SBS Upfront: Automated TV trading platform launches; brand partnerships division retooled as SBS CulturalConnect
SBS Media is making buying television advertising on its linear channels simpler in 2023 with the launch of a new automation platform SBS Connect.
SBS revealed the platform at its 2023 Upfront in Sydney today, where the broadcaster confirmed SBS Connect would launch next April and provide agencies with a more efficient buying process, improved response times and speedy post-analysis reporting on their media spend.
The new platform will also optimise delivery of agreed buying benchmarks, accessing inventory across SBS network channels SBS VICELAND, SBS Food and SBS World Movies, along with SBS’s main channel off peak inventory (excluding special events, plus specialist multichannels NITV and SBS WorldWatch).
This will mean less spot management for agencies and elimination of makegoods. “In 2023, SBS will transform how agencies buy from the SBS Media team,” said Adam Sadler, SBS’s director of media sales. “The market has long been looking for simpler ways to transact to buy TV inventory, and SBS Connect will help solve that need by simplifying the buying process between us and our agency partners.”
SBS also used its Upfront event to highlight its unique audience and the cost efficiencies which come from adding SBS to a brand’s media plan.
The research, called The Butterfly Effect, highlights the cost-per-reach efficiency across TV and BVOD that can be achieved by moving 10% of a client’s TV budget and 27% of your BVOD budget to SBS, with studies showing cost savings of up to 36% for both Metro and Regional TV and on average 20% on BVOD.
“The Butterfly Effect demonstrates how when SBS is included in a media buy, your brand gets guaranteed incremental reach which delivers real cost benefits. Simply put, a relatively small investment can go a very long way in reducing the cost of your ad campaign’s reach,” said Sadler.
“By having a significantly exclusive, trusting audience, it means a dollar spent with SBS delivers a higher ROI than our peers – a fact proven by the Butterfly Effect research.”
SBS also used the event to highlight its strength across both linear and digital, particularly through SBS On Demand.
“We run fewer ads than other networks which we know provides superior ad recall,” said Sadler. “And we know that most of our viewers do not watch the other commercial networks, so we offer advertisers a unique, high value audience that you simply won’t find elsewhere.
“There is a clear commercial benefit by investing with SBS and today the market heard from SBS about how we as a business are investing in good.
“Our request to agencies is to look at where SBS is in their media schedules and briefs to market – whether in digital, in client solutions, or in audio strategy – and to examine the unique reach and engagement that SBS has and how our broad and diverse audiences are different to what many others in the market offer.”
SBS brand partnerships team becomes SBS CulturalConnect
SBS has also rebranded its brand partnerships division as SBS CulturalConnect.
The new holistic offering will provide commercial partners with purpose driven ways to tap into Australia’s dynamic cultural currents, grounded in an appreciation of Australia’s rich diversity.
The new SBS CulturalConnect offering was launched at SBS’s 2023 Upfront in Sydney and will provide services in strategy, research and insights, integrated brand solutions, creative and in-language production, inclusion training and consultancy.
Adam Sadler, director of media sales, SBS said the launch of SBS CulturalConnect was an important evolution of SBS Media’s commercial offering.
“Today’s announcement of SBS CulturalConnect is a significant moment that sees all of SBS Media’s core commercial offerings brought together under one holistic approach,” said Sadler. “Our knowledge, insights and research will provide brands and marketers with unique context to navigate contemporary Australia. No one else in the market is as well positioned to help brands question, validate, or challenge the underlining
assumptions in your media strategy.”
“Clients may know SBS CulturalConnect as a brand for some of our individual product offerings, such as in-language production or workplace inclusion training, but today’s changes see SBS Media significantly lift its investment and offering in bespoke client solutions,” said Kate Young, national CulturalConnect manager, SBS.
“SBS has an unparalleled understanding of contemporary Australia. With SBS CulturalConnect at the heart of our media offering, we’re making it easier for brands to access the full range of expertise that exists at SBS, and leverage the insights built on SBS’s connections to communities for more than 45 years.”
As part of the changes, SBS also confirmed it will be expanding the team’s senior leadership with the view to offering more bespoke consultancy to partners.
“The latest Census figures show the rapidly evolving Australia with increasing diversity, including more than 5.5 million people speaking a language other than English at home. For marketers, SBS CulturalConnect Consultancy will help brands go deeper – unlocking new sources of growth, unlocking more brand value, unlocking more purpose, and unlocking more from your people” said Young.
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Adam Sadler
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SBS
SBS Connect
SBS Media
SBS Upfront
SBS Upfront 2023
SBS Upfronts
Special Broadcasting Service
television
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