confidence. your brand will stay relevant, wherever it goes.
BBC Worldwide. It’s a big challenge to make the world’s biggest news brand feel equally relevant - across 140 very different nations. The secret is to avoid “one size fits all” messaging. And to focus on the very different needs users have for your brand in each market in which it’s present. Here’s how I delivered on that difference in the UK, USA, across Africa, India and Iraq and the wider Middle East.
“Your News. Your World. In Your Language”. One of my ads - in Arabic - on the streets of Dubai.
USA
Brand Promise: Comprehension
Campaign: “Because Understanding is Everything”.
America is blighted with “fake news” and partisan news channels. But this doesn’t help users understand the nuances, subtleties or complexities of the modern world. BBC Worldwide is unique in having embedded reporters in 142 different nations. So it can deliver the global context that helps you understand an unfamiliar world better.
BBC. Because Understanding is everything.
UK
Brand Promise: Breadth of Understanding.
Campaign: “Making Sense of it All”.
Different nations have different challenges and priorities. But in a global world everything has a knock-on effect elsewhere.
So child armies in in the Democratic Republic of Congo (pictured), or religious leaders in the Middle East can sometimes have a greater effect in shaping our world than any number of high-profile intergovernmental conferences.
The BBC has more reporters embedded in more countries than any other broadcaster. Giving them a greater ability to help you make sense of far-off events.
BBC. Making Sense of It All
INDIA
Brand Promise: Support for your cultural identity
Campaign: “For Life as it’s Lived”.
India is a vast nation. And vastly diverse - with over 200 different language communities. The BBC broadcasts to a high percentage of them. To truly reflect your “Life as it’s Lived” whoever you are.
AFRICA
Brand Promise: The power to be heard
Campaign: “One Global Voice”.
Much of Africa is still not free. With rigged elections, censorship and intimidation of opposition. So our messaging in Africa is about the BBC’s unique ability to get the real voices of Africans heard across national borders, and around the world - in a form that those voices can’t be ignored.
The BBC is the “One Global Voice” that “Connects African to African” and “Africa to the World”.
IRAQ & MIDDLE EAST
Brand Promise: Safety and Assurance
Campaign: (translated)
“Your news. Your World, In Your Language.”
BBC advertising in the UK can look “edgy” to challenge and grab attention. But when there’s daily chaos on your streets, you don’t want challenge. You want some sort of assurance. So this work, which originally ran on the streets of Baghdad had a deliberately calming look and feel - and a voice that conveys impartiality, assurance and support.
Our message: The BBC isn’t a “Western” broadcaster. And it’s not in the pocket of any government. It doesn’t speak for the UK, Saudi Arabia, Iran or Qatar. Instead, BBC’s embedded reporters across the region can deliver in-depth impartial news that’s relevant to your life.
direct mail
Campaign: “Because Understanding is Everything”.
B2B DM for partner broadcasters across the US.
Campaign: “Welcome!”
Hinged B2B DM pack - aimed at selling BBC’s facilities to B2B production partners. Including maps to BBC production facilities so new partners can feel instantly at home.
BBC SPINOFF BUSINESSES
Red Bee Media is a successful BBC spinoff, offering media services around the world. I worked on the initial branding. To develop an identity that clearly separated it from its parent. And helped it chart a new course.
IMPACT AND RESULTS
The work I’ve done on the BBC brand has helped them evolve their messaging and maintain relevance across a changing world. For instance, our work in Iraq was judged so successful it was extended to run in markets across the Middle East. Our work with broadcast partners in the US built the BBC’s presence across an increased number of NPR stations. And our outreach to smaller production partners has helped the BBC stay relevant in a rapidly changing broadcast environment.