It’s been called the workhorse, the backbone or the cornerstone of media campaigns and research shows time and time again that TV, in all its forms, plays an important role in the media mix.

But why do marketers behind some of Australia’s strongest brands turn to TV?

Suncorp EGM of Brand and Marketing Mim Haysom doesn’t mince her words when she says: “TV works for us in terms of helping to deliver our business and campaign objectives.”

Recognised in 2022 as Australia’s top marketer, Haysom spearheaded the ‘One House to Save Many’ campaign for the insurance brand and TV played a pivotal role in spreading this message. She says: “TV was essential to the One House campaign success because it gave us reach, frequency, but also depth of engagement and the space to tell a story.”

At the heart of the campaign was a 26-minute documentary that charted the journey to build a house that could withstand and survive catastrophic weather conditions. The doco aired on free-to-air TV and was supported by additional video content and an online microsite.

Haysom says: “TV helped us make the other channels work harder because it drove traffic to our website and to our information hub.”

The Suncorp exec isn’t alone in seeing TV as bolstering other channels. Mark Richardson, Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer of Marley Spoon and former Marketing Director of ALDI Australia agrees, citing the importance of TV to ALDI’s annual Christmas campaign.

He says: “TV is the foundation and the glue of our large-scale mass-market campaigns. It drives and improves performance in other channels. Without TV, we would find it very, very hard to meet our campaign KPIs in our business objectives.”

Richardson sees TV as an “essential building block for any campaign” and finds it particularly relevant for campaign launches.

“TV is really important at the launch of a campaign because it allows us to tell a story that connects with customers emotionally. It also allows us to cut through the clutter because that will get straight to reach and frequency,” he says.

With Richardson describing ALDI’s annual Christmas campaign as the brand’s “Everest”, there’s little room for error. He says: “It's the most important time of year in terms of sales volume. It's also a campaign that enables us to drive growth into the new year. January and February sales are impacted by how successful we are in the Christmas campaign. It is a huge beast.”

The media, therefore, has an important role to play. Richardson explains, “It has to do a heavy lifting job around reach and then frequency. It also must enable us to tell a multi-layered and multifaceted story. TV gives us the opportunity to do that in a variety of different ways and meet a variety of different challenges, depending on the context of the consumer.”

For home delivery brand Menulog, the consumer is the driving force behind having TV in the mix.

Menulog’s Marketing Director Simon Cheng says: “At Menulog, our target audience is anyone with a mouth. We think it's really important to appeal to many people from all walks of life. And TV is one of the mediums that helps us reach all these different types of people.”

The jewel in Cheng’s crown is undoubtedly the ‘Did Somebody Say’ campaign which is now in its third iteration evolving from featuring Snoop Dogg to up-and-coming Australian artists and now the queen of pop, Katy Perry.

Cheng says: “Having total TV in our media mix is an absolute no-brainer because of the way the medium allows us to get into the living rooms of many, many homes in Australia.”

And the way Cheng is using TV has evolved in recent years. He says: “We look at all screens as a channel in itself and not just one particular type of screen. And so, our investment goes into the total screen strategy, which includes TV, BVOD and online video.”

This changed approach to using video is echoed by Suncorp’s Haysom who adds: “There are all these different ways that we can use TV. It's not just linear TV anymore. We can tap into the format and the channels, and that's really exciting. I look forward to seeing how it continues to innovate in the future.”

Brent Smart, Chief Marketing Officer of Telstra and former CMO of insurance business IAG, is taking a similar approach. He says: “We've been thinking about BVOD, catch-up and different options on how we buy television. TV is not what it used to be.”

Still, Smart says: “If you're trying to build a brand that's going to emotionally connect with people, you need emotional storytelling. And the most powerful place to create emotional storytelling is still television.”

During his time at IAG, Smart oversaw NRMA’s HELP campaign and he says, “TV was definitely the backbone of our media strategy.”

The reason for that, according to Smart, is the power of the platform. Smart says: “TV is an incredibly powerful tool for anyone who wants to build a brand. Not only does it have emotional storytelling power, but the other thing which gets overlooked sometimes is that it's a fantastic way to connect people. And ultimately, brands are a collective experience.”

Smart, Richardson, Haysom and Cheng all agree that TV will continue to play a crucial role in future campaigns.

Cheng says, “It's still the most effective way to reach a mass market high-attention audience almost simultaneously. And so, a big part of our strategy involves TV and will continue to involve TV.”

Richardson adds: “Total TV will absolutely continue to play an important role in future campaigns for us. 

With nine different brands within her remit, Haysom has different requirements and objectives to contend with. Regardless, she says: “From my perspective, while TV is working for us and helping us achieve those business and brand objectives, then of course, it absolutely plays a role in what we're doing.”

Smart concludes: “TV will remain incredibly important if you believe in the power of brand.”

To find out more about how Australia’s top CMOs are using Total TV, go here: https://thinktv.com.au/deep-dive/discover-the-stories-behind-effective-tv-campaigns