News Corp Australia’s food brand Taste.com.au has launched an expanded video offering and a series of new commercial initiatives.
Taste.com.au’s new video network taste.TV is now live, and shoppable ads will launch on the site on October 1. There are also evolved sampling offerings available with live opportunities in two new areas.
News Corp Australia’s director of lifestyle Fiona Nilsson said: “Taste.com.au has seen an increase of 200% in video plays and streams over the last year. Australian shoppers love food videos. We’re continuing to innovate and amplify our content in this area with taste.TV, which builds on our existing video offering, both on and off platform.
“Marketers are looking for ways to drive action with Australian shoppers and taste.com.au’s new commercial opportunities deliver on that. Shoppable ads will enable more opportunities to help drive transaction for our clients, putting their products directly on consumers’ shopping lists. Our new sampling opportunities have been designed to get clients’ products into the hands of shoppers to drive interaction with Australian consumers.”
taste.TV
The taste.TV content offering features a compelling mix of live shows, scheduled programs and bespoke video, along with taste.com.au’s library of over 500 essential how-to and recipe videos. All video content is located at taste.TV, a dedicated zone on taste.com.au.
New weekly programs include:
• Emergency Dinners – One quick and easy weeknight recipe in 10 minutes or less. Food editor Kim Coverdale will guide viewers through the midweek dinner rush, showcasing easy recipes and transforming supermarket ingredients into weeknight dinners. This will be streamed on Facebook on Thursdays at 4pm with live Q&A with taste.com.au experts. It will also be housed on taste.TV.
• Healthy Hacks – This will be streamed Saturdays at 9am on Facebook and housed on taste.TV. It is perfectly timed for weekend shopping and viewers will be shown inspiring meal prep, great recipes, clever ideas and must-buy ingredients.
New commercial opportunities are:
• Test Kitchen: a behind-the-scenes of the taste.com.au test kitchen, where the latest ingredients, products and gadgets are given the taste test.
• Grab & Go: how five ingredients can make an amazing meal.
• Household hacks: products and hacks to get households shipshape, clean, stored and organised.
• Easy Entertaining: tricks and tips to elevate any occasion whether it’s a fancy gathering, a relaxed barbecue or a lazy Sunday picnic.
Shoppable Ads
Launching on October 1, taste.com.au’s Shoppable Ads are focused on getting clients’ products to the point of transaction. Products featured in shoppable ad units on taste.com.au will be able to be shopped directly in a brand-safe environment via supermarket partner Coles.
Taste testers
Taste.com.au has a sampling audience of over 100,000 Australian shoppers signed up to sample products. This initiative drives word of mouth and consumer advocacy through product trial and reviews for clients and has evolved into two new areas:
• Taste testers LIVE: Puts products directly in the hands of Australian shoppers at live experiential events.
• Taste testers TRY: Gain valuable feedback from Australian shoppers in the research and development phase of a product’s life cycle.
Taste.com.au recorded a unique audience of 4.6 million in July 2018. It has had 32 million in-site searches, 4.2 million recipe printouts in the last year and 1.5 million taste.com.au users adding an ingredient to their shopping basket every month.