News

Pedestrian launches news tattoos, a marketplace to sell your ex-partner’s stuff and the F.I.R.E Festival

2020 will see the youth publishing group Pedestrian, owned by Nine, unveil more cross-platform initiatives across its brands, a series of new events and a tattoo-focused news program.

News Ink will be a weekly news program where a host explains a news story to a Pedestrian reader. At the same time, the reader will be inked with a tattoo to reflect the story. By the end of the year, the reader will have 52 news-based tattoos.

Pedestrian is aligning its assets to offer brands a wider commercial opportunity

Vanessa Lawrence, Pedestrian Group publisher, said the new announcements are a reflection of the content demanded by the group’s readers.

“We have a better grasp of what makes the audiences of our six distinct sites tick than ever before thanks to insights and really, really vocal readers who tell us what they do and don’t want,” said Lawrence.

The Pedestrian Group’s titles include Pedestrian TV, Gizmodo, Business Insider, Popsugar, Kotaku and Lifehacker.

“The content you’ll see from us in the coming six months and beyond is reflective not only of what we know will resonate but ideas that will create the best integration opportunities for our awesome partners.”

Pedestrian TV (PTV) will launch Econom-Ex – an initiative where a reader can submit a video of themselves via the hashtag ‘shitmyexsays’ for the chance to win $5,000 to cover the cost of their breakup. The campaign will also run across Openair Cinemas, where an outdoor dating romcom movie night will allow people to bring their ex and swap them with another. The Econom-Ex campaign will also feature a marketplace where people can sell the stuff their ex-partner left behind.

PTV will also launch Pop On, Pop Off, a pop culture bus tour of Melbourne ending in a pop-up cinema event at St Kilda Beach. Last on the list is a new weekly news programme, News Ink, which will feature a host explaining a news story to a reader while they receive a tattoo designed to reflect the same story. PTV readers will be able to vote on the tattoo in the News Ink Facebook Group.

Rowley took the helm in April

Matt Rowley, CEO of Pedestrian Group, said: “Fun Fronts are always a highlight in our diary because they give us the chance to prove how much appetite the industry has for a spicy idea. This round is no exception and is made even more exciting by the fact that we’re able to demonstrate the power and differences in the Pedestrian Group audiences, in-depth, for the first time.”

Business Insider is launching a two-day ticketed event – F.I.R.E Festival – dedicated to ‘financial independence, retire early’, or, chasing a debt-free lifestyle with an aim to retire by 35. The title will also launch a video and podcast series called You Made Millions How?

The Mother Load is a new initiative coming to Popsugar, offering support and help for the next generation of mums. There will also be an online mother’s group on Facebook – Breasties, and the launch of You Can Fit With Us, which will see Popsugar partner with Openair Cinemas on a series of ticketed nighttime health and fitness events.

Gaming site Kotaku is celebrating female game developers with Develop-her, encouraging readers to nominate rising stars to be profiled before a panel chooses one nominee to win a grant. There will also be a series of talks with local and international developers, aimed at the next-gen of game-makers.

2020 will also see a first for Kotaku, the launch of Byte Club, which will enable clients to gamify their brand into an eight-bit arcade-style game.

Kotaku will work with developers to create mods for existing games or create games from scratch to embed within native content and other parts of the Kotaku ecosystem. Kotaku wants to create new and exciting associations between brands and one of the largest and hungriest demographics in Australia: gamers.

Tech site Gizmodo will celebrate 20 emerging leaders through its 2020 Visionaries program, ending with the 2020 Academy, while Lifehacker will launch the hunt for Australia’s Next Top Lifehacker.

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