Stan notches 500,000 subscribers, appoints marketing director


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Rebecca Hawkes

| 07 December 2015




Australian subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service Stan is building on its half million-strong subscriber base with the appointment of Melanie Novacan as marketing director.


Since its launch in January 2015, Stan now reaches more than 1.2 million viewers and 500,000 subscribers.

“During that time Stan has continued to build its core marketing capability. The growth in brand awareness in 2015 has been above expectation, enabling Stan to shift its marketing and media strategy more aggressively into digital channels,” said Mike Sneesby, CEO, Stan.

The appointment of Novacan, who joins from CommSec, comes after the loss of head of marketing Fiona King in September.

“Melanie’s depth of experience in brand and acquisition marketing will be a core factor in evolving Stan’s marketing strategy as our business and brand reaches more and more Australians. Melanie has a unique set of skills and experience gained across multiple industries that are central to our plans for growth,” added Sneesby.
The joint venture between Nine Entertainment and Fairfax Media has added 200,000 subscribers to its VOD service since September. However, it is unclear how many of the total base are paying subscribers and how many are receiving the service as a free trial.
“Stan represents a fantastic opportunity for growth. With the best streaming content in the market and an impressive line-up of highly anticipated exclusive premieres in 2016, Stan’s subscribers have a lot to look forward to. I am very grateful to be part of the team bringing this to market,” said Novacan.

The home-grown service faces stiff competition from the US video streaming giant Netflix, which launched in Australia in March 2015. Netflix now reaches 2.6 million people through one million subscriptions in Australia, according to Roy Morgan Research.