Advertiser: UKTV
Agency: Arena Media
Highly Commended: Best content partnership (up to £250,000 media investment)
Challenge
‘Outrageous’, a historical drama about the Mitford sisters who refused to play by the rules and whose often scandalous lives made headlines around the world, was one of UKTV’s priority programme launches. However, competitors like Netflix and Amazon Prime had the monopoly on new content, outspending the broadcaster with larger advertising budgets. Somehow, UKTV needed to make ‘Outrageous’ its most watched period drama ever. UKTV only has a 6% share of voice in terms of audiovisual advertising investment, To capture the imagination of its audience of women over 26 and fans of period drama, it needed to get closer to culture and align with a trusted news brand who could make breaking news stories headline grabbing, front-page news to secure the badly needed cut-through.
Approach
The big idea was ‘Everybody loves a scandal’. Scandal is timeless and what shocked society in the 1930s can still provoke fascination if framed in a modern way. People need to know part of the story, to want to know the full story.
Awareness of UKTV and the Mitford Sisters’ story was low — and the name ‘Outrageous’ didn’t give much away. So UKTV decided to bring back long-lost whispers from the 1930s archives, recreating the thrill of secrets, leaked stories and sensational revelations that once surrounded the sisters.
UKTV partnered with Reach to leak stories about the Mitford sisters that had run in their newspapers back in the 30s, complete with original headlines and photos. The Mirror’s iconic gossip column ‘Wicked Whispers’ was resurrected and reimagined for a multi-channel audience. Shocking rumours were drip-fed across print, social and digital.
The Mitfords were featured in a native video, distributed as gossip across the Mirror’s channels. The stories behind original Express and Mirror headlines were brought to life in a feature, spotlighting each sister in a typical tabloid style. And the ‘Wicked Whispers’ IP was weaved through multiple touchpoints, including the Mirror’s social platforms and a 24-hour takeover splash across 49 Reach apps.
Results
The Mitford sisters were once again the talk of the town, with unparalleled buzz, interest and viewership of UKTV’s ‘Outrageous’, all driven by the content partnership with Reach. It demonstrated that quality journalism stands the test of time and ultimately helped ‘Outrageous’ becoming a huge success for UKTV.
