As a pioneer in the field of AI applied to marketing and advertising, Lucio Ribeiro came to Seven as one of Australia’s most awarded digital executives. The MIT graduate, who joined in August in the newly created role as director of digital marketing and innovation, is tasked with driving new avenues for Seven to connect with audiences – and AI is taking centre stage in his plans.
“There’s a whole lot of work that’s currently happening and work in planning around AI – AI is a really big play here,” Ribeiro told Mediaweek.
“The work announced at the Upfront around predictive analytics with Databricks is happening as we speak, my team has a lot of usage for that data. We utilise the information, the predictive analytics of Databricks to mobilise marketing and enhance personalisation of communication.”
Joining from Optus, where he was director of technology, innovation and activation, the new role sees him reunite with Seven’s chief marketing and audience officer, Melissa Hopkins, to “help support the transformation of the business”.
“It’s really good to come to a business where there’s no dissonance between what you’re telling people on the outside and what we’re actually doing on the inside,” said Ribeiro. “When I came on, one of the conversations I had with Mel [Hopkins] and James [Warburton] was about being absolutely committed to the digital future of this business – In Seven’s case, we are not just talking, we are walking the walk.”
“I would not have come to Seven if there was no really a way for me to express these skills,” Ribeiro said.
See Also: Seven Upfront 2024: Databricks partnership brings AI to Seven’s advertisers
In such a competitive market, Ribeiro said that Seven is gaining – and maintaining – loyalty amongst its consumers through “a combination of experience and great product.”
“We can see the stickiness, we can see the engagement on our content is just going up and up and up. We obviously have our tentpoles, and we also have a breadth of really great content.,” said Ribeiro.
“Good quality content is good quality content. There’s a truckload of people producing content, and what breaks through is great quality. We’re seeing viewership increasing, we’ve seen engagement across 7Plus increasing, and consumption of content is going up. It is definitely a competitive market, but it’s also growing.”
Seven House at SXSW Sydney
For those visiting Tumbalong Park at SXSW Sydney earlier this year, it would have been very hard to miss Seven House making a statement in the centre of the space. Reflecting on Seven’s presence at SXSW Sydney – a partnership that included hosting its 2024 Upfront – Ribeiro said that “there were a couple of different elements” that made the activation such a highlight.
“There was the Upfront element, which was pretty big. For it to be such a success was a big statement to the markets that we are keen to demonstrate ourselves as massive cultural changers, at the forefront of innovation and technology.
“It was hugely strategically important to be at SXSW alongside the collaboration. We couldn’t have asked for better results.”
It wasn’t just having a presence at the conference that was important, with Ribeiro pointing out that Seven House stood for much more.
“The house encapsulated what Seven now is – we are a change maker. We brought in AI, we brought in creative, we brought in culture, we demonstrated partnerships, we renewed partnerships with VaynerMedia, with Databricks, with Deloitte, and we gave these to our guests in terms of public speaking and thought leadership. We showed the world what we now stand for.”
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Top Image: Lucio Ribeiro