BALBOA is Foxtel’s Sports and Entertainment Knock-Out
Earlier this month, Australian broadcasting and streaming company Foxtel announced a new, in-house sport and entertainment agency to service its internal and external clients – BALBOA.
The in-house agency replaces Fox Creative and reimagines client services for internal and external projects. The suite of services will comprise concept through production and delivery.
But is this a harbinger of a greater trend away from traditional agencies? And should creative function on a more ‘horses for courses’ basis?
With over 20 years of experience, including more than three at Foxtel, Michael Neerhos, BALBOA’s executive director and chief marketing officer at Foxtel Group, has overseen the transformation.
LBB caught up with Michael to learn how BALBOA seeks to capitalise on the growing movement towards in-housing, what is driving the trend, and what it all means for agency partners.
LBB> Congratulations on the launch of BALBOA! Can you briefly talk us through the thinking behind rebranding as a dedicated internal agency?
Michael> There were internal and external drivers.
We were keen to engage our creative palette better and to have a strong employee value proposition – to be a strong brand in terms of hiring and retention.
We found also that having an identity for the team was important, and we wanted to reflect that we do much more than just Fox work, considering Kayo, Binge, and Hubble. We're also in partnership and working constantly with Netflix, Amazon Prime, and free-to-air channels.
Our Foxtel media customers in mostly sports-related but entertainment-related integration.
We saw an opportunity to take that sports and entertainment expertise and create new work opportunities and more exciting things for our team to engage with.
LBB> Why now, and how does it differ from an integrated internal creative marketing department?
Michael> It’s important for internal teams to have outside perspective, so this change represents an internal strengthening as well as opportunity to drive great work externally.
At the moment, we're 70 onshore, 20 offshore. We also have a strong freelance network for events, where we can flex up and down as needed.
Having done two and a half years of transformation, our process, capability, building, and methodologies have evolved and are starting to really excite our folks.
The creative team was quite fragmented a few years ago and we really wanted to show our teams how important they were to us and to give them support with this new identity, which I know they really love.
One thing I'm sure of is that we have a lot of passionate sports and entertainment news fans, who are excited to deliver the best work.
LBB> The trend for in-housing is becoming more and more prevalent across the globe. Why do you think that is, and what can an inhouse team offer that a traditional agency partner can't?
Michael> It’s faster, it’s cheaper, and I think it’s as high quality as any other agency in town. I think we are all having to get much more accountable for our resources and our budgets, and over the years the group has gradually bought more and more of the work it might have had outside with traditional agencies.
I think the trend is frankly unstoppable, but it really depends on the appetite of the particular business. So the appetite in Foxtel group was to do it properly and to deliver a full service suite for plenty of other companies.
We produced something like two million assets last year. The Foxtel Group has decided to go all in, and we think we’ve been delivering.
LBB> You called the move to in-housing an “unstoppable trend”. Why do you think that is?
Michael> I’m not by any stretch predicting the end of the traditional agencies – they’re an important part of our creative world.
But I think there's going to be more growth in that hybrid, in-house area as companies try and use the right horse for the right course.
One driver is also the focus from CMOs and CFOs on in-housing, particularly when the market is tighter. Foxtel is now doing all its brand work in house, and it’s because we understand the product, and we understand the audience, and we are absolutely accountable for those. Our creative team has skin in the game, which will help make the work more customer centric.
LBB> BALBOA – great name; I’m assuming a Rocky reference. Where did that idea come from, and what was the thinking behind it?
Michael> BALBOA is at the junction of sport and entertainment.
Balboa is Rocky’s surname, and we think that's one of the greatest sports-themed entertainment movies out there. But we also liked a lot of the metaphors that implies; agility, punching above your weight, and backing our clients who are in a corner.
It’s also a good name with a great ring to it. Our team have got right into it, and our clients have fun with it as well.
