Seven West Media has confirmed its investment in Starts at 60, one of Australia’s fastest growing media brands.
Seven West Media has secured a 33% shareholding in the business, an investment that will support further expansion of the independent business in content, technology and operations and see it launch a range of brands and service offerings that go beyond media over the coming months.
Tim Worner, CEO and managing director of Seven West Media, said: “We are delighted to partner with and support the growth of Starts at 60. It is a great business in a growing, influential and affluent market and expands our connection with our audiences and delivers those audiences to our advertising partners. Starts at 60’s young, energetic style, and invigorating outlook for the emerging baby boomer generation is something we also embrace across our television and magazine brands.
Commenting, Clive Dickens, Seven West Media’s chief digital officer, said: “We are pursuing opportunities to build our company through key strategic investments in new ventures which can grow rapidly with the benefit of aggressive promotion and Starts at 60 is right in that category. Our media assets are increasingly forming an ecosystem where broadcast television and our publishing content are the cornerstones we use to expand and commercialise new platforms. Consumer behaviour and content engagement and consumption are changing. Television will continue to be the cornerstone for engaging with mass audiences and will underpin our plans to further engage with our audiences.
“Starts at 60 underlines our commitment to build beyond those strengths and allows us to have one-on-one conversations with our audiences. Starts at 60 is building a true online community with powerful channels that connect with the audience in a way that has become rare in today’s media. Rebecca [Wilson] and the team really care about this generation, and that connection is special and we’re excited to invest in its growth.”
Starts at 60 was founded in 2013 by Rebecca Wilson, a nationally respected marketer and social entrepreneur, and now delivers more than 1.5 million unique browsers and hit five million pageviews per month globally in January, chiefly centred in Australia and New Zealand. In addition, it offers a diverse array of content far exceeding engaged-like ratios of almost all popular digital media brands in Australia, with 275,000 subscribers across Facebook and email. Starts at 60 already has advertising partnerships in place with brands like Australian Super, AAT Kings, Dymocks, Connect Hearing and Hachette and a solid track record of both audience and revenue growth. Seven West Media plans to build on these and sell across multiplatform.
“We are enormously passionate about serving baby boomers as the young, vibrant, energetic people they are with regular, inviting, respectful and engaging content. Our team is proud to be breaking the mould of 60 being old that is so well entrenched in the media industry,” said Wilson. “Seven shares our values on this, which we are delighted about. Seven’s investment brings enormous synergies to support our growth in Australia, and the funding will be used to create the best media and service offerings we can for this generation that has embraced us online.”
Seven’s investment in Starts at 60 sees it continue to grow under the leadership of Wilson and the Brisbane-based team.
“The partnership formed between Seven and Starts at 60 reinforces our position as the number one digital mature brand and the voice of the over 60 which it has become online and we’re excited by what comes next,” said Wilson.
Source: Seven West Media