Big Brother = Big Bucks: the Aussie Marketing Success That Is Big Brother

‘Big Brother = Big Bucks: The Aussie Marketing Success that is Big Brother’

LEAD STORY-DATELINE: The Australian, June 20 - 26, 2002

It’s Sunday night ... and that means only one thing. Yes, a chance to see Big Brother’s latest evictee receive their $2000 Mastercard, Sony PlayStation, week for two on Great Keppel Island courtesy of Contiki Tours and Flight Centre and the everpresent Big Brother game and CD from host Gretel Killeen on the purpose built set at Dreamworld. Back in the house, it’s time to see the remaining housemates eating their celebratory Pizza Hut pizzas, washed down with either Pepsi or a beer from Carlton & United’s range, in their Freedom Furniture mugs on their Freedom Furniture sofas before watching yet another emotional goodbye on the LG Plasmascreen TV. During the show, a year’s supply of Pizza Hut pizza is awarded to the audience member with the winning costume, who then gets a chance to compete for the actual LG Plasmascreen TV used by Gretel to communicate with the house. Focused during the nightly programs, Thursday’s Uncut version and the Sunday eviction shows but also appearing throughout the programming schedule are Big Brother themed ads from Pizza Hut, Freedom Furniture, Energizer Max, Pepsi, KFC, Sony Music, Nestle, and all the other companies who paid for the privilege. And if you thought that Killing Heidi appeared live because they were Jessica’s favourite band, you should also consider that their distributor, Sony Music, is a major sponsor.

And you thought the big money was the $250,000 won by the last housemate standing or the $100,000 Mastercard challenge shared by housemates and their favourite charities. In Big Brother’s world, these amount to small change. When you consider that Channel 10 paid $25 million for the rights to stage the second Big Brother, you realize the importance of sponsorships and audience share. And why every aspect of the show has to be milked for every cent - from the TV show, the live audience, the website and Big Brother merchandise to product placements like the pizzas and media partnerships. It should be no surprise that the evicted housemates appear on Good Morning Australia and Rove Live, two popular Channel 10 shows, or that their first pictures and interviews appear in NW magazine, a media partner. Network executives refer to the marketing of Big Brother as ‘surround sound’ - a fully integrated 360 degree communication experience.

Like their fellow sponsors, Pizza Hut is so determined to get the maximum value from their reported $1.5 million that they have resurrected Dougie in a series of ads including one where he delivers pizzas in Big Brother themed boxes to Sam, the Big Brother security guard, asking her ‘if she likes to watch’. When the public phone or vote online to evict the most unpopular housemate they are encouraged to order a pizza through automatic connections. Visitors to the official web site, are presented with hotlinks for online meal deals and ordering. Over the thirteen weeks of the show, Pizza Hut sends out some 8 million pieces of direct mail, Big Brother themed of course.

Is it worth it? When you consider that between 1.5 and 2 million ‘consumers’ tune in to every show, peaking with upwards of 2.5 million for the final eviction show, you realize why Pizza Hut estimates a 300% return on its investment. Big Brother is a perfect media vehicle for Pizza Hut with its crucial 7 pm timeslot, what Pizza Hut calls the ‘hunger zone’ - the time when the young males that Pizza Hut covets think seriously about their stomachs. But it’s not without its risks. Undoubtedly Freedom Furniture were not pleased when the bed slats broke several times, albeit after housemates jumped on them. And likely Pizza Hut’s fingers are crossed every Sunday that the housemates enjoy the supplied pizzas. As David Ovens, Chief Marketing Manager of Yum Restaurants, the owners of Pizza Hut states ‘If someone says something negative, you just have to take it on the chin. It is a risk we take.’

When Big Brother premiered in Australia in 2001, it achieved ratings 30% higher than Channel 10 had promised sponsors. While 2002 ratings were slightly lower, the bedroom antics of Jessica and Marty and their separation in the final two weeks of the show will likely ensure that the 2002 show ends on a high. The big question to Channel 10 and the corporate sponsors is .... can Big Brother succeed a third time?

Talking it over and thinking it through

1. The reality television phenomena is not new, dating back to ‘Candid Camera’ in 1948 with it’s hidden cameras recording people’s reactions to practical jokes. It emerged again in 1989 with Fox’s ‘Cops’, showing real cops in real situations, arresting real criminals. But it wasn’t until 2000 that reality television went mainstream, accounting for an increasing proportion of television programming and creating its own category at the Emmy Awards. Why do you think that reality tv has become so popular in the 21rst century?

2. Discuss the reference group factors that corporations should consider when deciding to enter into a sponsorship arrangement with a particular reality tv show.

3. Use reference group concepts to explain the popularity of reality tv shows like Big Brother.

4. Many critics have charged that reality TV viewers are couch potatoes watching other couch potatoes on tv. Who do you think watch reality tv shows like Big Brother and why?

Thinking about the future!

TV networks love reality tv as it costs about $800,000 per hour to produce, compared to the reported $1.5 million per episode each Friend makes. Advertisers love reality tv because it delivers audiences, especially in the coveted 18 - 49 demographic. According to research conducted in the United States, the number one reason why audiences watch is the thrill of guessing who will be eliminated and who will ultimately win, followed by seeing people face challenging situations and imagining themselves performing in similar situations.

Form a discussion group with family and friends to discuss the success of reality tv shows. Select two reality tv shows and chart their progress over the years. What factors do you see as contributing to long term success? Why do you think some reality tv shows have much shorter term appeal?

Digging deeper!

In the UK, a Celebrity Big Brother was held as a Comic Relief charity special. Australia is planning its own version. In the celebrity versions, the one left standing receives a donation to their favourite charity, shower and toilet cameras are banned and participants are given ‘moments of privacy’. For celebrities, it would appear, that there are limits to what is acceptable in terms of invading their privacy. These same limits are not enforced when it comes to regular housemates who face cameras in toilets and hour long ‘uncut’ specials showing the maximum nudity and sex talk censors will allow. Form a discussion group with family and friends to discuss the limits to personal privacy and whether businesses should be allowed to exploit private moments for commercial gain.

SOURCE: ‘Grabbing a slice of the action’, Amanda Meade and Stephen Brook, The Australian, June 20 - 26, 2002, pp 4 - 5.

Jan Charbonneau