Laughter and language: Inside Giggle Entertainment Network’s success

With over a million weekly viewers, Giggle Entertainment Network spans across Aotearoa, from Whangārei to Timaru. Co-Founder Jasmine Kiihfuss shares the secret to the networks’ success over the past 15 years, why humourous content works, and why it is running content in both te reo Māori and English for te wiki o te reo Māori in collaboration with the Otautahi-based Hustle Group.

Giggle is now at over 1200 DOOH locations. How has this growth contributed to your offer?

The expansion of our network has played a pivotal role in bolstering Giggle Entertainment Network’s resilience and effectiveness over the past 15 years. It has ushered in a multitude of positive outcomes for our organisation.

Foremost, it has enabled us to dramatically augment our exposure, reaching a broader and more diverse audience. Our strategic presence in high-traffic zones throughout Aotearoa has significantly bolstered the recognition of our brand and services among a more extensive spectrum of individuals. In stark contrast to 15 years ago, we now engage in precise targeting of specific demographics and regions through our vertical markets, tailoring our marketing endeavours to cater to nearly anyone’s needs. This, in turn, has opened a plethora of opportunities for our clients.

Moreover, our network grants us a distinct competitive advantage within the OOH advertising sector by allowing us to infiltrate communities and smaller suburbs where our competitors often face significant challenges. This expansion has attracted a broader spectrum of advertisers and brands seeking to promote their products and services.

You mention vertical markets, how have these changed the way you market your services?

Many of our clients are now choosing vertical, over geographic, or a combination of the two as a strategy to target their desired audience.

1. Hospitality: Having our network in hospitality venues such as restaurants, cafes, and bars allows us to reach a diverse and captive audience. People frequently visit these establishments for long periods of time, providing ample exposure to our advertisements.
2. Fitness: Fitness centres and gyms attract health-conscious individuals who often spend extended periods at these facilities. Placing our network in such locations enables us to target a health-conscious demographic while they are lifting weights, or on a piece of cardio equipment which makes it impossible to use their phone.
3. Medical: Medical facilities, including doctors’ offices and blood collection centres, offer a opportunity to reach a captive audience. Patients typically spend time in waiting rooms and our sticky, humorous content provides a welcome distraction.
4. Retail: Retail locations offer a high footfall and a broad cross-section of the population. These locations typically have a high footfall of people who are in the mindset of spending money.
5. Health & Beauty: Hairdressers, nail bars, and beauty salons are places where people come to pamper themselves. Placing our network in these locations allows us to target individuals interested in health, wellness, and beauty products and services.
6. Petrol Stations: Petrol stations are frequented by drivers who often stop for fuel, snacks, or convenience store items. These locations provide an opportunity to reach a diverse audience, including commuters and travellers.

Can you tell us about reaching the million weekly visitor milestone and the impact it had on your business?

Reaching a million weekly viewers is a significant milestone for Giggle and is something we don’t make enough noise about. Having a million weekly viewers is a huge achievement for us and means that our clients benefit from maximum exposure. 

With a high viewership and low cost, clients can achieve their marketing goals without overspending on advertising. Being associated with a network that reaches a million viewers weekly gives our clients a competitive advantage in their respective industries. It positions them as leaders in their markets. 

The high footfall gives our clients access to valuable viewer data and insights, allowing them to refine their marketing strategies and achieve better results over time.

Sixty-five percent of your screen time is dedicated to humour, how did you reach the conclusion that this is the magic number?

Engaging content is crucial for capturing the audience’s attention, and humour plays a significant role in both entertaining and enhancing viewer satisfaction. Our sticky content is often cheesy, occasionally cringe-worthy and consistently achieves the desired effect: whether the audience is laughing or playfully rolling their eyes, they remain actively engaged. This engagement is invaluable as it helps minimise ad avoidance, ensuring that marketing content reaches a receptive audience.

In refining the 65 percent, we engaged Cenique, a marketing consultant organisation from Texas who studied our network and found that at 65 percent the average view time to be 2:38 minutes, a lifetime when it comes to advertising platforms and 94 percent of viewers surveyed say they would watch again. 

We use data and viewer feedback to refine our humorous content strategies continually. This data-driven approach allows us to fine-tune our content for maximum audience engagement and advertiser benefit.

What inspired your decision to run all content in te reo Māori alongside English for te wiki o te reo Māori?

We want to actively contribute to the promotion and preservation of te reo Māori. Te wiki o te reo Māori is dedicated to celebrating and preserving te reo Māori. Using the reach of our network by featuring content in both te reo Māori and English from 11 – 17^th September we see it as an ideal time to encourage language learning and awareness. 

By presenting content in both languages, viewers, especially those who may not be familiar with te reo Māori have an opportunity to learn and appreciate the significance of this language.