Branded content in Australia is a growing area across TV and digital platforms particularly due to the growth of video over broadband and social media.

SBS and ABC (national broadcasting channels) have major restrictions in regards to brands and integration in programmes. Our domestic free to air channels have some limited restrictions, however its largely self-policing based on the networks desire to balance brand involvement with programme integrity and audience appeal. Hence most attempts at branded content end up in fringe time slots, or on subscription TV channels with less than 5% audience share.What branded content the networks engage with is managed by them, rather than brands doing deals with production companies.It is the holy grail of branded content to find home on a major free-to-air network in prime time with a large prime time audience in attendance.

‘Under the Cover’ had an extensive programme of activity driving people to watch the show.

We created bespoke video/advertorial content demonstrating how to get the looks from the show. We also developed a promotion and a TVC for the chance to win the ultimate Marie Claire experience. This content lived beyond the show through an extensive TV, magazine and online campaign, which in turn drove consumers back to watch the episodes at the specially created microsite.Seven Media Group provided one of their highest promotional investments of 2011, through promo spots on TV and support through their magazines and online properties.

Christian Skaar, Marketing Manager for Schwarzkopf summed it up, saying, “As the main partner of Marie Claire: Under the Cover, the focus for us was not to just sponsor a show, but to work with a partner that enables true integration. The results for us have been extremely strong, delivering not just uplifts on market shares but also a change in consumers brand consideration and perception”.The show exceeded all expectations reaching over 3.3m viewers. Our bespoke content had an even greater footprint reaching over a quarter of the Australian population on TV alone.Our online activity enabled users to engage with Schwarzkopf content reaching 3.2m unique browsers and we grew their Facebook community by over 300%The real goal was to change local perceptions of Schwarzkopf and we over-achieved on this by increasing the key metric of ‘Helps me create a runway look at home’ by 120%. We saw further evidence of how we had changed perceptions of the brand with increased purchase intent, recommendation and seeking out the product in store.Market share at their fastest growing retailer increased 15% year-on-year, and was the highest ever during the campaign.