Category: Best 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)
Advertiser: DUPONT
Product/Service: DUPONT
Agency: OGILVY ENTERTAINMENT
President: Doug Scott (Ogilvy Entertainment)
Executive Director: Andrew Fair (Ogilvy Entertainment)
Creative Director: Otto Bell (Ogilvy Entertainment)
Worldwide Account Director: Sandeep Vasudevan (Ogilvy)
Media placement: Broadcast - BBC World News Run Of Schedule - May 6, 2011
Media placement: Broadcast - BBC World News - May 6, 2011
Media placement: Broadcast - Bloomberg TV In US And UK - July 23, 2011
Media placement: Online - YouTube - May 19, 2011
Campaign Description
Each of these short films first premiered on BBC World News, a commercial satellite feed that originates (but does not air) in Britain, so each film was subject to UK laws and regulations – widely accepted to be amongst the world’s most stringent compliance processes.
Every film was rigorously reviewed by the industry examiner, Clearcast, to ensure it was compliant with the UK Code of Broadcast Advertising (BCAP).
Any and all claims, whether made by DuPont employees or independent third parties, had to be substantiated. It was not enough for an Indonesian farmer to assert he had enjoyed '30% greater yields', nor was it acceptable for the Chief of the Philadelphia Fire Department to say his men 'deserved the best' and had 'been getting the best' – we had to prove it with independent research and scientific studies.
Each 2 minute story was broadcast in place of any other advertising in every half hour episode of Horizons with a clear 'Advertisement' watermark appearing at the top of the screen 3 separate times every airing for a combined total of 15 seconds.
Effectiveness
They’ve avoided talking about themselves for 30 years. DuPont is a Fortune 100 company with a 210 year history of rich, scientific discovery (Nylon, Teflon, Kevlar, Nomex), but even company employees knew little of DuPont’s breadth outside of their own silo.
They’re an ingredients company that doesn’t believe in chest-beating. For example, DuPont make 20 out of 22 components that go into a solar panel, but they don’t make the finished solar panel. By focusing on the brand’s belief in collaboration, we brought to life their crucial contributions to third party products and projects in tangible terms. In the case of the panels we travelled to Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s solar powered city, and interviewed a female, Muslim PhD student.
We consistently used a changing stable of talent. We used 6 different, award winning directors over the course of season one. This bred a sense of internal competition as each director worked from pre-production through to final delivery to craft a great story and better the last contributor. Out-and-out social documentary directors (24 Hours in A&E, Educating Essex, The Tower) were paired with glossy cinematographers (Touching the Void, HBO’s Grey Gardens) to ensure great visuals accompanied depth of story.
We travelled light. We didn’t have an enormous budget to make this series. There was never anymore than a total team of 10 people in the field. We used lightweight cameras, cheap hotels and no elaborate craft services. The upside of this nimble approach was an undeniable sense of intimacy with the interviewee that we believe can be seen on screen.
Implementation
• Each film was broadcast to over 450m households globally via BBC World News and syndication deals with Bloomberg and a host of airlines.
• 2,502 run-of-schedule airings on BBC World News (over 80 hours total).
• 150 exclusive, in-show airings as part of Horizons on BBC World News (no other advertisers), 80 on Bloomberg.
• Over 2.1m targeted views (exemplary for a B2B brand) via a deal with YouTube network.
• Featured third parties in each film were encouraged to socialise the finished film as well. Sao Paulo Police Force used theirs to help raise funds, etc.
Outcome
For the Target Audience:
Each short film was programmed to fit into the larger theme of the respective TV episode. ie. TV episode discussed retrofitting housing, then was matched with a contextually relevant short film focusing on affordable flat pack housing.
Each film contains a human face. This mandatory element is included to win the attention of a mainstream audience and bring home the benefits of science-led solutions. Anecdotally, this has consistently been cited as the ‘secret’ of the series success in quantitatively impacting awareness and consideration for the brand (see below).
For the Brand:
A quantitative pre/post survey of Business Decision Makers in 6 countries revealed awareness increased by 10%, reputation increased by 13%, consideration by 5%, recommendation by 10%, and recognition (seen/read/heard) by 8%.
Overall, the Horizons campaign had a 4:1 multiplier of value vs cost. The short films were the brand-specific proof points in this wider campaign, providing tangible examples of DuPont’s successful collaborations with third parties.
The production process cemented relationships between DuPont and key customers. Upon release, the short documentaries have received 2.1m YouTube views and are reused by DuPont salespeople everyday to win more business in the field.