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Paddy Power - Big Brother: Hijacking Big Brother
Fresh Communications were the first marketers to truly recognise the financial and branding potential of Channel 4's Big Brother. We believe that our proactive exploitation of Paddy Power as Official Bookmaker to Big Brother 2 paved the way for truly integrated entertainment betting on reality TV shows.
Background
On launching Paddy Power the immediate challenge was to recruit new customers as quickly as possible, in particular those individuals who are more likely to bet online.
Fresh repositioned Paddy Power's brand image away from the traditional older male punter in the smoky betting shop towards a broader, younger audience looking to increase the excitement and interaction of sporting and celebrity events.
Paddy Power and Big Brother - An Ideal Match
Fresh recognised that Paddy Power's partnership with Big Brother as the "official Online Betting Partner" was the perfect tool with which to achieve this whilst also communicating the humour of the brand.
PR Brief
- Use sponsorship opportunity to raise Paddy Power's profile within the UK betting marketplace
- Communicate brand values - humorous, accessible and entertaining
- Ensure ownership of all betting relating to Big Brother 2
- Engage established bettors and increase new registrations
- Encourage continuous use of the service throughout the 9 week event
- Create strong media news hooks to trigger betting activity, generate revenue and raise brand awareness
Activity
- Fresh set up a 24-hour press office to monitor events in the house and react quickly to breaking stories with new betting markets or eviction odds
- Issued a daily email 'betting bulletin' and evening updates in time for final press copy to the Big Brother correspondents from national, broadcast and online media
- Secured exclusive national press interviews with the first two housemates to be evicted, Penny and Amma, in The Sun and The Daily Star and provided them with charity bets on future outcomes during the show
- Ran competitions to attend eviction nights in regional and national media
- Developed consumer driven and media friendly betting angles for Paddy Power such as 'the first person to be sick at birthday parties' and whether the famous 'Big Brother chickens would be eaten by the hungry contestants'
As a result of Fresh's close monitoring and intimate knowledge of the show, the Paddy Power press office became the first port of call for journalists, particularly during the great romance between Helen and Paul. Paddy Power became an invaluable source in the "will they/won't they" debate.
Results
- Over 200 pieces of coverage across print, online and broadcast media
- Total circulation of print media 654,489,500
- Equivalent advertising spend of print media £894,716
- 25 pieces of national print coverage, front page splashes in The Star, The Mirror and The Sun, daily online coverage via Ananova and Teletext
- An interview with spokesperson Paddy (Patrick) Power was placed on Big Brother's Little Brother show on Channel 4 and E4 introducing viewers to the betting opportunities
- Paddy Power stories appeared on newswires and online media (Reuters, PA and Ananova) within a few minutes
- Major local radio interviews for Paddy Power spokespeople and weekly spots on Independent Radio News (IRN) being fed to 250 regional stations
- PR led betting income from the Big Brother sponsorship resulted in Paddy Power exceeding its yearly UK revenue targets within the first five months of launch
- Annual turnover of online betting increased by 410% to £21.2m
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