From print to TV: How Nine is building ‘superbrands’

Mariam Cheik-Hussein
By Mariam Cheik-Hussein | 5 December 2019
 

Nine is giving Good Food its first TV show for Christmas as it continues to transform the publishing brands it acquired from Fairfax Media.

The TV special will air this weekend as part of Nine’s mission to turn the 40-year-old title into one of its “superbrands”, spreading to new platforms and audiences.

This has already involved adding a glossy monthly magazine to Good Food’s portfolio, building on its weekly section in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, an annual cookbook and events. 

By introducing it to TV, Liana Dubois, head of Powered at Nine, says it will bring a unique audience to the brand. 

“Lots of Australians that haven't yet discovered Good Food, or certainly haven't connected with the brand across all of the various assets will be introduced to it for the first time,” she says.

“Or those that have engaged with the magazine for example, or across digital, are going to see a different side in terms of how the television show plays out.

“So the TV show is everything that you would expect from Good Food in that it's beautifully indulgent, it's absolutely delicious to watch. For advertisers, that's a really powerful opportunity to get involved in.”

With advertisers such as Lavazza onboard, Dubois says brands tend to tap into the entire Good Food ecosystem, rather than sticking to one platform.

“These days, advertisers want to tell a singular brand story in multiple places to different audiences,” she says.

“They want traditional media, which would include placements for their 30-second TV commercial, or for their printed ad to run in the magazine, for example.

“But then they're also looking for extensions into the digital ecosystem where there's another unique audience, and then they're looking for the multiplier effect of things like integrations and product placement.

“It’s really when you put all of those things together that an advertiser gets the greatest results and the greatest return on investment.”

Nine’s publishing director for food and travel Trudi Jenkins says each platform carries its unique audience, and expects TV to be the same.

The benefit of bringing the legacy food brand to TV also helps Nine stand out in an already cluttered environment.

“The brand and the talent is really strong,” Jenkins says. “It's the approach of the show, it's very down-to-earth, it's quite friendly. We know what we have and we know what our readers want.”

She adds that its editorial team, 10 across Sydney and Melbourne, worked closely with production to ensure the Good Food brand remained strong on TV.

“We looked at last year's traffic for all our Christmas collections and all the data informed the content for the show,” Jenkins says. “So it's your easiest Christmas ever, it's tips and tricks - that's what everybody wants.”

Other “superbrands” Nine has flagged for further investment include Domain, which has already been given a TV show, as well as Traveller, Sunday Life and Drive.

“Nine's philosophy is to create great content, distribute it broadly to engage audiences and advertisers, and the superbrand is testament to that philosophy,” Dubois says.

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