The eighth season of Nine’s Married At First Sight premieres on Monday 22 February. B&T spoke to Nine’s Director of Powered, Liana Dubois and  Head of Content Production and Development, Adrian Swift about the hit social experiment show’s sponsors for 2021.

This year’s sponsors see long-time partners of the show like KFC, Suzuki, BUPA, Youfoodz, LION and Tradie return once more. Dubois told B&T that sponors keep coming to Married At First Sight because of the gains it brings for their businesses.

“They recognise that it’s valuable, it’s an investment and it delivers them a return year on year.”

Season eight also brings a number of new sponsors to the show, including Disney+, Specsavers, Snooze, Menulog and MyPayNow. Dubois believes that the unqiue format of Married at First Sight gives it a unique appeal for sponsors.

It is “a show about love, but really, it’s a show about human stories. For brands who are looking to connect with those humans, they can find authentic and natural ways to weave their brand messaging in and around the content.”

The show’s popularity on BVOD, streaming and catch-up is also significant in terms of the audiences that brands can reach.

“The scale of the audience gives them a great platform to be really creative and use the natural engagement that the format has with viewers.”

“When you can find the match – pun intended – between [a brand] and a piece of content that is fundamentally about human connection and human stories, it’s a really powerful place for brands to be.”

Kristi Woolrych, CMO of KFC Australia said in a press release that, “now in our fifth consecutive year partnering with MAFS, you could say we’re the longest-lasting couple from the show.”

“Our campaign focuses on living in the moment without judgement and from the looks of the MAFS preview, we feel this is the perfect fit.”

The fact that the show is on its eigth season is a mark of success: for advertisers, it’s a proven format, particularly given the show’s popularity on digital platforms like 9NOW.

“The format is secure and safe because it’s proven. We work very closely with out partners to ensure it is effective and impactful for them,” Dubois explained.

Head of Content Production and Development Adrien Swift added that, “the reason why it’s so easy to work with sponsors is because MAFS engages audiences.”

“It’s not just a broadcast proposition, it’s a digital proposition of massive proportions…people interact with it on a very fundamental level wherever they watch.”

New sponsor Disney+ will launch their new brand ‘Star’ to coincide with MAFS, and Specsavers will launch an integrated TVC set at a wedding.

Youfoodz will have full in-show integration, while Snooze has taken full broadcast sponsorship. As part of its broadcast sponsorship, Australian brand Tradie will supply underwear and body products in the apartments participants of the show live in as part.

LION returns as the official alcohol supplier of the show, while Suzuki returns as the official auto sponsor.

Menulog will digitally sponsoring the fan-favourite Martha’s Red Wine Moments content series, while MyPayNow are running their first TV campaign with a broadcast sponsorship to promote new mascot Slothy.

Lotterywest and RAC are the show’s local sponsorships from Perth, while Estée Lauder and eBay have taken digital-only sponsorships.

Dubois feels that, fundamentally, MAFS provides something for advertisers that other reality programs don’t.

“There is only one Married At First Sight. It is unique – the way in which we cast, the way in which we tell human stories and, therefore, the opportunities we create for advertisers is without peer.”

MAFS airs Monday 22nd February at 7.30 AEDT.