Jack of All Trades propels branded content to the top
Branded content television can claim to have come of age in Australia after King Gee Jack of All Trades became the first show of its type to break into the top ten most watched shows of the day.
The show, on Sunday lunchtime on Nine, scored an average metro audience of just over 1m, according to ratings from OzTam. And the cumulative audience totalled well over 2.4m viewers. It was the eighth biggest show of the day and had more than twice the audience of Ten’s biggest show.
Although the show was helped by having a strong audience tuning in to the channel for the cricket, in everywhere but Melbourne the audience grew as the half hour show progressed.
The programme, which has been going for three years, is made by Brand New Media. As well as King Gee, its other brand partners are Holden and Caterpillar. The show features four tradies working to fit out a house in Queensland.
Damien Bray, Brand New Media’s director – entertainment, told Mumbrella: “I’ve been in the business 20 years and I’ve never seen a branded entertainment programme that’s done this well before.”
He said that marketers were becoming more sophisticated in understanding what consumers will watch. “The first generation of branded content was very brand centric. Now it’s got to be entertainment first, brand second.”
Meanwhile Kate Richardson, from branded content agency Stickywood, which is part-owned by Brand New Media, said the triumph could be seen in two ways. Writing on her blog she said: “On the one hand, it feels like a moment in time because it’s been such a tough road in terms of exciting and educating people about the potential of this space. On the other hand, I wonder if it’s a hollow victory. It feels late in the day to be waving the flag when things are moving so fast, and television networks are still a way behind.”
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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