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- [00:16]
A
Welcome back to the Media Odyssey Podcast. That is Marion Ranchette, that is Evan Shapiro, and we've got a special guest, although not the first time you've been a guest here. Jasmine Dawson, SVP of Digital at BBC Studios. Thank you for being here. This is a tradition.
- [00:31]
B
This is. It's become, hopefully, an annual tradition.
- [00:34]
A
So we're here at Cannes lion, if you couldn't tell. And we've got our special guest. You were here last year.
- [00:39]
B
We were here last year.
- [00:40]
A
Let's start before we get into why we're talking to you today in your lovely headquarters at Cannes lion on the Quazette. How's your Cannes?
- [00:47]
B
Thank goodness it's AC'd, because I wouldn't be British if I wasn't talking about the weather yet. Looking at my wardrobe this morning, making sure that I'm not gonna sweat through this dress, but, yes, looking forward to it.
- [00:58]
A
And I know this is a little impolite for British society, but it's hot as fuck here. Right, can I get a. And we did. I think the crowd is here exclusively before the ac. Right, round of applause for that.
- [01:13]
B
Round of applause for the ac.
- [01:16]
A
And how is the Kent? How's the energy on the quasi so far that you've read?
- [01:21]
B
I think everyone is looking for progress, which I think we're looking for as well. I think there is obviously a lot going on out there, but I think there is more collaboration that you're saying. And I think, you know, yes, there's fragmentation, but more people are working together, which I love to see.
- [01:38]
A
Is that what you're feeling out there on the corner?
- [01:40]
C
Yeah, absolutely. I'm always amazed by the amount of money that is being spent at this place. I want to see some of that money coming to, you know, companies producing content, being in that ecosystem, because you hear a lot of people complaining about the mismatch right between the viewership and the monetization. So, yeah, I want some of that focus and collaboration to really turn into concrete progress, as you said.
- [02:06]
A
Well, speaking of progress, last year we were here, you are unveiling a whole new business model, fandom, first creator mindset. So how'd it go? How has the last year been? As you focused on what we called new KPIs key passion indices, not vanity metrics. What was the last year like for BBC Studios in this initiative?
- [02:28]
B
It's been a fantastic year and an intense year. So many people have sort of said to us, gosh, you've been everywhere, really. We have felt like we have been hard at it, really focusing on the strategy and embedding the strategy and making sure that the numbers are paying off. And thrilling for us is that the numbers are paying off. And we think that we obviously revealed some great numbers last year. We talked about the fact that we were number one in watch time. We're number one in watch time for a second year. And for us, that is about proving out the model anyone can be successful once. It's about that repetition, and that shows us that the model is not only working for us, but can be repeatable.
- [03:12]
A
And hopefully scale and repeatable is kind of what we're here to talk about. You've got some new announcements that we're going to cover here. We're going to actually break some news right here on this pod today, live in Cannes with a live studio audience. But let's look at those numbers. I actually have them right here. I actually have a clicker. So this is hours watched was the metric that you decided was central to fandom and engagement.
- [03:37]
B
Absolutely. And we talked a lot last year about the fact that we're moving away from views and reach. We felt that was sort of a vanity metric, and all platforms measure views differently. And we really wanted to hold ourselves accountable to actually engaging our fandoms. And for us, that is, yes, hours watched. And it's impressive to see that sort of 60% growth, but really also average watch time and making sure that our portfolio is acting as a portfolio and generating an incredible 13.3 minutes of average watch time, which you can see there is not just a little bit above. It's significantly above. And everyone has a different strategy. This isn't about us throwing shade on anyone. It's around talking about that our strategy works and that our model is there to not only enhance our portfolio, but also enhance our advertising solutions as well.
- [04:36]
C
Yeah, fascinating. So you have some new things happening this year, because I think when we spoke last year, you were very focused on Bluey, and a lot of people said, yeah, you had Bluey. It's easy. So the idea is really right now to have an actual playbook, something that is repeatable success for you guys.
- [04:54]
B
Yes.
- [04:54]
C
So what does that look like now? Are you looking for scale? What is that newish KPI that you're working after?
- [05:03]
B
So, first of all, Bluey, phenomenal ip and we're so proud of what it's done.
- [05:09]
A
And that drives a lot of the watch time.
- [05:11]
B
That drives a lot of it.
- [05:12]
A
It's even longer watch time than.
- [05:13]
B
Yeah, that's got a longer watch time than our average. So Bluey's is sort of almost 15 minutes, which is just incredible. Would I class it as easy? I think my team would have something to say about it. So I definitely wouldn't describe it as easy, but I would say that, yes, Bluey is not an everyday occurrence. It is something that isn't easily repeatable as an ip, but it is a model that we can take learnings from and think about how we then optimize our portfolio. And that's what we've done. So, yes, we talked about the case study of Bluey. Last year we announced that we were acting as a third party for other studios. So Akamar, with the incredible children's IP for Bing, we have lent into that, taken all those learnings and we're launching Affinity, which is our advertising network across five different verticals. One of those being Family, which allows us to really build on our trusted IP built around passions of the audience as well as really diving into fandom. So it is still a fandom first strategy, but it's a way of us thinking about our advertising solutions and taking that model out to brands and advertisers.
- [06:26]
A
So the model itself is, as you spoke about last year and you hinted at here, it's built around fandom.
- [06:31]
B
Yes.
- [06:32]
A
So it focuses on, in your case, as you said, verticals of fandom.
- [06:36]
B
Yes.
- [06:36]
A
Right. So Bluey is one of those. And you've said replicating that as part of the charge through these five new verticals. What are those other. You're not starting just from scratch in these other verticals. You're building it around fandoms that you already operate throughout the ecosystem. What are those?
- [06:52]
B
So it's really important that we're sort of building around that trusted IP and whether it's ours that we own or that we're operating for others. But Family is our first one, which is born from our incredible children's portfolio. But obviously Bluey definitely is taking charge of that vertical. Then we have Auto. So Auto is built around our incredible expertise from Top Gear and really leaning into creators and other sort of auto brands as well.
- [07:25]
A
Top Gear has what size of audience on Digital.
- [07:29]
B
So on YouTube, we recently hit 10 million subscribers for Top Gear.
- [07:33]
A
Wow.
- [07:34]
B
So for us, it is obviously Top Gear has been around for a long time. It's had many different television formats, but digital has outlasted and it really has built a fandom that is passionate and engaged in a completely different way. The show has been an incredible journey and sort of move from sort of auto specialism into entertainment, but really it is absolute gearheads. That watch top gear on YouTube and they also know us for the wit and the entertainment that we bring there. But it is about that incredible.
- [08:13]
A
And again, it's heavy engagement there.
- [08:14]
B
Yes.
- [08:15]
A
So what are the other verticals? Rip through those. But again, they're each built on fandom. Right.
- [08:19]
B
Each built around fandom, built around that trusted ip but trying to pull it through the line. So using incredible IP creators as well as bringing brands in from the outside too. So travel and food is one. Entertainment is really where we're focusing on commissioning new IP there as well. And then our world, so our world obviously is really centered around BBC Earth. BBC Earth is an incredible fandom that's been built over 10 years and it means so much to our fandom as well. There is so much richness there of RIP from Blue Planet to obviously sort of big cats and some incredible blue chip programming. But it also brings it home when we've commissioned creator focused content around BBC Earth as well and, and making sure that the messaging cuts all the way through. So these are the five verticals that built around fandoms and our trusted ip. But we're also bringing in other amazing studios. So we announced last year around working with Akamar. This year we're working with magic like pictures and bringing Zog into the family vertical. And also we'll be announcing some other amazing partnerships.
- [09:31]
A
And the affinity offering is offering ad sales across all these verticals worldwide. Worldwide, including a major investment in the United States as well.
- [09:41]
B
Yes. So we touched on last time sort of the how we sell is really important. You know, we ultimately we have built our digital focus sales team to enable them to be able to sell our content in a way that we believe is unique. So we are talking about fandom first, we're talking about social first as well as making sure that we are thinking about how we bring a brand into this affinity network. Really the unique selling factor here is about connecting with those emotional and cultural moments that sort of only we can bring.
- [10:17]
C
The question is, so for any advertisers coming to you, so the pitch is again, affinity fandom, what does that actually look like in practice?
- [10:30]
B
So for us it is about how we work and what we're commissioning. So as we said, it's the how we work, which is acting like a creator, thinking about different KPIs, making sure that we are being clear to our brands and advertisers that we don't just connect with audiences, we move them and therefore we're not just trying to reach them and go, yes, here's your sort of fantastic media plan that's going to reach this many people we're talking about. What is your objective? Because our objective with our audience is to connect with them, to build a fandom and move them to do something else. And therefore, if you're showing that you can do that, that's much more effective than a reach.
- [11:06]
A
But practicalize that for me. We started talking about affinity last year. We have built a shared language, you and I, around affinity. I talk about the affinity economy all the time. This new offering is around affinity audiences, but it's also called affinity. But what does that look like in real time? It's not just putting out content there. It means going deep with your fans, into the community, into the comment section. How does that look across a property like Bluey?
- [11:34]
B
Bluey, for us, we're lucky with so many of our fandoms, we've got a community that talks back, that actively curates for us, that actively gets involved with everything that we post. You know, they self monitor and, you know, if someone asks a question, we don't necessarily need to jump in. The community sort of actively and organically engages with itself to not only answer questions but also recommend content. They ask us for partnerships. They ask us for sort of the next sort of compilation or original commission that we're going to do, which is what we decided that had to happen across the entire portfolio. Listening to that fandom and understanding that actually if you engage with them and listen to those signals correctly, you won't have to guess at what's coming next and you're working with them. The audience, as you have said this before, are the new commissioners. So if we listen to them, then our content pipeline becomes far easier, far more compelling to them, but also far more compelling to advertisers as well.
- [12:37]
A
When you respond to a prompt from the audience that you get, and I think a lot of smart people, we talked to ITV about Love island and they listen and change the show. You respond in content, with content from Bluey, in response to the audience prompts. What is the reaction of the fandom when they see their ideas come to life out there?
- [12:58]
B
It's gratifying that they realize that they're part of the journey and that they have control and of course they should. It's a social platform and therefore we want to be able to work with them, not talk at them. So, for example, on Bluey, there's, you know, Bluey, if you're not familiar with the show, has a younger sister called Bingo. She's also Got an incredible cousin called Muffin who is absolutely my spirit animal and she is chaos and she is beautiful. Chaos is how I would see it. I'm not sure my mother does. The fans were crying out for more Muffin content. So we decided that we were going to launch a new YouTube channel around muffin and brought that beautiful chaos with the channel. So did some sort of organic stunts that sort of made sure that we were bringing that spirit with her into her new YouTube channel, creating new content or new compilations and hopefully in the future new original commissions as well.
- [14:02]
C
So what's fascinating is that given how close you are to your community, it does mean that when you bring the affinity to brands and advertisers, you choose brands as much as they choose you. You have that responsibility. Right?
- [14:16]
B
Yeah.
- [14:17]
C
So any more example you can share about companies you've working with, you've been working with.
- [14:23]
B
So you're absolutely right. When we work with companies, we obviously have deep values that make the BBC the BBC and therefore we want to work with like minded partners and making sure that we're working with partners that share the same values. And that also it's not going to appear inauthentic on our channels because our audience will call us out for it. We've done that in the past and there has been self correction. So we have worked with a lot of different partners with Bluey, we've worked with some of our licensing partners. So we've worked with Crayola, who's an incredible partner for us. And for us it is about bringing that magic of our dual audience and thinking about the fact that we've got Incredible Co viewing, 77% of our viewing is on CTV, which is obviously compelling when you're talking to advertisers, but also wanting to bring it into the real world. So thinking about how we leverage all our platforms. So Crayola was an incredible package where we were using not only our website, but social, but also in real life partnership too. So that's something that we always look to replicate.
- [15:36]
A
And the big screen represents co viewing. So you're getting four quadrants, as it were on this. So a good deal of this viewing, as you said, 77% is on big screen, which is crazy bonkers. And that means that's a lot of co viewing. Right. And what does that represent to you from the living room? You put research up at Stream TV Europe that talked about co viewing being really on the rise in the living room, taking over control of video in the home. What do you think that that represents? From the co viewing standpoint and what does it represent to your partners?
- [16:08]
B
Yes, incredible stories resonate with or should resonate with all ages. And Bluey has definitely moved from preschool IP to being a family attention environment and a multi generational audience. We can see that through the data. The 77% on CTV is compelling from an audience perspective, but also from an advertiser perspective. And it's showing that that co viewing can translate into connecting with audiences and advertisers. For us it's really important on the ramp up to movie. So Bluey has a movie coming out next year. The next year is incredibly important and only going to get more intense. But for us, it's a moment for us to expand that Bluey verse. So thinking about it, it is, it
- [16:52]
C
is a Bluey verse.
- [16:54]
B
Yet come on the journey with us because you'll see new channels, you'll see new content and an amazing movie coming out next year.
- [17:01]
A
And speaking of partnerships, you have another announcement. So Affinity was the first piece of news you're breaking with us today. And then you have another piece of news that we're going to break about expanding your partnership inside the BBC. Right, we'll do that in just one second. We'll be back in one second.
- [17:19]
C
We give it up to Dan. Dan, welcome to the Media Odyssey podcast. Amazing avenue you here, Dan.
- [17:24]
D
Pleasure to be here.
- [17:25]
A
Director of Iplayer and channels at BBC. And so just before the break we talked about you expanding your partnership. The BBC and BBC Studios are two different organizations that live inside the same umbrella brand. I have to explain this to American friends all the time. And so when you talk about expanding partnerships across to the Beeb, what does that mean?
- [17:48]
D
Yeah, so we work with a wide variety of producers and rights holders. BBC Studios obviously has a historic connection to the BBC and is part of the BBC Group. So the announcement we're making today is that some of our YouTube channels, some of our YouTube content that we make within the public service part of the BBC that I work in will now be sold by Jasmin and her team.
- [18:10]
A
And that's worldwide.
- [18:12]
B
That is Ex uk.
- [18:13]
A
Right.
- [18:14]
B
So for us it's about taking the incredible portfolio out to market. So a lot of the work that the teams have been doing across BBC Group is to think about this as one portfolio rather than, as we said, it's obviously two different areas of the business. But ultimately we are speaking to one audience and making sure that we are engaging them. It's incredible privilege for us to be able to take out some of these channels as part of the affinity network.
- [18:45]
C
And so Dan, can you tell us a bit more about what does that look like the BBC group on YouTube? Because I think there's a bit of a misconception.
- [18:52]
D
Yeah, okay. So the BBC has been on YouTube for 20 plus years and I think there's been, you know, areas that we've been doing things in, such as BBC studios have built a really fantastic, globally renowned studio for working on YouTube within the UK. We've mostly seen it as a marketing activity, so we still continue to do that. It's a great place for us to promote our brands in the uk, but we've added a couple of things to that. So in our new strategy that was announced at the start of this year that we were working on last year, we added the things of building communities for under 25s in the UK, so not just marketing to them, but actually living and breathing with them, learning how to create communities for them there, seeing that as actually part of our content offering rather than just simple means to an end. And then the other part to it is also in news, which is not the part I work in specifically, but it's part of the overall group strategy. And in news we want to be the number one English language news provider globally. So they have a global ambition. So that is a real statement of intent that goes beyond what the BBC was doing on YouTube and actually now expands into these four key areas that we've spoken about.
- [19:56]
A
And one of the reasons for you, it's not just kind of this big, hairy, audacious goal to be the number one English news provider out there. One of the goals, one of the missions is to fight misinformation. And you're taking that really responsibly by attacking it on the platforms where a lot of misinformation takes place.
- [20:13]
D
Yeah, exactly. So our BBC news team do a fantastic job day in, day out. We're globally very famous for that. And we think there's even more opportunity to help on other third party services, including YouTube, to provide really trusted, high quality, accurate information. We think that would be a great thing for the UK and beyond.
- [20:31]
A
And this was all part of a strategy that was put together during the course of last year and that was launched over the course of, let's say, the last couple of quarters. Is that accurate?
- [20:40]
D
Yeah. So what happened was last year we decided to create a strategy where the BBC group would work together for the first time. So instead of having different YouTube strategies in different parts of the BBC, we decided, okay, it makes sense now to think as a Whole. So we brought everything together. We came up with these four missions, which is to build communities for under 25s, promote our brands in the UK, fight disinformation globally and make a good commercial return globally. And then we worked that strategy. We took it to the executive committee, the BBC and the board for sign off. That was latter end of last year. It was announced at the start of this year. So you would have seen the announcement in January and now I wrote something about it. You probably did. I think you may have done so. Yes, we've been busy rolling that out. And just to say as part of that, this isn't just a strategy, this is a plan with action. So over the course of this year, we are launching 50 plus new YouTube channels. Around half of those or more are with Jasmine and her team in BBC Studios and at least 25 or more within public service. So that's channels with content to populate it.
- [21:41]
C
And what's the approach? Are you looking at building a network? When you're talking about affinity, what are the verticals that you're tapping into? A big event is happening right now equals it. Soccer, but it's football.
- [21:58]
D
Actually, you're quite knowledgeable about the World Cup. I saw what you said. You know, Mauricio Pochettino was from my previous team, is now the coach of the U.S. that's the reason the U.S. are doing so well.
- [22:08]
A
Thank you. I'm learning on the go. Mostly because of Marion.
- [22:14]
C
Yeah, you kind of have to, because we're going to win this year again.
- [22:16]
A
We'll see, we'll see. Okay. But to her point is a big part of the offering.
- [22:24]
D
It is. So within what we do in public service, there are a number of verticals that we're really focused on. We had accounts before, but they were kind of big umbrella accounts. So we had an account BBC Sport, we had a BBC Master Brand account, we had a BBC Music account. What we've learned, working with jasmine, working with YouTube themselves, and working with various teams and third parties who we've spoken to, it's far better with YouTube to be really specific about the communities you're building. So we're moving on. So in the case of sport, instead of just having one sport account, we just launched out of that span off a BBC Football account just in time for the World Cup. And we'll be doing that more within sport, to be much more specific. So rather than spamming people with lots of things about sports they may not be interested in, let's find some passions for specific sports and major on that. So the same approach would apply to some other verticals. So we now have a number of kids channels, not just. Not just two or three. Within audio, we're thinking beyond just BBC Music. And then in youth commissioning, we have a number of channels that we've either just launched, like BBC Deepwatch, that was one that we launched last week, BBC Perspectives, which is a channel we have planned for the later part of this year, and then a number of others beyond that.
- [23:29]
A
And so just from a mechanic standpoint, because I think there are some nerds out there, like myself and Marion, who want to know, how does this work? Right. So it sounds like there are half the channels that you're launching. You said 50 or 60 are going to be operated within BBC Studios Digital Enterprises, and then the other half will be operated underneath the BBC and operated from the core operation on a daily basis.
- [23:49]
D
That's right. And the announcement today would say that some of the channels we're doing for the uk, because our focus is the uk, our money is from the uk. Jasmine and her team will then be able to sell advertising ex UK for some of the content and some of the channels.
- [24:00]
B
Yeah. And it's important to distinguish that sort of affinity is our advertising network and the way that we're curating that at BBC Studios is global and an advertising portfolio that is connected, but not the content portfolio in which we are trying to organize around as well. But there are learnings from both. Right. And sort of understanding as to how audiences engage really informs both approaches. But it's great for us to think about this as one, as I said earlier, sort of making sure that we're engaging with the audience and we're not being fragmented and we're thinking about how those passion points really connect across all of BBC Group, which is just a huge opportunity. We've got an amazing catalog, we've got amazing new IP coming out every day. The sort of 50 channels sounds like a big hairy goal, but to be honest, we've still got more to come. So it really is. This year is about the progress part of it, learning, adapting and iterating and to achieve perfection at some point down the road.
- [25:02]
A
And don't let perfection be the enemy of progress. Is that what you said earlier today? And then just more nerdy mechanic stuff. This is a big expansion for you into the US market, so you're going to be representing tremendous number of channels and hours watched across the us, not for the first time, you've been there for some time, but you're expanding your availability there. And this new affinity operation around the verticals of fandom itself.
- [25:28]
B
Yeah, absolutely. So BBC Studios is a global enterprise and our advertising solutions are global. The US is obviously a massive market for us and we've been ramping up our advertising sales team and our solutions in the US in prime for this because whilst obviously sort of operated outside of the uk, great storytelling should travel, great channels should travel. So whilst those four goals are really important, the only way you can achieve that one in the end is by ensuring that the the opportunity is global.
- [26:03]
A
Cool. So we've got another partnership. So this is about an internal partnership now. We're going to bring someone from the outside. Very special partnership and a groundbreaking historic partnership as far as I can tell.
- [26:14]
B
Right, Absolutely. It is a full circle moment for us.
- [26:18]
A
Cool. We'll be right back. Thank you very much.
- [26:23]
C
Welcome to Anna Raffaty, SVP Digital Consumer Engagement from the LEGO Group. Hi Anna. Amazing having you on.
- [26:31]
A
So why are you here? First of all, what's LEGO Group? Well seriously, what's LEGO Group's relationship to Cannes Lion? And what do you do at the LEGO Group that involves entertainment and would be put you on this podcast today.
- [26:46]
E
Excellent series of questions.
- [26:47]
A
Thank you. All at once.
- [26:49]
E
I'll start with the latter. So I look after I guess all of our digital consumer engagement touch points. So it's things that are mainly digital actually. Not just digital but owned social fan experiences. So very lucky to work for like the BBC. A almost a hundred year old.
- [27:14]
A
Yeah. We've got two brands here that are about a century old.
- [27:17]
E
Working together, waiting for 2032 for our.
- [27:20]
A
That's your 100th birthday.
- [27:21]
E
You look great for 100 but you know, two brands that. But I think Jasmine, you mentioned earlier wanting to share values that I feel very aligned with in values terms. And I am always going to say that because I used to work for BBC Studios and I.
- [27:43]
A
You hired Jasmine.
- [27:44]
E
And I hired Jasmine a decade ago almost and worked on our YouTube platform then. But now I run everything consumer facing digitally. That's for the LEGO Group. We are a business that I believe you probably will be familiar with.
- [28:00]
A
Yeah, very.
- [28:01]
E
And the reason I'm here today is because we have got a big partnership about Bluey. It's not just about what we're going to talk about. We are products. It's a product partnership. We see and love the IP as well. We can see, see how much it is cross generational, you know, it is the stories that parents aren't just enduring but really enjoying and loving spending time watching it. So it's perfect for us who has play and co playing and co building at the heart of our experience to be able to create Bluey sets and products as well and sets that actually we've stretched Bluey from our big bricks, our Duplo system, which is for the very youngest of preschool kids, through to what we call our system bricks. So these are the bricks that you step on that hurt at home.
- [29:01]
A
But this is a historic thing. You've never spanned those two.
- [29:04]
E
You never package them together like this. They've never been positioned together and they've never been in the same visual identity. So no. Bringing those sets out like that is, is a first for working with Bluey in this way. And I'm here to talk about the thing we've done most recently with Bluey. So obviously we're very proud of our sets, which will continue to give children and their families opportunities to play their stories together. They're playing their stories sometimes in front of what they're watching.
- [29:38]
A
Right, right. I think a lot of kids will play with the toys themselves as they're watching themselves Again, speak to the big screen aspect of this watching happening in the living room. So the two brands have come together, not just here at Cannes, but long before this, to make a brand new piece of content, which is another piece of breaking news that's dropping the day that this podcast drops. So we're in Cannes right now, but we're getting this breaking news in advance. And this brand new piece of content is dropping today on YouTube.
- [30:11]
B
It's a 10 part series.
- [30:13]
A
Okay.
- [30:14]
B
So with the first part of that series dropping today, and it's a marriage
- [30:19]
A
of these two brands inside, it's a
- [30:21]
B
marriage of these two brands. And I think a real testament to the fandom. I think I can only speak for Bluey, but I would say the same as a part of the fandom for the LEGO group is that there is so much passion there, so much UGC content there that sort of building sort of goes far beyond what we could show. But it's amazing to be able to bring it to life so, so beautifully.
- [30:46]
A
So I will say neither Marion nor I has seen this. This was loaded up onto this machine just seconds ago. So we're playing a clip here. You're going to get the first look at this in a world out in the worldwide world. So here we go.
- [31:01]
B
Secretly get a reaction video.
- [31:02]
D
Yeah, yeah, right.
- [31:02]
A
So we'll be filming our reaction video. So here's the world premiere clip.
- [31:09]
B
Oh, man. Oh man.
- [31:12]
A
Huh?
- [31:13]
C
Huh?
- [31:14]
A
Are you copying me?
- [31:15]
B
Are you copying me?
- [31:17]
A
Oh boy, oh boy.
- [31:19]
B
This episode of Blue is called Copycat.
- [31:43]
A
That was adorable.
- [31:44]
C
It was amazing. Like, I'm actually disappointed. My kids are too old. So I've completely missed out on Bluey.
- [31:50]
E
The thing about Bluey is you can watch it now. It really is for everybody.
- [31:54]
C
So let me give a shot at that. We'll wait until I become a grammar and Bluey will still be around.
- [31:58]
B
Oh yeah, you bet your bottom dollar it will be. Yeah. I think just the, the magic of it, as Anna said, is the multi generational audience. And also who hasn't grown up doing Copycat with a parent or with an adult? I most certainly have and my kids do it to me. So it is just regardless of whether you connect with, with Bluey, for us the excitement is not just about reflecting the fandom back at the fandom, but also bringing in new lovers of this content.
- [32:26]
E
I completely agree. And I think for us, what I love particularly, and I hope that you feel similarly, is the real craft and care. This is a co commission, it's an editorial co commission. This is about taking that insight that we know that children love to play their stories and these are, by the way, not the sets. Actually that's not what this is. This is about taking other iconic moments that they love to play and mixing, blending the sort of gorgeous world of Bluey with the brick based play that they can create something completely new with. So there's this lovely loop of sort of watch and play and build and watch and play and sit down and play and break it up and play it again. That this enables and continues to perpetuate. And your point around you talked about a lot about it, about fandom because, you know, we, we can see that parents enjoy it sincerely. It is funny. I think we share a lot of the tone of voice that we love in the LEGO group to have this multi layered, witty tone of voice that works across kids for sure, always, but also adults in a way that isn't compromising anything, but it is just genuinely joyful. Bluey has that too and we really, you know, love that about it and our fans who may be parents themselves, obviously there's children fans, but there's adult fans who are adult consumers, their parents or their creators themselves. And they love it too. So they're creating content and to your point around, you listen to your community, you know, we can see this other lovely loop perpetuating to.
- [34:10]
A
Well and so you've got the Bluey verse, you've got the legoverse, right? This kind of, this depth Deepens the well for both. This expands this universe. It's a Venn diagram of universes, the univi. And you're expanding by addition, which is really nice. I am. Again, nerdy kind of mechanics Question. You said this is a co commission from two iconic brands. How did that collaboration work? How did the. I don't want to ask about the note sessions, but how did both studios working together, how did that collaboration go?
- [34:45]
E
I don't think it was that difficult actually, because it is true and it's not intended to sound trite that I think that we do have shared values and some of those values, for instance, are really understanding craft and care, really understanding our audiences, you know, the granularity across multiple audiences and therefore really wanting to make sure that what we create is right and that's that bringing the right parts of whether that's the play, the original ip, what this, you know, making something new editorially together. I would say that of course we're a product partnership and very proud to be so, but in this context it's an entertainment partnership and you know, the LEGO brand or certainly on YouTube and this is for Lego little ones. So talking about the granularity of our channels, it really is thinking from my perspective about that family shared experience, it means that we all have standards and we respect that each other has them. And we quite like that about co creating with each other.
- [35:53]
B
I think I completely agree and I think when you're working with a partner that shares the same values and critically for us, holds the same respect for our fandoms and audiences that we do, and that's when the partnership works best. And I think for us there isn't that tension point because I think where other partnerships perhaps that I've seen from the outside, not involving us, have possibly been mismatched is when you don't hold that same respect for your audience and therefore it can possibly ring foul or slightly inauthentic. Whereas this for us is such an authentic way to reflect both fandoms back. As you say, bringing two universes together, which is hopefully when we launch, going to create some amazing magic.
- [36:45]
C
And what's the release strategy? Are you dropping everything at once? Is it one episode a week and looking a bit ahead? What does success look like? What are you going to track?
- [36:56]
B
I'm going to start with the last one of those questions because what are we going to track? Average watch time for us, ultimately, this is an incredible way for us making sure that it goes back to that model of engaging our fandoms and Making sure that the stories are resonating. There are so many more stories here to tell. If the partnership continues, which we obviously hope it will, so that success is average. Watch time and hours. Watch for us around the world. In terms of we are dropping one a week. That repeatability very much helps us. The sort of consequence of not being predictable. We know the algorithm will punish us for, but ultimately also we know that that's what works. We've had so many original commissions with Bluey, and we're so excited to see this one land. And I think we both share that sentiment.
- [37:48]
E
I have nothing further to add.
- [37:50]
A
I do have a pitch for you, since this is a partnership here. Right. Top Gear Legos. I'm just saying. I gave you that. That's for free.
- [37:59]
E
I don't think we've done that before.
- [38:00]
A
Have you? All right, all right.
- [38:02]
B
But it's a great idea. It's a great idea.
- [38:04]
A
See, it was a great idea.
- [38:04]
B
Don't get it cut.
- [38:05]
A
Bring it back. I get it. Definitely get it cut. We definitely get it cut. Absol. So I think this is, you know, this is two partnerships. One internal, one from the outside, but obviously a kinship there. This seems to be the strategy you're looking to scale affinity as an offering. Both the ad sales part of it, but also the vertical channels itself is come inside these worlds, live inside these worlds with our communities, and we can partner on reaching those communities together as opposed to advertise to people and get them to buy shit.
- [38:37]
B
Exactly that.
- [38:38]
A
Cool.
- [38:39]
B
No notes.
- [38:39]
A
Oh, no notes.
- [38:40]
C
Wow.
- [38:41]
A
So this was a lot of fun.
- [38:42]
B
Maybe a no shit.
- [38:45]
A
No shit. Oh, come on.
- [38:46]
B
We know each other, so I'm sorry.
- [38:49]
A
And you keep coming back no matter how much I curse, so.
- [38:51]
B
Well, Yeah, I enjoy the cursing.
- [38:53]
A
Thank you. This was a lot of fun.
- [38:55]
C
That was amazing.
- [38:55]
A
You have a good time. Thank you for this venue. Thank you for putting us up at the headquarters here. Did you have a good time? Thank you for coming to the Media Odyssey podcast in Cannes. That is Marian Reet, and that is Evan Chaparro. We'll see you next time.