Hats off to Channel 4. Again.
For years they have bared cheek and raised several fingers up to the often recklessly conventional cabal of mainstream TV.
Horseferry Road’s finest have been the country’s most diligent purveyors of thoughtful and slightly uncomfortable promotion for decades. Think Jamie’s School Dinners, the internet-only swear-fest, and Superhumans for starters. To this esteemed collection of premier league media branding we must now add the current Sochi spot (Gay Mountain).
Jamie’s School Dinners:
Superhumans:
Gay Mountain:
Frankly, it does what any intelligent marketing team would want its creative to deliver. It re-enforces the brand’s values, surprises, and unless your face is carved from Baltic granite, draws a smile.
How does it do this? Simply by expressing an opinion. In a marketing world where too many CMO’s operate more like insurance underwriters than inspiring leaders, simply having the bottle to tell the world how you (and your brand) feel is increasingly rare.
Every time I fear that Channel 4 have lost their appetite to shock and their interest in popping another Islington-shaped balloon, they go and do it again.
Congratulations to Dan Brooke & his team.
If you need some advice with your branding strategy please feel free to get in contact with us at Mimo.