Are Media’s extensive social media footprint and multi-platform approach,” he added.
RSPM executive producer and director, Renee Schembri, said the team was delighted to work with Are Media to produce the BODFest event.
“RSPM is famous for transforming blank spaces into remarkable experiences. We were thrilled to work so collaboratively with the team at Are Media to produce this unique event. It was wonderful to see audiences so fully engaged with our activations, high production values and some of Australia’s best and most diverse presenters.”
On-demand content will also be launched for BODFest virtual ticket holders from tomorrow (October 12).
BODFest sponsors included OGX, La Roche Posay, Nova Entertainment Podcast Network, Maybelline New York, Grey Goose, White Glo, Lakanto and West Hotel.
