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.

The commercial free-to-air TV industry in Australia is regulated by the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice (the Code). The Code is co-regulated by industry and the government regulator and contains provisions regarding branded entertainment. The primary focus is on ensuring paid content in a program/segment is clearly distinguishable due to branding/labelling or because it is clearly promoting a product or service.

The majority of content integration is managed via the networks rather than brands doing deals with production companies. In off peak and in subscription TV there are more opportunities for brand involvement. Prime time is the most difficult to secure and is based on a number of variables; ratings and audience being two key factors.

The “reality” genre is predominantly appearing within prime time programming and features the majority of branded integration e.g. MasterChef. Outside of prime time we are seeing brands achieving success with documentaries; sport, music, and other niche genres on the free to air digital channels.

We negotiated a sponsorship deal with one of the highest rating TV shows in Australia. It was big enough on its own to meet our audience goals and provide the perfect association with MasterChef’s unsurpassed reputation as the home of quality & convenient cooking for the whole family.

The trip to Parma, Italy was a highlight of the 2012 series. Our in-show segments featured celebrity chefs, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris and the MasterChef contestants cooking for hundreds of Barilla employees at their factory in Parma.

The final dishes were judged by Guido Barilla, Chairman and fourth generation owner of the company.

Play-outs, billboards, print, online and TVC reinforced sauce messaging by showcasing quality and convenience.

Barilla activated co-branded point of sale in-store – with close to 2,000 stores participating.

The associated consumer promotion delivered 21,000 entries beating a benchmark of 6,000.

Barilla Pasta Sauces hit their 15% growth target YOY and pasta sales exceeded 10% growth in the same period.

Un-prompted brand awareness grew by 9 percentage points; the brand’s highest ever level in Australia.

Brand preference among those who watched MasterChef rose to 76%, a massive 25% points higher than among those who had not seen the show!

Our integration and additional value in association with MasterChef was valued at $9.7m (source: Network Ten)!

The campaign reached 83.2% of Australian grocery buyers with children and 28% of MasterChef viewers claimed they would be more likely to purchase Barilla as a result.

MasterChef Australia 2012 reached 11.37 million people with an average audience of 1.34m.

In one smoothly executed and well positioned campaign, Barilla successfully repositioned itself as a serious player in the pasta and pasta sauce categories.