Network 10: Winning the audience through content or experience?

Launched 57 years ago, Network 10 has come a long way to be one of Australia's favourite free-to-air networks offering local and overseas content. However, with the rise of privately-owned streaming services changing the television landscape, Network 10 understood that good content alone wouldn't cut it. Digital experience has become a vital element for streaming services to keep the audience engaged, and that's when Network 10 knew that it was time to transform.  

Where are the audiences?  

Network 10 is constantly looking for ways to enhance the experience our members are having with our platform and content. Knowing that the Network offers content that would appeal to most Australians, Jason Tippins, Senior Product Manager: Data, personalization, and Experimentation at Network 10, believed that he and his team could do more to attract potential audiences.  

"We're confident that we have value to offer, and that motivated us to find a solution to help us bridge our excellent content to our potential audience," said Jason. 

Offering something different to the market is also one of the Network's priorities. Including Network 10, there are five free-to-air networks in Australia, and Jason knew that it would be a game-changer for them if they elevated their customer experience.  

“If we look at current streaming services, many of which are digital native brands, they are familiar with communicating with their audience. They have helped transform online experiences, and Network 10 strives to offer these types of experiences.” said Jason.

Bridging the gap

It makes perfect sense to try to find the answer as to why a product or service isn't getting the traction it deserves. But the approach to finding the answers can either make or break the business. One can navigate this challenge by relying on gut feeling, or using data and tech to connect the dots. Network 10 chose the latter and partnered with Optimizely and The Lumery in 2019. 

 As one of Optimizely's Gold Solution Partners, The Lumery has successfully delivered digital projects across Australia. From building complex personalization programs to enabling companies for digital transformation, they are one of the country’s leaning consultancies to help organisations pursue their digital endeavours. Together with Optimizely's technology and The Lumery's deep martech experience – both partners played a crucial role in bridging the gap between Network 10 and its customers by combining experimentation and personalization. 

Together with Optimizely's technology and The Lumery's expertise – both partners played a crucial role in bridging the gap between Network 10 and its customers by combining experimentation and personalization. 

To maximise a personalization program, it's essential for businesses to constantly test and experiment on everything. Such an approach provides a holistic and accurate understanding of the business' digital presence, which enables impactful personalization to occur. And Network 10 did just that in three distinct phases.

Phase 1 - Building a culture of experimentation 

 The first phase focused very much on building the culture of experimentation within the organisation. 

 "We wanted our team to get comfortable with the idea of experimenting and testing. And once that happened, we were able to lay out the foundation of our personalization strategy. Using Optimizely's machine learning algorithm & experimentation platform, we introduced our unified app, which helped collect data from our audience. And with that data, Network 10 slowly started to offer personalised experiences." said Jason. 

By the end of the first phase, Network 10 was already offering a better and more advanced customer experience, which other free-to-air networks did not.

Phase 2 - Identifying a framework 

The second phase was much more elaborate. Because it was the first time Jason and his team were engaging in a more focused and large-scale campaign, it required the whole organisation's input to identify their objectives, current challenges & potential hurdles. 

Jason said, "We ran an internal survey and a series of workshops with key stakeholders within the organisation to see how personalization would fit in our business. We also looked at where Network 10 is at in terms of the personalization maturity curve , guided by The Lumery, to truly understand what we're capable of doing now, and what we need to improve to progress our program in maturity". He added, "It was an extensive exercise, but it was essential to lay down the groundwork instead of diving into the campaign headfirst."  

The second phase concluded with Network 10’s very own personalization campaign framework which would enable Jason and his team to plan and execute their strategy efficiently. 

Phase 3 – The Launch 

Network 10 started by personalising the home page marquee. Instead of featuring a generic image across all audiences, the marquee highlighted the audience’s favourite show. The team went even further by creating a brand-new carousel that displayed multiple shows that would interest the audience based on their viewing history. 

 "We saw a significant uplift, about 200% in user engagement and click-through for The Bold and The Beautiful. The improvements we've made in terms of the user experience and journey had certainly made it easier for our audience to spend more time watching our content," said Jason. 

As Network 10 builds their personalization program and continues to improve its user experience, the Network is setting itself apart from other services by delivering the value that the audience is looking for.

Future plan  

The network's achievements are only the beginning, as Jason and his team are more inspired than ever following their programs success.  

"Our end goal is to be able to deliver experiences like Netflix based on tailored recommendations history and even better ease of discoverability. But for now, Network 10 will continue to grow and experiment so that we can constantly learn and deliver the best experience to our customers."  

As the streaming television landscape evolves, networks must adjust their priorities to remain relevant. Network 10 actively explores new approaches such as experimentation and personalization to improve customer experiences by delighting our audience.