Why Sky Arts won Best consumer campaign


Ahead of the launch of Sky Arts on Freeview, agency Hope
& Glory was tasked with driving awareness of the channel among higher
income households and dispelling views that Sky was simply about sport and sitcoms.
It was felt that Sky Arts, which is the only UK channel dedicated
to arts and culture, should stand for something.
- It should be a brand that does not just showcase art but also
actually makes art.
- It should be a brand that champions the sector at a time
when it is most under pressure.
- It should be a brand that encourages participation in
culture.
- And it should be a brand that shows the power of art to overcome
and triumph in moments of crisis.
Spencer Tunick is an American artist, famed for his
temporary installations, usually at iconic landmarks or urban settings, in
which most of the models – which can number several thousand – are nude. All are
volunteers, who receive a signed copy of the image as a gesture of thanks.
Hope & Glory challenged Tunick to create Everyone
Together, an artwork in the grounds of Alexandra Palace, the original home of British
broadcasting, in which 220 participants would be socially distanced and wearing
nothing but white face masks. Moreover, the volunteers should be a true representation
of the UK population: regionalities, ethnicities, backgrounds and ages.
Tunick was flown to London and quarantined for two weeks
before undertaking the campaign while 220 volunteers, who arrived at Alexandra
Palace on Saturday 12 September, completed a pre-screening questionnaire, underwent
temperature checks at the site and, apart from one image, were posed one metre
apart.
Tunick described the
art as ‘liberating and life-affirming’ and said it was all about ‘breaking down
barriers’. He added: ‘The reality of masses of people close together - shoulder
to shoulder, skin touching skin - may be something of the past for now, but
still the desire is there for that natural connectivity, perhaps more so now
than ever.’
The installation
featured in every major UK national paper, including half pages across the Standard
and The Guardian, which also named it their image of the week It featured in
the Picture of the Day slot in the Daily Telegraph. The BBC also ran the story
across all its regional radio shows, explaining that the installation had been
commissioned to mark Sky Arts launching on Freeview.
While the campaign landed over 150 separate pieces of UK
coverage, including 20 articles in national newspapers, it has generated thousands
of news items globally. A search for Spencer Tunick and Sky Arts generates more
than 110,000 separate results.
Everyone Together reached more than 80 per cent of the audience
that Hope & Glory had targeted through editorial media alone. Four in ten
recalled the campaign, while 79 per cent said that it had increased their awareness
and likelihood to watch Sky Arts on Freeview.
Post campaign, 61 per cent of those who had seen the activity
said they were aware that Sky Arts had launched on Freeview.