Nine has announced a raft of commercial changes across its publishing and radio assets at the network’s 2023 Upfront event.
Among the game changers for advertisers placing their content in Today’s Paper – the daily downloadable version of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers.
Brands will now be able to digitally insert streaming video or rich media advertising, including false covers and digital catalogues, in a major leap in innovation for the network.
Nine noted that brands will be able to open a whole new world of digital opportunity at scale, providing limitless, integrated opportunities in a premium environment to deliver an unrivalled digital advertising experience.
The network noted digital replica downloads of physical papers have seen year-on-year growth of over 50% across the mastheads, readers are increasingly consuming the daily editions in digital form on their connected devices.
The digital advertising development will enhance the experience for readers as they start to see their once-static download turn into a rich multimedia premium product.
With the ability for digital wraparounds, clickable video set in a print product, as well as advertising that crosses between the print and digital products, the innovation provides limitless opportunities for brands.
Jo Clasby, Nine’s director of sales, Total Publishing, said: “Today’s Paper has been an untapped opportunity for advertisers until now.”
“We have seen a resurgence in big executions within our print publications like front cover wraps and section sponsorships that we’re now able to achieve within our digital world,” she said.
“This innovation will provide numerous ways for advertisers to integrate within a premium digital environment at scale, and it continues our commitment to find exciting new commercial opportunities for brands,” Clasby added.
The announcement comes as Nine also reveals more initiatives within its publishing division, including on-demand audio, where curated stories and news in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age will be converted to audio with the use of state-of-the-art artificial intelligence.
Curated content of some of the day’s biggest stories, investigative journalism and lifestyle features will become more accessible than ever.
James Chessell, Nine’s managing director of Publishing, said: “The beating heart of our newsrooms is producing high-quality, public interest journalism that people are willing to pay for.”
“As our recent financial results showed, this translates into strong commercial outcomes and opportunities for brands.
“These initiatives will help to grow the way readers consume news, and the way advertisers can connect with them,” Chessell added.
Nine Radio
Nine has also launched its addressable data targeting capability across its digital radio assets.
As part of accessing Nine’s broader 20 million signed-in users, advertisers can target logged-in users across Nine’s radio stations, 2GB, 3AW, 4BC and 6PR.
With Nine’s audio already delivering more than 10 million live streams each month, live digital streaming on connected devices is now fully addressable alongside Nine’s television assets.
Nine’s data capabilities will include demo, location, 9Tribes – our market-leading segmentation product – and intent segments from data partners including Flybuys and Equifax.
Nine’s chief sales officer, Michael Stephenson, said: “We have integrated the Nine Radio data into the broader Nine database of 20 million users, allowing us to understand the behaviours, interests, and motivations of our digital audio listeners from their content consumption across Australia’s largest digital content ecosystem.
“Our first-party data is simply awe-inspiring, and our technology is world-class. 9Tribes has set the bar for segmentation, and through our addressable audio, we know that advertisers will have even more of an edge over their competitors. It’s targeted advertising with serious scale,” he added.
In addition to the targeting capabilities, Nine will offer best-in-market attribution reporting from its location data partner, Near. Advertisers will be able to measure the effectiveness of their audio ads in driving listeners in-store.
Ashley Earnshaw, director of sales – Total Audio, said: “The future of radio is Total Audio, the combination of live radio, digital live stream and podcasts.
“Nine’s addressable solutions allows advertisers to harness the significant scale of our digital listening, with the refinement of deeper people-based targeting, across those relevant segments for their brands.
“With more personalised and more targeted advertising, we have a unique opportunity to drive deeper effectiveness and data-led audio solutions for clients. At Nine, we continue to evolve and drive the power of people-based marketing across our audio solutions,” Earnshaw added.
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Top image: Mike Sneesby