If your first exposure to Foxtel’s new TV service, Hubbl, was seeing Hamish Blake dressed as the puck-like device with the name emblazoned across his chest, you’re probably not alone.
Hubbl has unleashed a marketing blitz over the last few weeks, with Hamish and Andy touting the service on billboards and TV ads; JB Hi-Fi store clerks staking stock on display stands like it’s a bubblegum-coloured Taylor Swift vinyl; and an undeniable tag line to kick home the message: “Everybody’s Hubblin'”.
But is everybody hubblin’? Three weeks since the launch of Hubbl, we checked in with Les Wigan, managing director of Hubbl, to see how the launch is faring.
“I think it’s been pretty good,” he tells Mumbrella, as a Fitzgerald-era jazz band tries its darndest to drown our conversation out.
“We’re really happy with the media launch, we’re really happy with the marketing launch, the research and the insights of consumer testing has been really positive to ‘Everybody’s Hubblin’, and the talent that we’re using – obviously Hamish and Andy are well-trusted.
“I think we’ve executed it really well, and it’s really about building awareness.”
This last part is key. Although the allure of having all television ‘content’ within one ecosystem is strong, there’s a strong learning curve required. So, do people actually know what Hubbl does yet?
“I think they’re learning,” Wigan notes. “We’re not naive – we need to build awareness, and education, and that takes a little bit of time.
“We’ve known about Hubbl for a long time,” he says, alluding to the media market, “but the Australian public only learned about it on the 11th of March – so we’re three weeks old.”
The early user feedback is strong. Put simply: people are using Hubbl.
“We’ve been really happy with the launch,” Wigan continues. “Consumers that are using it, that have bought it, are engaging pretty heavily with it. The hours of consumption we’re seeing is quite quite good. People are activating it, using it – and seem to be sticking with it!
“We’re pretty happy so far.”
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Wigan points out that, with Kayo, and to a lesser extent with BINGE, Foxtel Group has been a pioneer in this form of streaming aggregation. And when the public spoke -they listened.
“I think the DNA for Hubbl just comes out of our insights into what consumers are telling us: they’re frustrated with how many apps are in Australia,” he said.
“Like, even with the big apps, you know? Hubbl will have — once we launch the remaining three [Optus, Stan, Paramount+] — 18 services within, including the free-to-airs.
“Consumers have gone somewhat full circle. They want their flexibility, but they also want aggregation, and it to be easy. One remote, one experience.”
Wigan said Hubbl helps people avoid the dreaded “I can’t remember what I’m watching, what app was I on?” feeling all-too-common to television lovers with multiple subscriptions.
“I think the killer for Hubbl is the way we’ve been able to fuse the TV guide and the free-to-air content,” he says. (Monday night is Wigan’s “ABC night”, he tells Mumbrella.)
“Being able to do that across those services, across sport, across news, across your entertainment services.”
That’s the secret – and it seems rather simple. “It’s about just making it easy and seamless.”
