MCN has unveiled plans for an experiential marketing hub on Sydney’s Oxford Street which will change the way Foxtel tackles upfront season.
In collaboration with the subscription television business, MCN will open the doors on ‘Foxtel on Oxford’, an innovative entertainment venue in the historic Academy Twin cinema building.
Officially launching in July, the space will provide Foxtel with the opportunity to abolish the traditional upfront season model in favour of a year-long program of events.
The interior of Foxtel on Oxford
ADVERTISEMENT
The space has been created to better connect advertisers, agencies and subscribers with the Foxtel platform and its content pillars, through a full program of content previews, technology demonstrations and interactive workshops for advertising industry professionals.
It will also be used for MCN business and programming updates over the next 12 to 18 months and for Foxtel subscriber special events.
Foxtel CEO Patrick Delany said it was a unique and exciting concept for the business.
“We have created a physical representation of the Foxtel brand to unite and delight all of our valued customers – from viewers to advertisers alike,” said Delany.
“Foxtel constantly strives to bring home Australia’s valued entertainment, and this new space will feature a program of events that brings to life our vast portfolio of sports, lifestyle and entertainment content for our community in new and exciting ways. Foxtel is the only entertainment and streaming company to boast its very own cinema and entertainment hub.”
The Academy Twin cinema space has been dormant for 10 years, but MCN will revamp it into a contemporary entertainment hub to showcase the Foxtel iQ4 set-top box experience. The venue will have a 250 seat cinema and the ability to house meetings, presentations, screenings and performances.
MCN CEO Mark Frain said Foxtel on Oxford has been created in response to a demand from the industry for better relationships and conversations between stakeholders.
“Our constantly changing media landscape has shown us that we need to provide a deeper, richer ongoing conversation with both our agency and advertiser partners. As a result, we began looking at how we could adjust our approach to be more agile and reflect our clients’ day-to-day needs,” said Frain.
“We believe the answer is an “always-on” and personalised strategy, and so we are delighted to be launching Foxtel on Oxford as the new home of Australian advertising innovation.
“Our marketing program over the next 12-18 months will be an extension of the MCN advertising model; mass communication through targeted specialism, welcoming core groups of advertisers whether they be category based or genre based. This targeted approach will mean we can offer highly relevant information that helps advertisers deliver better advertising outcomes.”
The team behind the idea were lead by MCN head of marketing and communications, Sarah Tucker, who said being able to work in such a dynamic space and offer new viewing and advertising experiences was a dream come true.
“Following the highly successful Homefronts model MCN introduced five years ago, we are thrilled to once again offer the media and marketing industry a new and original UpFront concept. As our marketing home for the next year and half, Foxtel on Oxford promises to provide our agency clients, marketers and partners with unique and dynamic ways to experience Foxtel content, more often,” said Tucker.
MCN partnered with production company Alfred on the design and restoration of the space, Innovative Production Services for the technical services and Merivale will be the exclusive food and beverage provider.
Merivale will use the partnership to promote Made by Merivale, the hospitality company’s new catering arm which provides clients with an option for events that can’t be housed in Merivale venues.
The partnership will allow events and client functions held at Foxtel on Oxford to have tailored menus designed by Merivale chefs including Mr. Wong’s Dan Hong, Fred’s Danielle Alvarex or Bert’s Jordan Toft.
The space will soft launch in a few weeks time in preparation for the hard launch in July.