One year before Gold Coast, Seven makes ad sales push

Seven West Media sales boss Kurt Burnette is projecting ad sales of $60m for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Australian track star Sally Pearson. Picture: Adam Head

Seven West Media sales boss Kurt Burnette is projecting advertising sales of $60 million for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, which would be a record for the quadrennial event.

Mr Burnette is about to open negotiations with advertisers and media agencies as Seven rolls out a marketing blitz to trumpet the countdown to Gold Coast 2018, now one year away. To stir national pride, the campaign will pivot on intense rivalry between England and Australia. “It’s time that Australia took back the leadership. That’s where we’re heading with it,” said Mr Burnette, Seven’s chief revenue officer, ­noting that England topped the medal table in Glasgow four years ago.

Ad buyers tell Media advertisers will open their wallets for the Commonwealth Games. The games provide a chance to place products in front of a captive audience that typically watches live, so ad-skipping is not regarded as a big problem. Plus, the time zone will be friendlier than Glasgow for local audiences.

The appeal of live sport is increasing in the media marketplace, Mr Burnette said. While audiences for much of prime time continue to splinter, ratings for major sports events are either growing or holding their own.

“It does bring certainty in an uncertain world and that’s what advertisers are looking for. The third largest ratings event in Australia’s history was the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.”

To tap into this viewing pattern, Mr Burnette is packaging Gold Coast 2018 with a raft of big events, enabling advertisers to buy across multiple opportunities, kicking off with the AFL grand final on September 30, 2017.

Packages also include the rugby league World Cup on home soil in October, the Melbourne Cup in November, the Australian Open in January 2018, the PyeongChang Winter Olympics a month later and Gold Coast in April 2018. “We’re going to market with the largest year of sport we’ve ever seen in the country, and certainly on one network,” Mr Burnette said. “We’re positioning it as the largest marketing platform in ­history.”

He said there is strong advertiser demand for its digital platforms and a hunger for online video. Seven is petitioning advertisers to spend millions before they can access the premium digital inventory. Seven shelled out about $40m for the exclusive rights to Gold Coast 2018.