Hitting the high notes in engagement for Eurovision and beyond
Opinion
The Eurovision ship may have set sail, but the lessons remain when it comes to strategic campaign planning, utilising contextual capabilities and leveraging predictable patterns of engagement.
On Saturday night, the Eurovision Song Contest once again took centre stage, this time coming from Basel.
While the UK held its breath to see if our act — Remember Monday — could make it a memorable Sunday (sadly, they did not), marketers across the country were paying attention for a different reason: the sheer power of this annual spectacle to command audience attention.
Even for those who find the musical stylings somewhat… unique, the viewing figures are hard to ignore. Last year, a remarkable 7.7m Brits tuned in — that’s almost three in five of those watching prime time Saturday night television. That level of concentrated attention is a hugely valuable commodity in today’s fragmented media landscape.
This year, while overnight Barb data showed the UK saw an average of 6.7m viewers watch the grand final, Brits continue to display an undeniable thirst for the often baffling but strangely brilliant event.
Despite losing viewers to 2024’s numbers — the final did coincide with our early summer sunshine, as well as the men’s and women’s FA Cup finals, as it did in 2021 and 2022 — it still easily outperformed the top shows of the week before in terms of overall reach.
Elongation of engagement
The evolution of Eurovision from a single Saturday night event to a week-long celebration, complete with two live semi-finals on BBC One, has amplified its impact.
This year, Ozone’s platform saw a significant uplift during Eurovision week. “Music and audio” content views jumped by 43%, driven by 34 times more global music page views.
Meanwhile, engagement with the “music TV” topic soared by 24-fold, boosting television category page views to a rise of more than two-fifths. This surge in activity around a specific event underscores the enduring power of appointment-to-view programming, even in an era dominated by on-demand options.
We see this pattern repeated across a range of cultural touchstones. Whether it’s the glitterball-tastic Strictly Come Dancing, the ever-tasty Great British Bake Off or the buzzers of Britain’s Got Talent, these shared viewing experiences consistently draw large, engaged audiences to premium publisher content.
Indeed, for my early years at Ozone, the summer months were dominated by investigating the tidal wave of attention surrounding Love Island (a trend that has thankfully mellowed!).
Beyond the broadcast
Just as Eurovision provides a boost to both the “music and audio” and “television” categories, major events like Wimbledon and the upcoming women’s Euro tournament drive significant engagement with both sport and television content.
Anticipation for these events and the post-event discussions ensure sustained audience engagement beyond the live action itself.
Similarly, the launch of eagerly awaited streaming series such as Black Mirror, Rivals or Adolescence and the release of blockbuster films — like we saw with Wicked and Gladiator II — all benefit from pre-release excitement that translates into opportunities to engage with these audiences beyond the specific event itself.
The art of (predictable) connection
The expected spikes in audience engagement surrounding these appointment-to-view moments offer huge benefits for brands.
First, the timing of these events is generally well in advance, allowing for strategic campaign planning. Secondly, the period of heightened attention often extends beyond the live broadcast or release, providing a longer window to connect with engaged consumers.
Finally, for events not on commercial television, contextual capabilities — such as those available through Ozone’s platform — allow brands to align and immerse themselves with content related to them.
So, as the Eurovision ship sets sail for Austria in 2026, let’s also recognise the valuable marketing lessons it offers. The contest, along with other shared cultural moments, demonstrates the enduring power of collective experiences to capture audience attention.
For marketers looking to make their own message resonate at a time when audiences are highly entertained, understanding and leveraging these predictable patterns of engagement are key to hitting the right note.
Alex Maude is head of insight at Ozone