The Arias: red carpet winners and awards night losers on brand integration
The telecast of the Aria Awards showed how good, and bad, brand integration can be argues Miranda Ward.
Last night’s Aria Awards might not have delivered a ratings win for the Ten Network, with only 574,000 metro viewers tuning in for the two-and-a-half hour show, however its red carpet special was largely a boon for brands and network talent.
The coverage kicked off in earnest with a carefully constructed half-hour show which did much to flaunt the network’s talent, as well as sponsor David Jones’ ambassadors, melding interviews with the bevy of top musicians and celebrities attending the event whilst seamlessly dropping in other brand partners at key moments, in a way which didn’t disturb the flow.
Cox and Tweedie on the red carpet
I didn’t watch the ARIA Awards, despite being a passionate fan of Australian music and awards shows, and the excess of branding is the reason. I don’t mind the odd integration, like Samsung’s selfie with Ellen at the Oscars, but I knew the branding would be over the top for this, because Australian networks always go too far. It’s not just Channel Ten, Nine’s coverage of the cricket is too heavily focused on sponsors, as is Channel Seven’s AFL and tennis coverage. Same goes for the reality competition shows like X-Factor and The Voice: too much sponsored fluff, not enough thought put into how a sponsor can enhance an experience.
ARIA is and always has been an acronym.
When media about ARIA as an association, they (almost always) get it right so why does it become a first name when they talk about the Awards?
Watching the Arias is like watching a bunch of people you’ve never heard of play a bunch of songs you’ve never heard of, after being told about some designer you’ve never heard of but it was bought at David jones.
Andrew G was good though
Molly was good.
Denis has had more lunches than lunchtimes.
Andrew G is the reason many never watched. Woeful.