In this modern age, it order to be competitive many companies are look for mixed media marketing to ensure the success of their product. This also applies to television shows. This post will review the marketing activities of three different Australian shows – The Bachelor Australia, The Amazing Race (Australia vs. New Zealand) and Offspring.
The Bachelor Australia (Channel 10)
The Bachelor was originally a show in the United States, but there is now an Australian version. The Bachelor Australia is a reality television show where girls will see if they have a connection with ‘The Bachelor’. Each week a girl is selected for a single date and a group of the girls are selected for the group date.
The show uses a lot of cross-promotion and marketing mix to maintain its audience. An example of the cross promotion are the events and locations which are included on the dates.
One of the dates in the 2014 series of The Bachelor Australia included a date at the Darling Hotel in Sydney and dinner at Sokyo. Other dates included a helicopter ride to the Hunter Valley to have a winery tour. This cross promotion has an incentive for both parties. In this scenario The Bachelor will receive either free or heavily discounted rates to include products on their show, and the company will receive what is essentially a ten to fifteen minute ad that has a high level of reach. One of the main sponsors of the show is Ford. During the series there have been several shots of the bachelorettes driving a Ford Focus and this cross-promotion is also evident on the website.
The Bachelor also has a strong online presence. An example of this is their Twitter and Facebook pages. Viewers are able to vote for which girl they think will be the last girl standing and ‘win the bachelor’s heart’. This is essentially a live crowd sourcing of the show’s favourites.
As the show is hosted by Channel Ten, Channel Ten governs their website, the domain of which is http://tenplay.com.au/channel-ten/the-bachelor.
The community of the show has a very specific demographic which is predominately females. This is because the premise of falling in love is very appealing to females. It is also demonstrated in the style of dates that are orchestrated by the show’s team. The website Mamamia does a satirical recap of each episode due to one of Mamamia’s contributors being a fan of the show.
The Amazing Race (Australia vs. New Zealand) (Channel 7)
The Amazing Race is a reality international TV show that originated in the United States. The show’s premise is to have teams compete in what is an international scavenger hunt. At the end of each stage, the last team to get to the final stage (the ‘pit stop’) may be eliminated from the race. The final leg of the race is where the three final teams competing for the top spot. The final prize varies between each country. In the Amazing Race (Australia vs, New Zealand), the final prize is $250,000.00 however this is not the only prize available. For each stage of the race, the first team to finish the leg receives a prize. The prize varies depending on the sponsor.
As Channel Seven in collaboration with Yahoo air The Amazing Race (Australia vs. New Zealand), they host the television shows website (https://au.tv.yahoo.com/the-amazing-race-australia/). The content on the website are the show’s episodes, a small biography of the teams competing and behind the scenes clips.
The show has a mixed demographic with the community predominately loving travel and hence enjoy watching the locations and tasks that the teams are assigned. The two primary sponsorships are with Velocity and John West. This is evident on the show’s website where viewers can win prizes from the show’s sponsors.
Offspring (Channel 10)
Offspring is a fictional show on Channel Ten. The show centres around the protagonist Nina Proudman and her family. This show is one of Australia’s most popular with the show winning several Logies. One of the endearing factors of Nina Proudman is the awkwardness of the situations that she finds herself in. This is how she is also portrayed in the show’s advertising.
As Offspring is aired on Channel Ten and as such the domain for the show is managed by Channel Ten (http:// http://tenplay.com.au/channel-ten/offspring).
On the website there are other mini-episodes that are available. By having mini-episodes, the producers are able to perform character development and provide insight into the supporting characters. The show promotes these mini-episodes at the end of each Offspring airing. These episodes are also available on the site’s Youtube account.
The community of the show is predominately female however it does have a large following in Melbourne, which is where the show is based. The characters live and socialise mainly around the Fitzroy/Carlton area. The show has a large online presence due to its strong following. Unlike the other shows mentioned, Offspring have their own Pinterest site where followers are able to access Nina Proudman’s style. This is not only limited to clothing, but also the décor of her house. Clothing is a large amount of cross-promotion for Offspring. Although they do not explicitly advertise the clothes, they are usually Australian designers and items sell out quickly after they have been shown on the show.
Offspring do not have their own Twitter account however they do have a facebook page.
Sources:
http://www.stylingyou.com.au/2014/05/how-to-dress-like-nina-proudman-2/
http://www.pinterest.com/offspringonten
https://www.facebook.com/offspringonten
https://www.youtube.com/user/offspringonten
https://twitter.com/TheBachelorAU
A Curious Juliet 
Great blog post. I like how you have pointed out the sponsors for the Bachelor don’t just include Ford, but all the dates that they go on as well. I also like how you have pointed out that this is a 10-15 minute prime time add for the business!
Great job, keep it up!!