2015 Winners & Shortlists

The Brief

Media buyers perceive National Geographic Abu Dhabi as a channel that only offers wildlife programming, even though the channel has a broad range of diverse content. Our task was to communicate the broad range of TV shows National Geographic has to offer, and to remain top of mind throughout the year.

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

Our objective was to create something that stood out, was lasting, encouraged interaction, and continually educated about the different TV shows in the relevant months that they aired. We designed a calendar, a perfect way to keep portraying our program variety over the year. The calendar was not only functional, it was engaging: every month, people had to play with the calendar, and assemble a new desktop model. This interaction allowed them to learn about a different TV show, its airdate, and as a result could appeal to their media planning and buying.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

Eight hundred copies of the calendar were sent out to a prominent list of media executives, they proved so popular in the offices we received requests for more. Due to this unforeseen demand we reproduced 400 additional copies. Today, a total of 1200 calendars on desks are proudly displaying National Geographic Abu Dhabi’s diverse range of TV shows.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

National Geographic’s brand belief is about ‘education through entertainment’. So rather than send a boring message or synopsis for the TV shows, we allowed for interaction and play while also being informative. The creative stayed true to the brand by letting people have fun while they learned. Also, media executives are bombarded with lots of free promotional items so our calendar had to stand out with its creativeness and originality ensuring that it would be used.