Selecting the next judge for MasterChef Australia – better decisions: simple, fast, accurate

Elisa Choy of Strategic Data Central looks at who the next judge of MasterChef should be – from the market’s perspective.

It’s been 10 years. It’s time for a new dynasty for MasterChef Australia. It’s time for a strategic rebrand, which starts with selecting the right judges to continue this mega franchise. In any crisis and scandal, there is opportunity for rebirth. So, is Australia ready? Who will Channel 10 and Endemol Shine select?It’s also time for a new era of doing market research. Fear not Channel 10. Data is here to the rescue and AI knows how to mine it to uncover who your judges should be. AI market intelligence is faster, cheaper, and much better than focus groups, surveys and polls.

Finally, data nerds and creative cats unite to reimaginemarketing to deliver measurable and effective outcomes.

So, have you heard? MasterChef Australia, the darling premier food and cooking mega franchise TV show is going to be re-birthed with a new line up of chef judges. Thank you! That egg timer was buzzing a few seasons ago.

George Calombaris, Matt Preston and Gary Mehigan are out (with rumours as to why but it doesn’t matter. That’s drama and showbiz. It was time). We’ve all read the scandalous news about George… oh George, wage underpayment. Boiling hot water indeed!

Channel 10, enter the exciting, illuminating world of AI Marketing Insights. Kung Pao Chicken!

Data + Creative = Creative Intelligence (no longer an oxymoron)

This article seeks to teach and tantalise. We share how we used AI to listen to the market and identify who Australia absolutely wants as a judge on MasterChef Australia. Our methods are accurate (see previous article that used AI to predict the winner of The Voice 2019). We know how to listen to the market.

So, focussing on the real challenge facing Channel 10 right now:

Question: Who should be the next judges to reinvigorate the MasterChef flame?

This question requires 2 parts of analysis:

1- Market Intelligence “The people speak through AI”

Who has deep engagement with Australian consumers right now? Who is predicted to have deep engagement that will last for years to come? Who does the market intensely love? (because when we intensely love someone, we will tune in and breathe every word they say, and eat their soggy stir fry with a smile).

So the right judges must have deep engagement and intense emotional resonance with the audience. This will guarantee the show will bring back audiences that have since become disengaged. This is a brand critical, strategically monumental, pivotal decision. So dramatic! Reinvigorate the flame!

Don’t mess with the data.

2- Strategic Deal “The right mix of Chosen Ones”

There will be a team of judges. So out of the market favourites, who will work well together? Who will align with the corporate sponsors? Who is more affordable (let’s face it, celebrity spokes-chefs are expensive and are they really worth it?) Who will not bring scandal? Who knows the MasterChef formula? Who can actually cook?

This is a very delicate, commercial, mission critical decision for the brand. It must be made with the right data, the right tools and the right insights to make the winning decision. This is not a job for a survey, or a room of executives, or an online poll, or a count of Facebook followers. There are better ways to uncover market insights to hear who the market wants.

As I said, we know who the market wants. We found a clear winner.

Here’s how we did it, the recipe:

Data source: All open source, unstructured online topical content (includes social, video, mass media)…petabytes of it was analysed.

Scope: Everyone who uses the internet and engages with online content.

Analysis method: Artificial Intelligence using machine learning and specifically natural language processing and other advanced analytics methods (sorry, I can’t give you more than that – did colonel sanders disclose the 11 herbs and spices?)

Predictive Insights: Measure Engagement through Emotional Depth (how people feel), Content Power (what is being talked about), Media Power (which channels have influence).

Speed: Analysed within a few days.

Candidates: We ran this list of candidates that were mentioned in the media:

Curtis Stone (Mr Coles)
Maggie Beer (Nanna made it big)
Kylie Kwong (Rainbow restauranteur)
Poh Ling Leow (Smiling Kitchen Assassin)
Adam Liew (Man bun guy)

This is a subset of the full bench that Channel 10 would be considering right now. Guess what. Good news. In this group, we found a very, very, again, very clear winner.

There is a judge in this pack that Australia absolutely wants and intensely LOVES. There are some who fell surprisingly flat and before the megabucks go out, this intel may also be of interest.

So, am I going to reveal who it is?

If you are Channel 10 or Endemol Shine, yes!

Strategic Data Central (Data Geeks) and Quip Brands (Creative Cats) have joined forces to serve up a degustation of Creative Intelligence (ie. delicious insights to inform who Australia wants to be the next judges).

We believe it is our citizens duty to share these insights to the right Grand Poohbahs of Channel 10, Endemol Shine and MasterChef Australia. Can anyone connect us?

Until then, for the rest of Australia, you’ll have to stay tuned to see how this cookie crumbles.

…and yes of course we will eventually share our findings. Let’s serve this to the owners of the MasterChef brand first, while the dish is still hot.

The article originally appeared here

————————————————————————————————————-Elisa Choy is a Data Whisperer that has a magic eye to see strategic and actionable insights. She translates maths to English to turn data into better decisions. She has 16 years’ experience in strategy, finance, marketing, data and analytics. She has helped clients create data assets, uncovered actionable insights and transformed organisations into data-driven cultures. Despite being a successful classical left-brainist who has trained as a merchant banker and economist, she engages creative right-brain innovation to see between numbers to tell a good data story. She is Founder of Strategic Data Central, a boutique data analytics and insights consultancy based in Sydney, Australia.Elisa acknowledges her Partners in this research:

Strategic Data Central uses emerging advanced analytics technologies to uncover winning insights. Elisa partnered with Significance Systems which has developed Earth.ai, a platform that identifies deep, underlying narratives and their key drivers, for any topic, in any language, over the open internet. The company is homegrown Australian and the founders, Darrell Berry and John Ricketts, were heralded by Forbes magazine as developing the idea of ‘social media’ back in 1994.

Elisa also collaborated with Keeva Stratton, a creative strategist, expert storyteller and successful entrepreneur. Keeva’s superpower is to bring bold, insightful and intelligent ideas to life. She has provided her creative expertise to many national and international brands, is also a mentor and activator, and proudly supports the female entrepreneurial community. She is Founder of Quip Brands, a leading strategic branding and creative firm based in Sydney, Australia.