Best  Topical  Campaign:  Channel  4  &  Eden  

     

Executive  Summary  

Have  you  ever  wanted  to  just  get  away?  Just  give  up  your  emails  and  phone?  Does  that  yearning  for  a  simpler  life  strike  a  chord?  

 It  did  for  Channel  4.    

Eden  was  their  new,  ground-­‐breaking  factual  entertainment  series  with  a  clear  proposition  –  see  what  happens  when  you  press  reset  on  modern  life.  

OMD  UK  and  Channel  4  bought  this  concept  to  life  via  a  highly  contextual  and  culturally  connected  partnership  with  Metro,  where  our  campaign  

responded  to  their  headlines  and  reacted  to  news  as  it  emerged.      

The  powerful  partnership  helped  drive  over  2  million  viewers,  sparking  conversations  among  readers  and  newsbrands.  

 

Background  and  Objectives  

Eden  was  a  new,  ground-­‐breaking  factual  entertainment  series  that  asks  what  will  happen  when  23  people,  each  with  different  skills  and  talents,  decide  to  start  again,  from  scratch,  in  a  remote  Scottish  location.  Eden  wasn’t  

really  about  survival,  nor  was  it  about  escape.  It  was  about  the  draw  of  the  possible  and  the  opportunity  to  simply  pack  up  and  leave  the  modern  world  behind.  

Channel  4  knew  that  Eden  had  potential  to  be  more  than  just  broad  appeal  television.  Eden  would  ask  questions  of  the  society  in  which  we  live;  it  would  inspire  people  to  challenge  the  status  quo  and  make  changes  to  the  way  they  

live  their  lives  –  it  was  the  very  definition  of  the  Channel  4  remit.  

Our  brief  was  to  draw  1.5  million  viewers  into  the  central  conceit  of  the  show  as  something  broader  than  just  another  structured  reality.  Our  communication  objective  was  to  get  people  interested  in  Eden  by  prompting  them  

to  think  and  talk  about  the  world  we  live  in.    

Newsbrands  are  peoples  go  to  media  for  information,  so  their  role  was  important  from  the  outset.  They  would  help  us  generate  intrigue  and  their  high  readership  would  help  drive  viewing  among  16-­‐34’s.  

Insight  

We  would  need  to  inspire  people  to  think  about  a  better,  simpler  life  to  get  them  interested  in  the  show.        

July  18th  was  perfect  for  the  Eden  launch.  The  political  and  global  climate  in  July  resonated  perfectly  with  the  key  themes  of  the  show  –  the  opportunity  to  start  afresh,  the  desire  to  simply  pack  up  and  leave.  Brexit  had  sparked  a  nervousness  and  uncertainty  within  the  UK,  people  were  thinking  and  talking  about  our  future.  There  was  no  better  time  to  prompt  the  question  ‘what  would  we  do  if  we  could  start  again…?’    

We  needed  the  perfect  platform  –  one  that  would  be  key  in  capturing  and  reporting  the  mood  of  the  nation.      

We  needed  a  platform  that  would  allow  us  to  speak  directly  to  our  audience,  and  one  that  would  allow  us  to  keep  up  with  new  stories.  This  led  us  to  our  second  insight  -­‐  the  role  that  newsbrands  play.  Newsbrands  set  the  agenda  and  they  would  allow  us  to  keep  up  with  conversations  and  be  reactive.  Specifically  Metro,  the  best  title  for  our  young  adult  audience,  reaching  1.3  million  16-­‐34’s  each  day  (NRS  July  ‘15-­‐  June  ’16).  

 

 

The  Plan  

We  worked  with  The  Metro  to  create  a  culturally  connected  partnership  –  one  that  gave  us  a  unique  insight  into  tomorrow’s  headlines  and  the  

opportunity  to  respond  to  the  news  as  it  broke.  

4Creative,  Channel  4’s  creative  agency,  were  able  to  create  tactical,  bespoke  copy  on  a  daily  basis,  which  on  its  own  was  thought  provoking  and  

impactful  and  when  put  against  relevant  news  stories  was  even  more  powerful.  

The  Metro  partnership  was  truly  agile  –  with  flexibility  of  format,  section  and  editorial  topic  to  execute  a  campaign  that  was  closely  aligned  to  the  page  we  appeared  on.  This  allowed  us  to  stretch  the  creative  idea  beyond  

Brexit,  making  the  most  of  different  editorial  pillars  and  therefore  maximise  eyeballs.  

C4  Eden  captured  the  currents  of  public  opinion  and  became  its  own  voice  within  the  paper,  commenting  on  prominent  subject  matters  in  a  thought-­‐

provoking  and  witty  way.    

Results  

We  got  people  thinking  and  talking.    

Reactions  to  our  clever  placements  show  that  Eden  had  captured  the  mood  of  the  nation,  and  it  sparked  a  conversation  online  about  the  world  we  live  in.  

     

   

 

Eden  is  a  show  born  of  a  dissatisfaction  with  modern  life.  At  the  time  of  the  campaign,  Brexit  was  dividing  the  nation  and  the  geopolitical  situation  was  as  fractious  as  it  had  been  in  years.  There  was  no  better  time  to  ask  “what  if  we  could  start  again?”.  Working  in  close  partnership  with  the  Metro,  we  reacted  to  the  news  on  a  daily  basis.  The  relevance  of  the  ads  to  news  stories  on  the  

same  page,  made  them  stick  out  and  created  conversations  about  the  show.  

Harry  Dromey  -­‐  Group  Marketing  Manager  at  Channel  4  

Our  relationship  with  newsbrands  became  reciprocal.  

You  know  a  campaign  is  successful  when  it  becomes  the  news.  Newsbrands  began  talking  about  Eden  in  the  context  of  what  was  happening  in  the  now  for  the  UK.  The  front  page  ad  on  Metro  sparked  debate,  with  both  the  BBC  and  the  Independent  talking  about  it  online.  The  Independent  tweeted  the  front  page  to  1.97  

million  people,  and  even  created  a  humorous  meme.  

The  tables  had  turned.    

Channel  4  had  set  the  agenda  within  newsbrands.  

https://www.indy100.com/article/channel-­‐4s-­‐new-­‐programme-­‐summed-­‐up-­‐how-­‐everyone-­‐feels-­‐about-­‐britain-­‐-­‐b16Z17JprW