Valentine’s Day and a series of cultural events drove engagement this week, lifting Food & Drink, gifting and family-focused content during half term. At the same time, the Winter Olympics continued to gather momentum as Team GB secured gold, while sport and awards season sustained steady audience interest.
Topical News
The Olympics Games carried momentum into this week, with Team GB striking gold not once, not twice, but three times! First in the Snowboard Cross mixed team event and then twice on the Skeleton course . Engagement with Winter Olympics content continues to surge, up 2.7x. Figure Skating is gliding ahead, up 6.6x, while Skiing builds on last week’s momentum with a further 23% boost. With the Paralympics set to begin in March, expect engagement to remain strong in the weeks ahead. Explore our Winter Olympics insights here.
Healthy Living is up 24% as Brits look ahead to warmer months. With the Olympics dominating the news, this uplift is being fuelled by a shift towards athlete routines, sports science and the detail behind recovery and preparation. The impact is clear across related categories. Nutrition has risen 39%, while Fitness & Exercise has surged 72%.
Across the Atlantic, the ripple effect of last Sunday’s Super Bowl is clear. American Football is up 2.4x following the Seahawks’ victory against the Patriots. Advertising has also jumped 44% as readers revisit the line up of blockbuster adverts that defined this year’s game.
With awards season in full swing, culture content is on the rise – Fine Art, up 50%, is dominating engagement, with a focus on Theatre Awards, up a huge 8.5x. Expect chart topping engagement with Award Shows ahead of the BRITs at the end of the month.
Seasonal Events
Valentine’s Day took place on Saturday, and love was more than in the air across Ozone’s Audience Connection Platform. Food & Drink content rose 4% WoW, with Cooking engagement doubling as loved ones searched for the perfect recipe to mark the occasion. Flower Shopping bloomed, up 73% WoW while Gifts & Greeting Cards continued its upward trend with a further 11% boost. Romance Movies have also felt the love, up 2.4x, further perpetuated by the long awaited release of Wuthering Heights starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi.
The uplift in Food & Drink can also be traced to a trio of major religious and cultural events landing this Tuesday. Ramadan begins, Lunar New Year celebrations commence and Shrove Tuesday, better known as Pancake Day, will see pans flipping across the nation. World Cuisine content has stirred up 30%, and we can expect both Food & Drink and Religious content to spike in the coming weeks.
February half term begins this week, bringing Family & Relationships (up 12%) into the spotlight, as parents search for inspiration to fill the break. Parenting children 4 – 11 is supercharging, soaring 6.8x. As parents look for activities to do with their children, Museums & Galleries have seen a 48% uplift, while Outdoor Activities are up 3%.
Elsewhere, Scotland’s unexpected victory to England in Saturday’s Six Nation games uplifted Rugby Union content by 4%.
