Ruckus, the people behind some of New Zealand’s best documentaries and factual series, sit down with NZ Marketing to talk about why their content attracts so many viewers.
What do You’ve Been Scammed by Nigel Latta, Stan, Mind over Money and the Patrick Gower: On Booze, Vaping and Weed series have in common? They were all high-rating shows made by Ruckus.
Spearheaded by producer Arwen O’Connor and director Mitchell Hawkes, Ruckus emerged from the pair’s many years of work in the TV industry. O’Connor and Hawkes met while working on the iconic weekly 90s Kiwi youth show IceTV. And after working with Nigel Latta on Nigel Blows Stuff Up, the three of them formed their own production company in 2017.
“With all of our collective experience, we decided it was time to set up Ruckus to make editorial content that could be either commercially funded or funded by NZ On Air,” says O’Connor.
The team’s expertise shines through their body of work, and Hawkes says the programmes they make focus on connecting with an audience. They’ve produced documentaries on topics as varied as Stan Walker, neurodiversity and the New Zealand team at the World Butchers Challenge – the Olympics of meat!
“We’ve always been big on authentic and organic stories, so when we make these documentaries, we’re searching for the emotional connection that will find and resonate with a big audience,” says O’Connor.
The pair enjoy making content that presents complicated facts to audiences in a digestible way so viewers can use that information in their own lives. One example is their financial literacy series Mind Over Money, which was commissioned by Kiwibank and its agency OMD, for TVNZ.
Ruckus used its expertise to translate Kiwibank’s brand objectives into entertaining content. Kiwibank’s research showed that two-thirds of people associated the series with the bank, and nearly half the viewers said it would change how they manage their money. A National Business Review article noted that the show “was the gold standard for how ethical companies can make a mainstream TV series that has real public good”.
“We naturally gravitate towards psychology and science because we find it fascinating. We dive deep into the subject, but because we’re not experts, we strip it back and make it entertaining while keeping it accurate,” says Hawkes.
“When working on commercial projects, we’ve developed a skill set in communicating complicated ideas while integrating brand values. We can do that by working with agencies or directly with a client. That’s what we like to think of as the Ruckus USP,” adds O’Connor.
One of their most recent series, You’ve Been Scammed, was commissioned by The Banking Ombudsman Scheme to get New Zealanders to change their behaviour around scams. And it worked. Ruckus received feedback from people who had avoided scams because of viewing the series.
The four-part factual series screened on TVNZ and TVNZ+, averaging over 400,000 viewers for each episode. It achieved a trifecta of success: impressive ratings, critical acclaim and extensive media coverage. The press coverage alone is estimated to be equal to a $1.2m PR spend, which far surpassed the cost of making the series.
While some commentators make a big deal about where content is found, Hawkes and O’Connor are less concerned. “People will search out strong narratives and connect with them no matter where they are,” says Hawkes. O’Connor gives the example of Patrick Gower: On Vaping, which was seen by 400,000 people on Three and ThreeNow, but a piece from the documentary excerpted for TikTok has received more than 12 million views!
For Ruckus, it’s all about the story – and that’s why the company is making some of the country’s best content – wherever you might watch it.
This was first published in our June/July issue.
