Category: Best Use of Branded Content & Sponsorship
Advertiser: FINDMYPAST.CO.UK
Product/Service: FAMILY HISTORY WEBSITE
Media Agency: ZENITHOPTIMEDIA UK, London, UNITED KINGDOM
Managing Partner: Tim Brady (Zenithoptimedia UK)
Branded Content Director: Neil Walker (Zenithoptimedia UK)
Sales/Marketing Director: John Roberson (Bright Solid Online Publishing)
: (Lion TV Produtions)
: (UKTV)
Media placement: TV - Yestrday, UKTV - 20-Oct-11
Media placement: TV - Yestrday, UKTV - 27-Oct-11
Media placement: TV - Yestrday, UKTV - 03-Nov-11
Media placement: TV - Yestrday, UKTV - 10-Nov-11
Media placement: TV - Yestrday, UKTV - 17-Nov-11
Media placement: TV - Yestrday, UKTV - 24-Nov-11
Media placement: TV - Yestrday, UKTV - 01-Dec-11
Media placement: TV - Yestrday, UKTV - 08-Dec-11
Media placement: TV - Yestrday, UKTV - 15-Dec-11
Media placement: TV - Yestrday, UKTV - 22-Dec-11
Insights, Strategy & the Idea
Family History website, FindMyPast.co.uk, had key barriers to overcome. Many people thought that researching their Family Tree takes too much time. Or people simply didn’t know where to start.
On top of that those that do get involved were more likely to join the market leader, Ancestry.co.uk.
But we spotted an opportunity for Find My Past. Registrations spiked when hit BBC TV programme Who Do You Think You Are? was airing. The show ignited the curiosity of viewers and drove them to explore their Family History.
Recognising the power of this content to overcome our barriers, we decided to create our very own Family History TV show, embracing new product placement opportunities that had just been introduced in the UK, to differentiate FindMyPast.co.uk from the competition and drive interest in the Family History hobby, the whole time demonstrating how quick and easy it was to use the FindMyPast.co.uk website.
Creative Execution
Partnering with nostalgia channel ‘Yesterday’ (home to over 6m viewers) we created a 10 part series called Find My Past.
Broadcast in prime time, each episode took members of the public on an extraordinary journey to find out the roles their ancestors played in histories’ most defining moments, such as The Battle of Britain, the Mutiny on the Bounty, and Jack the Ripper.
Each episode unearthed emotional stories, shocking details, and fascinating facts that showed how anyone can be related to some of history's most famous people and events.
Every journey into the past started with a search on FindMyPast.co.uk. Product placement that actually showed the website in use demonstrated to viewers that it doesn’t take lots of time to research your family history and getting started is easy (one of the very first times this was done in the UK).
Results and Effectiveness
Over 4.9m people watched Find My Past, with 75% now interested in researching their family tree.
Find My Past is now synonymous with Family History. 74% of viewers see them as the authority and 72% willing to recommend the site to a friend.
Spontaneous awareness for Find My Past has more than doubled amongst viewers. Overtaking Ancestry, Find My Past is now the most famous Family History brand.
Finally, econometric studies show that for every pound spent on the show, Find My Past generated more than 2 pounds of new business.