Val Morgan Digital Upfronts: 2022 set to be a big year for the publishing powerhouse, including a Thrillist’s NZ City Guides
Val Morgan Digital unveiled its 2022 plans during its upfronts today for its four properties, The Latch, Fandom, POPSUGAR Australia, and Thrillist Australia.
Val Morgan Digital will focus on three key areas across its sites: audience and growth, bridging the gap between commerce and content, and initiatives that drive the world forward.
Val Morgan Digital will be launching new initiatives in 2022, such as The Latch Homegrown, POPSUGAR Sport, Thrillist Mental Health Uprising, and e-commerce storefronts.
Val Morgan Digital will continue closing the gap between cinema and OOH through a wider business integration strategy that will be at the forefront of all activity in 2022.
Val Morgan Digital hosted its upfronts today, highlighting how it will continue to close the loop between Val Morgan’s Cinema and Outdoor business, and showcasing different ways brands can press play in 2022 across its suite of properties: The Latch, POPSUGAR, Thrillist and Fandom.
Val Morgan Digital will be focusing on reaching new audiences, bridging the gap between commerce and content, and creating initiatives that help drive the world forward. It will also continue its integration with HOYTS, through content, events, and in-cinema experiences.
Audience and Growth
To measure the impact of audiences on tangible outcomes, Val Morgan Digital has launched ARC (Awareness. Relevance. Consideration), giving brands more visibility on their campaigns. ARC is shifting the conversation from vanity metrics, to results like brand uplift and increased intention or action to buy.
To reach new audiences, Val Morgan Digital will be launching new verticals.
Since its launch in early 2020, The Latch has been focused on helping readers live a more sustainable life. As we emerge into a post-pandemic world, climate change is our overriding concern, and in order to help drive towards a better tomorrow, The Latch will launch a Sustainability vertical and help its readers make a collective commitment to the planet.
Continuing to evolve the POPSUGAR brand and meet Australian women’s needs, POPSUGAR Sport will be launching in the new year, following the early success of POPSUGAR Gaming that officially launched last week.
Female Australian athletes are greatly under-represented by mainstream sports sites as 4% of sports media content is dedicated to women’s sport, although AusPlay data shows that 52% of Australian women and 68% of girls regularly participate in sport-related activities. With POPSUGAR Sport, Australian women will be given a place that they can celebrate the achievements of our female athletes and help reimagine how mainstream media support young women playing sport and supporting teams.
And as international borders open, Thrillist will launch its New Zealand City Guides.
Content and Commerce
Val Morgan Digital will continue to bridge the gap between content and commerce, with the launch of multiple e-commerce storefronts across The Latch, POPSUGAR and Thrillist. Each storefront will offer readers curated edits, deals, offers and bespoke shopping moments within specific categories. Streaming, travel and experiences, fashion and beauty, and sustainability will be launch categories.
Val Morgan Digital identified through recent surveys, that 85% of readers are likely to purchase something from the sites.
Initiatives that Drive the World Forward
The Latch will partner with HOYTS on Homegrown, to support the sustainability of the Australian film industry.
The Mental Health Uprising will launch on Thrillist, an initiative supporting the mental health of those who work in the hospitality industry.
POPSUGAR will launch The Powerhouse, a female finance advisory board, primed to guide our audience through every financial milestone.
Amanda Bardas, Publisher at Val Morgan Digital comments, “The team and I are thrilled to unveil what we have coming. Our aim is to continue creating responsible content for our readers, our team, and our clients, and amplify that content in contextually relevant locations. As we move into 2022, and the state of the world evolves, so too will our brands, through some of the initiatives we’re rolling out across different screens and platforms.”
In 2022, Val Morgan Digital will work even closer with Val Morgan Outdoor (VMO) to further amplify messages across retail precincts, health and wellness clubs and petro and convenience locations across the nation.
“We know that editorial drives a 16% increase in outdoor engagement, and outdoor amplifies digital audience with an 18% increase in engagement, so pairing the VMD and VMO networks together gives brands unparalleled results. We not only create purposeful and strategic content, but we create it specifically for the environment that it lives in, and we believe this is crucial to successfully integrating a publishing and out-of-home business,” comments Amanda Bardas.