MasterChef Asia 2015 is the first pan-regional version of the world’s most successful reality cooking contest format. Commissioned by A+E Networks Asia for the Lifetime channel, SPRG was brought on to promote the show to local audiences. With other editions of the MasterChef franchise on competing channels, the challenge was to establish Lifetime as the “home” of MasterChef in Asia.
Planning & Execution
The publicity campaign encompassed nearly a whole year, to drive the initial buzz around the MasterChef Asia announcement, and to sustain media interest throughout the season. SPRG cooked up a year-long bank of stories that featured local contestants, cuisines and the celebrity judges as key ingredients. With the filming of the season being done in Singapore, we saw an opportunity to bring media onto the set. Realizing that there was a lot of pent up curiosity about the iconic “MasterChef Kitchen” – a more enduring symbol of the franchise than even the contestants or judges - SPRG worked with the client to create a “deconstructed” version of the set for a consumer event at a heartland mall in Singapore, where the public could watch the local contestants and judges compete in a “live” Mystery Box challenge. For advertisers and partners, we hosted a special dinner with a curated dinner menu featuring each of the judges’ signature dishes.
Effectiveness / Results
Over the course of the year, the campaign secured more than 500 articles across print, broadcast and online, both locally and internationally. The total publicity value is estimated at over $13 million. The inaugural edition of MasterChef Asia reached over 13 million viewers across the region, with Singapore viewership exceeding 500% of the local prime time average. When adding in those who watched MasterChef Asia online, the viewership exceeds 79 million.
The campaign has won a number of awards, including the Marketing PR Awards, the Asia-Pacific Stevies and Mumbrella Asia.