2014 Winners & Shortlists

GT ACADEMY

Bronze

Case Film

Case Film

BrandNISSAN PLAYSTATION GT ACADEMY
Product/ServicePLAYSTATION, NISSAN SPORTS CARS
EntrantBOOMERANG Cardiff, UNITED KINGDOM
CategoryBest Non-Fiction Program, Series or Film Where a Client Has Successfully Created a Reality, Documentary or Light Entertainment Show Around a Product(s) or Brand(s)
Entrant Company BOOMERANG Cardiff, UNITED KINGDOM
Contributing Company GRAND CENTRAL SOUND STUDIOS London, UNITED KINGDOM
Production Company BOOMERANG Cardiff, UNITED KINGDOM
Production Company 2 GRAND CENTRAL SOUND STUDIOS London, UNITED KINGDOM

The Campaign

Boomerang is based in the UK where Branded Content is growing fast. We see it growing ever more popular in TV and on digital platforms with more and more content being produced annually. When Nissan and GTA Global came to Boomerang to discuss a UAE version of the global hub show GT Academy, Boomerang worked with UAE broadcaster MBC Action and Brand Partners to create a high-end entertainment reality show with Nissan at the heart of the story. GT Academy genuinely changes the lives of young aspiring motor sport enthusiasts around the world and in 2013 GT Academy increased its global footprint with the inclusion of the United Arab Emirates, taking GT Academy into a whole new, exciting era. The partnership between brand, agency, production company and broadcaster collectively drove the ambition of creating what was to become a highly rated, successful Brand Entertainment TV & Digital series. Other than standard industry compliance and editorial review we found the process to be incredibly positive with all parties sharing the goal of sharing this incredible story with viewers across the United Arab Emirates.

Results

GT Academy is a campaign of epic proportions and an incredible team of experts who each year, push creative boundaries of TV and Digital content as well as producing the next stars of motor racing. The journey begins with the driving simulator game Gran Turismo. To date over 2,000,000 people have entered the digital time trials. The fastest gamers then compete in their country of residence at a national final for a place at the GT Academy Race Camp at Silverstone Race Circuit. Gamers compete in demanding challenges both on and off the track all under the expert guidance of credible international driving talent. With only one driver able to win at the GT Academy Race Camp the gamers performance is judged by the driving talent. The winning driver then enters a grueling intensive driver training programme to gain their professional race license. A prize worth $1,000,000 They then turn pro and their lives are changed forever as they become professional Nissan drivers. Pro drivers, born through a game. To date there are eight GT Academy graduates who are now bona fide race drivers and compete in international race series including the FIA GT3 and Blancpain Endurance Series, we’ve even secured a podium at Le Mans 24-hour & victory at the 2014 Dubai 24hrs. This journey was captured live with daily blogs, tweets and webisodes filmed and uploaded at the end of each day so the fans could follow the action as it happened. The TV series tone has focused on the science of racing using innovative and educational VTs produced in 3D, CGI Graphics and using the latest filming techniques, with equipment including Drone cameras, tracking vehicles, mini cams and helicopters. The end result provides the audience with an all access look into the world’s most exclusive driving academy.

Nissan sits at the heart of the content with aspirational racing challenges on and off track. The series explores the science behind the challenges. With 3D CGI graphic edutainment VT’s, the mixture of competitive sports car action, science and technology pieces mixed with following contestants emotional journey made for television that truly engaged it's audience. Reality TV is about real people in real situations. There is nothing more engaging than watching a group of young hopefuls from the UAE competing for a life changing opportunity in a knock-out reality format on one of the most explosive TV series on television.

We had to prove that Nissan sports cars were the best in the world and promote the gaming title Gran Turismo. Gran Turismo has proven it’s the king of racing games. Nissan have proven they’re the king of racing cars. The winner of GT Academy, Lucas Ordonez, was victorious at the 2014 Dubai 24hrs and furthermore, 2012 winner Jann Mardenborough is now racing in Formula 3. Localised programming is produced for broadcast in the UAE plus 10 other global territories and can be viewed in over 160 countries with a global audience of 100,000,000 and growing. In addition, a spin off TV series called GT: The Next Level gives an in-depth look into the winners intense training programme with over 40 episodes produced and broadcasting in 43 countries. 2013 has also seen the progressive developments in digital platforms with the launch of the dedicated Nissan motorsports YouTube channel, Nismo.TV. We have converted a production budget of £250,000 into 20,000,000 of TV airtime with a further 5m in global PR coverage. Brand metrics for Nissan sports cars have improved by over 30% amongst viewers and The PlayStation Gran Turismo 5 game was the most successful launch in the franchise's history.

Credits

Name Company Role
Dylan Wyn Davies BOOMERANG Executive Producer
Andrew Hill GTA GLOBAL LTD Executive Producer
Laurence Wiltshire GTA GLOBAL LTD Managing Director
Martyn Smith GTA GLOBAL LTD Operations Director
Andrew Cullen BOOMERANG Series Producer
Rabin Mukerjea GRAND CENTRAL Executive Producer