Mitre 10 has made a play to take advantage of growing online audiences by creating its own on-demand, video-streaming channel, via Augusto, servicing DIY-spirited Kiwis with a host of original home improvement-themed content.
Mitre 10 general manager marketing Dave Elliott says in a release, as TV viewership declines and the demand for online video content continues to rise, particularly among those aged under 40, introducing an owned content channel was a natural step for Mitre 10.
“Our purpose is to help Kiwis improve their homes, and by having our own centralised channel of great content we will do this even better,” says Elliott. “While we are a retailer, we believe that we have to be much more than just a product end-point. To truly meet our customers’ needs we’ve got to be where they are and have a much broader, more engaging package.”
The new on-demand channel, however, will not be a replacement to Mitre 10’s Easy As content on YouTube, which has clocked up more than 15 million views. Elliott said YouTube will complement the on-demand hub and all the content will be across both channels.
At the beginning of the on-demand project, general manager of Augusto Oliver Sealy says the existing YouTube content and audiences were examined in a research phase, before the data was mapped back to the Mitre 10 brand framework and customer profiles.
In doing this, Sealy says the key realisation was that in order to inform engage and inspire audiences to use Mitre 10 to improve their homes, lives and communities, it would require several layers of programming. It was then he said both Mitre 10 and August knew a channel had to be made.
The content includes 11 episodes covering the build of rower Eric Murray and his family’s home and a Lock In series, featuring UK TV architect George Clarke’s experience of being locked in a Mitre 10 Mega store overnight with a crew of Kiwi DIYers.
Producer Simone Goulding said it was in production with The Murray Project for over a year in order to capture the start to finish process of building a house, while the ‘Lock In’ was shot almost entirely over three nights.
When the ‘Lock In’ was announced earlier this year, Elliott told StopPress, the move to create online content has not seen Mitre 10 neglect the classic TVC and it would continue to air them on Sunday nights featuring images of consumers completed projects sourced from Facebook. He hoped the ads would serve as inspiration and said: “we live weekend to weekend and on a Sunday you are already thinking about what to do the next weekend.”
Elliot says the online content has been carefully curated to provide a balance of short and long form entertainment including a host of tool tips, building and home styling advice.
“This content is engaging and informative, not just branded video. We’re telling the many home improvement stories of Kiwis to give others access to first-hand experiences for their own benefit,” Elliot says. “A DIY project, whatever it may be, is a journey. It starts with an initial idea and ends with the celebration of a job well done, and there’s a lot of learning along the way which we wanted to capture and believe Kiwis will get into.”
The new on-demand channel also extends and deepens the digital experience offered by the Easy As YouTube content, by allowing the audience to select products featured as they watch and make use of Mitre 10’s ‘Click & Collect’ service or arrange delivery straight to their door.
“Allowing customers to click and buy what they see as they see it is another progression of our journey to deliver a true omni-channel offering,” said Elliott. “It gives Mitre 10 customers a seamless experience spanning across our bricks and mortar stores and the web.”
So far, Augusto has delivered over 200 minutes of content, and it has just had the green light on four new series that will be released over the next year.