Time Out has launched a consumer campaign with travel site Wotif as its launch partner, coinciding with the publisher’s plans to expand coverage across Australia.
Kaylie Smith, managing director of Time Out Media APAC, told Mediaweek that while the publication has worked hard at building a strong presence in Sydney and Melbourne since 2007, it will now curate content on the best of Australia to attract a wider national audience.
“The fact that in Australia, Time Out is already in the top 10 lifestyle digital platforms gives us the confidence to engage our audience and advertising clients now with a national offering too.”
The national expansion follows in the footsteps of similar expansions in the US and UK. “For advertisers and clients, this new national proposition means that we can offer them even more impactful advertising opportunities.”
The content will include the best things to do, see, eat and drink, plus focus on arts and culture, travel news and recommendations nationwide.
Along with this expansion – which complements the Time Out Food & Drink Awards 2024 (in Melbourne and Sydney) and the Time Out Arts & Culture Awards 2024 across Australia – Smith said Time Out is focusing on partnership opportunities as part of its commitment to celebrate local culinary and cultural communities.
The new Time Out Cult(ure) Club
The consumer campaign with Wotif will consist of national digital and video content created by Time Out’s local journalists across the website and social media.
It will also drive awareness to support the national launch of Time Out Australia.
Smith said: “We will launch Time Out’s Cult(ure) Club, a curated collective of local tastemakers with a cult-like following.
“Furthermore, there will be a UGC social campaign to engage our audience by challenging them to ‘Show us the Best of Australia’; selected video submissions can stand to win a dream holiday to the Northern Territory worth $10k sponsored by Northern Territory Tourism.”
Smith explained that part of Time Out’s Cult(ure) Club campaign is to work with local tastemakers, from creatives to foodies and musicians from around the country.
“These are all engaging and inspirational individuals who will delve into their local scenes to take Time Out’s audience on a journey to their hidden gems across Australia.
“They are aligned with our ethos of inspiring and helping people to go out through authentic insights. Time Out content will always be created by our local expert journalists, but alongside this, there may be opportunities to continue to work with these kinds of tastemakers when it’s a good fit and aligns with our brand.”
Time Out, which began in London in 1968, has evolved to become a global network across 333 cities and 59 countries. Its global monthly brand audience is 136 million.
“We meet our audience where they take inspiration and make decisions,” Smith continued. “The audience we reach is valuable: it’s experience–hungry and active. From our data insights, we know that we don’t just drive awareness but also action when our audience engages with our brand.
“All this enables us to deliver bespoke, creative advertising solutions across numerous digital platforms, which can include experiential elements too, always rooted in authentic story-telling – we offer a credible and authentic route into the passions of a highly engaged audience.”
Smith on Meta pulling out of news deals
Meta’s exit from News Media Bargaining Code deals will impact news publishers across Australia, Smith said. She stressed that Time Out has a diversified audience, though.
“We continue to innovate and develop our unique content across all of our multiple channels – from web, mobile, email, video, and social to Live Events and Experiences – to engage and grow this audience and meet them where they take inspiration and make decisions.”
Smith said the industry can expect Time Out to cement its stance as a global brand with a national footprint and a local voice in the year ahead. Time Out will offer its advertising clients bespoke solutions to connect with its best of the city content and experience-hungry audience, not just at a city level but also at regional, national, APAC, and global levels.
“You will see more content in addition to our city-specific content, which we continue to develop across all of our channels.
“We continue to invest in short-form video, and we are looking forward to bringing our creativity and strategy to a wider roster of advertising clients through our bespoke 360-degree campaigns,” she added.
