Reality TV’s highly anticipated launch of the 2018 season of the Bachelor is now just around the corner, with a new teaser video featuring Bachelor (and former Australian Wallabies Rugby Union Player) Nick ‘The Honey Badger’ Cummins released last week (you can watch it here).
The season premieres on August 15.
The TMS Take 2017 saw new audiences drawn to the most successful season of The Bachelor or The Bachelorette Australia to date, with 1.6M Australians tuning in to Sophie Monk’s finale decision – proving that not all TV audiences are declining. Ten is no doubt hoping to repeat this success, by choosing talent Cummins who, like Monk, is a known personality prior to the show. The additional appeal of Cummins is his follower base of males and his sports fan skew, which is likely to open up a new avenue of audience growth for The Bachelor and program sponsors. For brands, this also unlocks the opportunity to expand their potential audience and introduce new customers – notably adopting this strategy is Tradie Underwear, who have an existing ambassador relationship with Cummins. Since his announcement as The Bachelor earlier in the year, they have already seen growth in sales of their female product line. Where their audience heartland has been males, they are using show sponsorship to further build brand awareness, and grow appeal with the show’s core female audience. We’ll be tuning in throughout the season to see if Cummins (and show sponsors) find their perfect match.
Jen Nicholls