BBC Worldwide
Challenge: How do you make the world’s largest news broadcaster feel relevant, not just to one group or nation - but to users across 140 nations on 5 continents?
Solution: Avoid “one size fits all” messaging. And instead focus on the very different needs of users across different markets - and adjust the brand promise and messaging to meet those needs. Here’s how I did that in North America, the UK, India and nations in Africa and the Middle East.
USA
Brand Promise: Comprehension.
Campaign: “Because Understanding is Everything”.
Nowadays, there are plenty of partisan news channels. But this doesn’t help users understand the nuances, subtleties or complexities of the modern world. BBC Worldwide has reporters in 142 different nations. So it can deliver the global context that helps you understand an unfamiliar world better.
INDIA
Brand Promise: Support for your community and identity.
Campaign: For Life as it’s Lived.
India is a vast nation. And vastly diverse - with over 200 different language communities. The BBC broadcasts to a high percentage of them. To truly reflect your “Life as it’s Lived” whoever you are.
AFRICA
Brand Promise: The power to be heard.
Campaign: One Global Voice.
Much of Africa is still not free. With rigged elections, censorship and intimidation of opposition. So our messaging in Africa is about the BBC’s unique ability to get the real voices of Africans heard across national borders, and around the world - in a form that those voices can’t be ignored.
The BBC is the “One Global Voice” that “Connects African to African” and “Africa to the World”.
IRAQ & MIDDLE EAST
Brand Promise: Safety and Assurance.
Campaign: Your News. Your World. In Your Language.
BBC advertising in the UK can look “edgy” to challenge and grab attention. But when there’s daily chaos on your streets, you don’t want challenge. You want assurance. So this work, which originally ran on the streets of Baghdad, had a deliberately calming look and feel - and a voice that conveys impartiality, assurance and support.
direct mail
Campaign: Because Understanding is Everything.
B2B DM for partner broadcasters across the US.
Campaign: Welcome!
Hinged B2B DM pack - aimed at selling BBC’s facilities to B2B production partners. Including maps to BBC production facilities so new partners can feel instantly at home.
BBC SPINOFF BUSINESSES
Red Bee Media is a successful BBC spinoff, offering media services around the world. I worked on the initial branding. To develop an identity that clearly separated it from its parent. And helped it chart a new course.
RESULTS
The work I’ve been involved in has helped the BBC brand evolve their messaging and maintain relevance in a changing world. For example, our work in Iraq was judged so successful it was extended to run in markets across the Middle East. Our work with broadcast partners in the US built the BBC’s presence across an increased number of NPR stations. And our outreach to smaller production partners has helped the BBC stay relevant in a rapidly changing broadcast environment.