The Good Guys has launched a major marketing drive for its sponsorship of reality renovation series The Block, with a new microsite launching on The Good Guys website featuring a swathe of Block-branded content.
Billed under the tagline “Shop where The Block shops”, the microsite features daily updates and show re-caps (written by a Good Guys staffer and Facebook competition winners), promotions, galleries and details on the ‘Room Reveals’ from the TV show.
Sponsoring the show for the first time this year as “official supplier of quality appliances”, The Good Guys will provide contestants with “designer kitchens, electrical products and bonus prizes”. The Good Guys joins long-time building sponsor Mitre 10, which is back for its fifth season, and has replaced last year’s appliance retail sponsor E&S Trading who held the title of “official kitchen and laundry sponsors” for three years running.
With last year’s renovated property located in Bondi (a long way from E&S Trading’s five Victorian-based stores) and with The Block reeling in a national audience of 1.4 million over 56 episodes last year, The Good Guys has the kind of national bricks and mortar footprint that will likely do well from such broad television exposure.
This year, contestants on ‘The Block: Fans v Faves‘ will convert an old theatre in Melbourne’s water-side Albert Park area into four loft-style apartments, each with three bedrooms and three bathrooms. As with previous seasons, viewers can expect to see the contestants visiting The Good Guys for a series of well-branded shopping sessions to buy their appliances and consumer electronics (nearby stores in Brighton and Chadstone would be well placed to start tidying up and preparing for their cameo in the show).
Importantly for The Good Guys’ suppliers, the retailer is using its website to spruik products associated with the show, including Fisher & Paykel laundry appliances, Dyson vacuums and Nespresso coffee machines. In her first episode wrap-up, The Good Guys’ resident Block blogger also dropped in a subtle brand mention (“I loved how Jesse and Kenny used their Samsung TV on their feature wall”).
Amongst the products and galleries, the retailer has also thrown in product reviews, buying guides and details on installation services to round out the offering, as well as an online game that UnderCurrent had a field day with.
Season 8 of The Block Fans v. Faves premiered on Monday 27 January, while Season 9 of the show is set to launch later in 2014.
