0/5

If it’s Easter it must be time for branded content

An hour of primetime lifestyle or just an hour of primetime advertorial?

2015-03-31_1219

Tonight at 8pm Seven is screening Tom, Rach & Rosso Go Cruising featuring Tom Williams, Tim “Rosso” Ross and TV presenters Tom Williams and Rachael Finch aboard Royal Carribean Cruise’s Voyager of the Seas.

According to the synopsis: Tom, Rach and Rosso head to the South Pacific onboard Australia’s largest cruise ship. But will this turn out to be a holiday nightmare? Or will what’s on board turn them into cruise converts?

Another question could have been, ‘How much did Royal Caribbean pay for the one hour of primetime content they will be getting?’

This is hardly the first ‘branded content’ special on commercial television, but it’s one of the few to secure primetime on a weeknight. Normally such puff pieces are afforded a weekend afternoon slot. But in non-ratings time networks will cheerfully put a price on an hour of branded content, ahead of scripted drama.

In recent times Seven has screened McDonald’s Gets Grilled and Target: Style the Nation featuring stylist Gok Wan.

Nine has similarly run lifestyle fare with Women’s Weekly branding in primetime, but audiences would be justified in asking which is sponsorship and which is merely an advertorial designed to push a product?

Marketing manager Rosie Rissetto-Spiers told Mumbrella that Royal Caribbean had “largely” relinquished control of the production to Seven.

“We were really clear on what parts of the experience we wanted to offer the three celebrities on board, but we came to the table very much not wanting this to be an explicit branded piece,” she said.

“It wasn’t about how many mentions we had or logo placement. It was about getting those celebrities to experience what Royal Caribbean can offer on Voyager of the Seas.”

4 Responses

Leave a Reply