Emirates gave us their entire media budget to create a year-long partnership with ALL 4.
ALL 4, sponsored by Emirates
The Big Idea
To create standout amongst their competitor set, we needed to overcome the barriers to consideration. By highlighting Emirates’ in-flight services, educating consumers about their routes, and showcasing experiences which evoke positive emotions, and make Emirates the preferred airline for Eastern destinations.
The bold idea from Channel 4 and Havas was to link the concept of discovery in the traditional sense, to that of a more conceptual one. This approach led to Emirates giving us their entire media budget to create a year long partnership with ALL 4.
Jori Bindels, VP of corporate communications, marketing and brand at Emirates "The ‘Off The Grid’ series is a great platform to bring life to destinations in our extensive Far East network and inspire people to travel. In addition, partnering with Channel 4 allows us to connect even more with Formula 1 fans across the UK by taking them off the beaten path with Steve Jones in this special travel series”.
Making it Happen
1st Party Data
By utilising All4’s rich 18m users and first party data, we tailored specific idents and messaging to relevant audiences. Upmarket users were shown First and Business class features such as the cuisine and lounge, whereas youngs were targeted with features including Wi-Fi and inflight entertainment. This broadened the appeal of Emirates to all audiences whilst maintaining the brands’ premium status.
Bespoke mini travel series ‘Off The Grid’ on All4
To extend the partnership further and building on Emirates’ range of experiences and destinations, we leveraged our very own Steve Jones, presenter of Channel 4’s coverage of Formula 1, of which the airline is a global partner, making Steve the perfect integration between brands.
Two 15-minute destination guides took Steve and sporting MBEs, footballer Kelly Smith and F1 legend David Coulthard, “Off The Grid” to discover the hidden gems of Singapore and Tokyo, two key routes for Emirates.
• Launching with a 30 second co-branded ad in the first break of the relevant Grand Prix’s on C4 ,
• Continued promotion across key C4 programming,
• An in-show announcement from Jones was broadcast within the previous day’s qualifying programme, complimented by bespoke 90” social edits.
Aligning key moments in the holiday calendar
Idents for Australia, Far East and Indian Ocean rotated on the All4 platform, broadening knowledge of Emirates’ routes amongst users.
127%
leap in proportion of All 4 viewers who have ever evaluated a flight via the Emirates website
8 in 10
sponsorship recognisers would consider flying with Emirates
The Results
• 127% leap in proportion of All 4 viewers who have ever evaluated a flight via the Emirates website, jumping from 22% to 50%
• The use of 1st party data was successful in achieving Emirates’ dual objectives; the campaign improved opinion of Emirates among budget flyers (60%) and boosted consideration rates among business and first class flyers (58%).
• Overall, 8 in 10 sponsorship recognisers would consider flying with Emirates (a shift of +31% vs. non-recognisers), closing the gap to market leader British Airways to just 5%pts vs. 16%pts pre-sponsorship.
• The campaign’s huge success resulted in a further commission for an extended 30-minute linear episode, scheduled on C4 immediately prior to the Abu Dhabi GP.
