10 ViacomCBS officially re-introduced itself to the world as Paramount ANZ following the international name change to its parent company back in February, with the team behind the scenes charging ahead under their new name ever since.
Since the rebrand, Paramount have pulled together campaigns that include the world’s tallest hologram, the Southern Hemisphere’s largest drone and light show, and campaigns that appeal across generations.
Mediaweek spoke to Lisa Squillace, Paramount ANZ’s national sales director, about what the brand can offer clients, commercialisation of the company’s platforms, and what lies ahead.
Paramount drone show at Vivid Sydney
Paramount has a unique portfolio in that it links in to global brands. How important commercially is access to international content in the local market?
“Really, really important. One way we leverage that global content is through IP. NCIS Sydney is an example of our global franchise strategy – we’ve got rich intellectual property with a vast international footprint.
“Another thing is the ability to leverage talent globally. The new Top Gun movie is a great example – we’re able to have unprecedented access and interviews to all of the stars and all of the talent locally, given that we’re all owned by Paramount.”
Paramount covers FTA in Channel 10, SVOD with a paywall in Paramount+, and BVOD in 10Play. How do you balance the free offerings of 10 and 10play while also chasing subs on Paramount+?
“They all have a different role to play in regards to content and commercialisation.
“High reach and mass audience at scale is through television with 10. We really focus in on making sure that all of our products reaches our key demographics but is accessible and free for all Australians.
“10 Play is around on demand content that is also free – but for an advertiser, it is an excellent way to reach non-television viewers in our ecosystem. With the introduction of VOZ, 10 Play adds incremental reach, particularly for those people who have not watched the program – and therefore the advertising – or the integration on linear.
“One really key example of integration is the KFC sponsorship of Australian Survivor this year. 10 Play added 16% more reach through their activations against people 25 plus. They’re big numbers – to increase your reach that much in using just linear is almost impossible. So it’s a really good opportunity for advertisers to really bolster around premium content.
“Then in regards to Paramount+ and its subs, it’s worked really, really well. We have exceeded all of our own internal expectations and benchmarks – and that’s about accessing content that may not be as broad-reaching for free-to-air.”
How have you found integrating Paramount brands into an established FTA brand like 10?
“All of our 10 brands are quite unique in personality, but we are also absolutely Paramount. Our values really align well with the broader Paramount group, so it’s not like our current brands in this market are completely opposite to our overall Paramount brand.
“It’s just making sure that whatever we do, we stay true to our overall values as a global company, because it all trickles down together. We live and breathe by ensuring that our values are adhered to. We have a number of them, and all of that is underpinned by our global DEI policies, as well as our local policies. We’re all aligned on those values, so the integrating of the Paramount brand isn’t that difficult.”
What can Paramount offer its commercial partners?
“We are able to package, commercialise, and sell to our marketers four platforms for one campaign. That’s a really unique space in this market. Paramount can offer everything from integrations within the IPs of our programs and our content across all of those platforms, to first in market opportunities. We had an example with MasterChef and Deliveroo, where you were able to order the winning ice cream dish that was aired immediately on the app.
“There are opportunities that run in a more linear perspective, there are opportunities for a brand alignment with Paramount+, there are opportunities for subscriptions through Paramount+, there are opportunities of integration and light ad loads in Paramount+ – which is unique in an SVOD service. You are able to reach the unreachable, is a nice way to say it!
“There are so many ways to reach Australians through Paramount, as well as being able to leverage globally. So if there is an Australian brand that wants to break into an international market, we have a team that can that can facilitate that globally, ready to go.”
The Master Chief hologram produced for Paramount+
It’s been just over a year since the A-Leagues broadcast rights deal was announced. How has the first year been, and what is the future of monetising sport at Paramount?
“It was a big year, because it’s the first time that we had bought the total rights for a code, and then use Paramount+ as an opportunity for football fans to view at any time.
“What it also did for us was drive our membership base. Since the football began in September last year, we’ve added 1.23 million new members to our ecosystem, and of those, over 570,000 of them were men. It’s a very, very important part of the strategy to increase those types of memberships, to then offer as data solutions for our advertisers in our online ecosystem.
“In regards to other sporting rights, we’ve made no secret of the fact that we will look at everything seriously. We are unique in this current market as we are fully owned by one global company who has a fully owned SVOD service here. We are able to leverage the power of Paramount in Australia very successfully in sporting rights, so we will look at everything that comes our way.”
What does the commercial future of Paramount ANZ look like?
“It’s all about ensuring that we have impactful integration across every screen, and this will continue to grow with our technology and our partners. Our offering doesn’t stop at screens – we’ve got licencing, merchandising, consumer products, and globally recognised characters from all of our brands. We have an extremely bright and diverse future, and it’s only growing.”