All Things Money: How staying true to what makes CNBC unique helps the channel capture new markets

CNBC, the global business and financial news network, has had a busy year. It has expanded its footprint on social media, grown its presence in China and continued its round-the-clock TV coverage of a tumultuous year for the financial markets. 

With growing geopolitical uncertainty, as many international news networks have contracted, CNBC has fearlessly pushed on. In the last 18 months, CNBC has added bureaus in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Guangzhou to tell the dynamic business stories of the Middle East and Greater Bay Area to CNBC’s global audience. CNBC has also launched affiliate networks in markets such as Indonesia and Thailand. 

Commercially, CNBC has seen double digit growth in its content and events business in the last 12 months, as well as welcoming a host of new advertisers who are keen to reach the network’s highly influential audience. 

We caught up with Max Raven, Senior Vice President of the network’s in-house commercial agency, CNBC Catalyst, about why marketers are returning to international media houses and what we can expect from CNBC in 2020. 

Max, it seems CNBC has weathered the geopolitical uncertainty this year in a market that has been extremely tough for traditional advertisers. Why do you think advertisers are turning to CNBC? 

“Over the last 30 years, CNBC has built a reputation for being a trusted news brand and home of the most influential audience on the planet, exemplified by the likes of  CNBC’s exclusive interview with the CEO of Huawei, and being the repository of Warren Buffet’s collective insights.

“In the last year, we’ve seen seismic geopolitical shifts coupled with global market volatility. During those times, we see more and more people turn to CNBC to help them navigate the rocks in the rapids. 

“In fact, research shows that 89%* of our audiences take action as a result of engaging with our content. 

“As consumers are turning to us to help them understand the global business environment and make informed decisions, so too are advertisers. They realise the convening power CNBC holds to help them reach that highly influential audience. 

“One really great example was how we brought our anchors from around the world together in one key location to tell the global news story – a special ‘global edition’ of our flagship show Squawk Box, live from Jewel Changi Airport in Singapore. We’re really excited to see this franchise span across different locations in the year ahead.”

Commercially, where are you seeing the growth?

“I joined CNBC around five years ago and soon realised it was time to rethink our go-to market proposition. Two years later we launched Catalyst, our very own in-house agency. 

“Besides gaining access to our influential audience, Catalyst provides an integrated marketing solution for our partners. We call it our ‘ABCDE’ approach, for brands to effectively engage our audience through our experts in ‘Audience’, ‘Brand and Creative Strategy’, ‘Content’, ‘Data and Research’ and ‘Events and Experiences’. 

“In addition to our stable of business and financial brands, we are seeing remarkable growth in travel and tourism, where the team has produced award-winning campaigns with clients such as Incredible India, South African Tourism and Raffles Hotels. “We are very optimistic about the continued growth in this sector which led to the launch of our dedicated online travel platform, Global Traveler. It’s the definitive destination for the high yield traveler, inspiring them to make new connections, discover new places, and create new opportunities, as they increasingly travel the world for work and leisure.”

You touched on digital destinations you’re creating for clients. If it is not just about TV, what is CNBC’s digital strategy?

“We’re still seeing year-on-year growth in our TV viewership which demonstrates the ever-increasing appetite for our product. That said, we try to tell all our stories on multiple platforms and digital is in our DNA. In the last three years, the business has invested heavily in our digital products. 

“We’ve created a digital video and social media team and I’m proud to say that’s been a huge success. It’s also brought an ‘aspirational’ audience to CNBC. 

“These are often younger, business minded people who are coming to CNBC to help them climb the career ladder and ultimately get ahead. The epitome of this is our product, ‘CNBC Make It’, which focuses on money-related content targeted at the aspirational audience. On top of that, we also have ‘CNBC Explains’, launched in 2016, which breaks down the biggest business and economic news, without the jargon. Since we launched the website, it’s been a huge success both in the US and internationally.”

So it’s not just about CEOs – CNBC is reaching a younger audience too?

“I often say we attract the world’s most powerful audience. You only have to look at what we do in Davos to demonstrate that, where we speak exclusively to some of the most important business and political leaders on the planet. 

“That said, our audience is diversifying, and digital is a big part of that. I think this is really exciting for our advertising partners as well. No longer do we simply provide you access to our highly influential audience, but we can also help you reach the business leaders of tomorrow.” 

You spoke about events earlier and recently held a three day tech retreat in China. Can you tell us some more about that?

“For years, we’ve had a successful events franchise domestically in the US, but we didn’t have our own proprietary event internationally. 

“So, in 2018 we launched East Tech West, an invite-only tech retreat held in the heart of the Greater Bay Area in Nansha, Guangzhou, China. The conference brings together some of the biggest players in technology to talk business, innovation and what’s next. 

“We held the second edition in November and it was a resounding success. China and technology are two of the major areas of interest for our audience, and that made the event a natural fit for CNBC.

“Commercially, the event provides a great opportunity for brands to build a relationship with our audience on the ground. We’re already looking at returning to Nansha in 2020 and expanding the East Tech West franchise outside of China.” 

What are you most excited about in 2020?

“Well, I’m already excited about plans in the pipeline for more global editions of Squawk Box and East Tech West. Watch this space.

“That said, my year always kicks off with Davos which is the super bowl moment for CNBC. I’m excited to return to Switzerland to see some of the incredible content and events that we have planned with our partners come to fruition. 

“Plus with the Summer Olympics in Japan next year, and our third edition of East Tech West, travel and tech will continue to be a growing focus for us.”