00013 Submission

8/2/2019 00013 Submission

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CREATIVE EFFECTIVENESS LIONS

Title: The Pacific: How a handwritten letter got half of New Zealand watching a TV show that the rest of

the world tuned out.

Client: TVNZ

Product: TELEVISION PROGRAMME

Summary

Please submit an overview of the campaign and analysis of its effectiveness in 400 words or less.

You should first highlight the creative idea behind the work, then describe how the objectives of thecampaign have been successfully met, referring to your verifiable sources.

This will primarily be used after the judging to showcase the winners. However, the judges will also have

access to this summary during judging

In April 2010, 346,000 New Zealand homes received a handwritten letter from a soldier fighting in Okinawa during

World War Two.

This unexpected letter was the first stage of a campaign to create an emotional connection between todays New

Zealanders and the Pacific War of 1942. The war was the subject ofThe Pacific, a new show for major New Zealand

broadcaster TVNZ.

Remarkably for a war show, The Pacific was one of TVNZs most successful ever launches.

The creative campaign captured the interest and the viewership of millions of New Zealanders:

Despite the show attracting just 1% of USA and UK audiences, 24% of New Zealanders tuned into the first

episode of The Pacific

57% of New Zealanders (2.3 million people) watched the show at some point throughout the series

Despite being a show set in 1942, it attracted an important younger audience back to TVNZs TV ONE

Ultimately the success of the campaign allowed TVNZ to command a 19% higher return for the 30 spots

within the episodes of The Pacific.

The creative thinking, which won Cannes Lions in both outdoor and media as well as a Grand Prix at the 2010 Spikes,

gave this American TV show a unique relevance to New Zealands people and history, making it a must-see for the

majority of New Zealanders and, in the words of TVNZ CEO Rick Ellis, materially contributing to the ratings and


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revenue impact of the TV ONE schedule.


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1. What were the objectives for the creative work

Please distinguish between interim objectives (e.g. awareness, image, attitudes, and behaviour) and sales

objectives (e.g. volume, revenue, market share). Be aware that having both will strengthen your entry

In April 2010, TVNZ debuted Steven Spielbergs The Pacific. A ten-part series, the story follows the intertwined

odysseys of three US Marines during America's battle with the Japanese in the Pacific War during World War Two.

A war show by Steven Spielberg is no doubt a great war show. But its still a war show. And war shows arent for

everybody. Girls dont really get into them, theyre historical and so suffer from a modern relevance issue, and

although on the surface theyre full of action, a lot of people find them kinda boring.

Despite the shows big budget and big name director, it had been watched by just 1% of people in the UK and US.

SOURCE: UK Sky Movies Audience Ratings as detailed at http://www.tv-ratings.free-satellite-tv.co.uk/tv-ratings/uk-tv-ratings-180410.htm, US - HBO Audience

Ratings as detailed at http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2010/03/16/kamikaze-hbos-big-budget-the-pacific-premiere-ratings-disappoint/45169

The Pacific felt like a huge opportunity but it was by no means a guaranteed success.

In spite of this, TVNZ looked to the show to improve the fortunes of their TV ONE channel. The channel was missing

out on the crucial younger audience, who saw the channel as old and boring by comparison to New Zealands other

free to air channels.

The objective for the campaign was to get plenty of people, and the right people to watch the show. Specifically, to:

Achieve a 9.6 rating among all people 5+ across the shows season (10 rating points higher than the average 8.6

rating of the same timeslot the previous year)

Attract a younger audience of All People 35-49 back to TV ONE


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2. What was the strategy behind the work?

Be clear about the connection between the objectives, the brief and the final creative work.

The key strategic challenge was to engage New Zealanders en masse in a genre that typically only attracted a certain

segment of viewers.

Rather than simply letting people know a new war show was on, we had to find a way for people to really connect

with the Pacific. To create relevance and excitement among New Zealanders, male and female, who dont really

consider themselves into war shows.

The Pacific was a show based on real stories, from a real war that affected many New Zealanders.

The strategy was to take those real 1942 stories that the show was based on, and insert them into the lives of New

Zealanders in 2010.

We wanted to create a context of interest and intrigue in World War Two, the week before the show aired. A sense

of I want to find out more about the Pacific War. A fresh appeal to those whod normally be happy to leave WWII

consigned to the annuls of history.

The brief was to bring the reality of the Pacific War to life in the most authentic, impactful and emotionally powerful

way possible.

The standard on-air trailers would tell people that there was a new war show on ONE.

Our job was to go way beyond those trailers and connect New Zealanders with the show in a much richer and more

personal way.


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4. What effect did it have in the world?

Explain what happened after the work appeared. Again, be aware of the difference between interim and

sales effects.

The Pacific Letters & Dogfight campaign was a huge success for TV ONE.

It engaged hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders:

360,000 letters were deployed via post and our street installation. Thousands showed up to the dogfight. And we

delivered NZ$443,484 (US$343,500) worth of free media coverage.

It created enormous viewership:

974,430 New Zealanders, or 24% of New Zealanders aged 5+, tuned in to the first episode of The Pacific, and the

show went on to be viewed by 57% of New Zealanders across its season.

It attracted younger viewers back to TV ONE:

TV ONEs share of All People 35-49 increased from 17% in 2009 to 26% during The Pacific.

The Pacific achieved an average rating of 11.6 agains the target of 9.6 and the previous years 8.6

TV ONEs overall audience during The Pacific skewed much younger than their normal peak time audience.

Lets look at those results in more detail


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The campaign engaged hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders:

360,000 letters were deployed via post and our street installation and thousands showed up to the dogfight. We

created a traffic delay into Mission Bay (the site of the dogfight) which caused buses to be 2 hours behind schedule.

1.5km of people lined up along the beachfront to watch the spectacle. And the spectacle brought us NZ$452,361

(US$344,000) worth of free media coverage. (SOURCE: TVNZ PR/LIST BELOW)

The campaign created enormous viewership:

Across the season, the average rating for The Pacific among TV ONEs target demographic was 11.6. Thats 20

points higher than the targeted 9.6 rating, and 30 points higher than the average rating in the same slot a year

earlier.

974,430 New Zealanders, or 24% of New Zealanders aged 5+, tuned in to the first episode of The Pacific.

This is a huge number for The Pacific by international standards . In the US and UK, the first episode pulled just 1%

of those populations. SOURCE: UK Sky Movies Audience Ratings as detailed at http://www.tv-ratings.free-satellite-tv.co.uk/tv-ratings/uk-tv-ratings-

180410.htm, US - HBO Audience Ratings as detailed at http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2010/03/16/kamikaze-hbos-big-budget-the-pacific-premiere-ratings-

disappoint/45169

This episode aired the day after the Dogfight event, and under a week after the Letters campaign.

Over the series, a massive 2,299,420 New Zealanders (57% of all people 5+) tuned in to watch The Pacific.

(SOURCE FOR ALL VIEWERSHIP FIGURES: Nielsen TAM (Television Audience Measurement) as commissioned by TVNZ)


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It attracted younger viewers back to TV ONE:

TV ONEs share of All People 35-49 in the 8:30 Monday night timeslot increased from 17% across the same period in

2009 to 26% during The Pacific.

As this chart shows, TV ONE skews a lot older than the average (as represented by PUTS which means People Using

Television Services)

The Pacific, however, attracted many more viewers in the 25-49 demographic, demonstrating success in attracting

younger viewers to ONE.

(SOURCE: Nielsen TAM (Television Audience Measurement) as commissioned by TVNZ)

5. How do you discount the other factors that could have caused some or all of this effect?

You may use econometrics if you wish but it is not a necessity.


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Some shows, like Lost or Desperate Housewives, are guaranteed ratings successes. Theyve enjoyed huge success

and media profile in their home markets before they air in New Zealand, and by the time they get here, none of us

can wait to see them.

This wasnt the case with the Pacific. Just 1% of the USA and UK had tuned in. The show had a big name, but virtually

no hype, profile or momentum before it aired here.

A 24% share is high in New Zealand. It might be hit by one of those huge international juggernauts (Desperate

Housewives gets those numbers), but never by a show without the media hype. For example, The Closer, another

high-cred show with a big name associated, got 15% when it first aired.

There was other advertising - on-air promos built awareness of the show and when it was on, in the usual way that a

TV network promos their shows. But these on-air promos had been used the year earlier and only achieved an 8.6

rating. (SOURCE: Nielsen TAM (Television Audience Measurement) as commissioned by TVNZ)

There were no other competitions or promotions or hooks to watch the first episode that could have create

artificially high viewership.

Lastly, the viewership wasnt because there isnt anything else to watch in New Zealand. TV ONE is one of fifteen

free-to-air channels, and is the least preferred of the major channels. (SOURCE: TVNZ Channel Brand Health Tracker) SKY TV,

the pay option, offers 110 channels and is in 48% of New Zealand homes. On 8:30 on a Monday night there are

endless viewing options for the average New Zealander.


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6. What was the commercial gain for your Client as result of running the creative work?

Entries will benefit from their ability to isolate a return on investment, not just a picture of sales growth or

changes in brand measures.

Compared with the same slot (Monday night 8:30 9:30) a year earlier, TV ONEs share of audience

was on average 28% higher:

The Pacific Channel Share (AP5+)

Yr_2010 Yr_2009 Diff

12/04/10 30.5 19.2 59%

19/04/10 28.9 16.5 75%

26/04/10 28.1 20.3 39%

3/05/10 25.3 17.4 45%10/05/10 22.8 17.3 32%

17/05/10 25.2 18.4 37%

24/05/10 27.5 19.2 43%

31/05/10 26.4 25.5 4%

7/06/10 24.0 22.6 6%

14/06/10 24.1 28.5 -15%

AVERAGE 26.3 20.5 28%


Meaning that the shows TARPs were on average34% higher than the previous year:

The Pacific Audience TARPs (AP5+)


12/04/10 12.6 7.7 63%

19/04/10 12.8 6.8 89%

26/04/10 11.9 8.3 44%

3/05/10 10.9 7.0 55%

10/05/10 10.2 7.3 41%

17/05/10 11.2 7.9 42%

24/05/10 12.4 8.2 51%

31/05/10 11.8 10.6 11%

7/06/10 11.0 9.7 13%

14/06/10 10.8 12.7 -15%

AVERAGE 11.6 8.6 34%


Which ultimately meant that TVNZ could charge an average 19% higher ratecard spot cost, earning them NZ$1293


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(US$1000) extra per spot played during The Pacific:

The Pacific 30" Ratecard Spot Cost


12/04/10 $8,050 $6,573 22%

19/04/10 $8,050 $6,742 19%

26/04/10 $8,050 $6,670 21%

3/05/10 $8,150 $6,600 23%

10/05/10 $8,150 $6,600 23%

17/05/10 $8,101 $6,685 21%

24/05/10 $8,150 $6,685 22%

31/05/10 $7,969 $6,791 17%

7/06/10 $7,900 $6,975 13%

14/06/10 $7,900 $7,086 11%

AVERAGE 8047.0 6740.7 19%

(SOURCE: TVNZ Sales Data)

There were the equivalent of 24 30 spots in each episode of The Pacific, and ten episodes, adding up to 240 spots.

Meaning that TVNZ earned an extra NZ$310,320 (US$240,000) over the NZ$1,617,600 (US$1,250,000) they would

have ordinarily made in that timeslot.

The total media spend was NZ$199,135 (US$154,000).

Showing the short-term ROI to have been $1.66 for every media dollar invested, over and above the return that

could have been expected with a traditional campaign of on-air promos.

The Pacific marketing campaign summed up how we want to execute marketing at TVNZ. Not only did it materially

contribute to the ratings and revenue impact of a key part of our ONE schedule, it also cleverly built a New Zealand

connection with consumers, which in turn meant that the TV ONE brand made a meaningful impact. A lot of people

commented to me personally on how intrigued they were on receiving the Pacific war letter what better way for

the TV ONE brand to connect with consumers?

- Rick Ellis, CEO, TVNZ, August 2010


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7. What do you think this case adds to our understanding of how creativity can be effective?

With The Pacfic campaign, we learned the power of creativity to establish an authentic place for a TV Show in acountrys consumer culture.

Without The Pacific campaign, the relevance of Spielbergs show to New Zealanders would have been negligent. Or,

at least, consumers would have needed to do their own research into the Pacific War to have understood the

relevance of the show.

What the creative idea did was established a connection between New Zealands history and the show, creating an

important reason for New Zealanders to watch.

Howard Gossage once said As far as I can see, what we call creativity begins with the ability to recognize what is

already there. If this sounds like too a glib a definition, let me remind you that not only beauty but everything else is

in the beholders eye. Some people behold better than other people.

The connection between The Pacific and New Zealand was there. But it took creativity to recognise it, magnify it, and

use it to make the show far more successful than it otherwise would have been.


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Entry Composition

Please list the different media used throughout and after your campaign (up to 4 March 2011) with an indication of

the period. All parts of the campaign may be considered during judging.

Type of Media e.g. TV campaign - 3 spots

Date of 1st Implementation e.g. 8-10 November 2009

Budget/ Media Spend e.g. $ 100,000 USD

Type of Media Date of Implementation Budget / Media Spend

Letterbox Drop 04 April 2010 NZ$42,208 (US$32,692)

Outdoor 04 April 2010 NZ$156,927 (US$121,547)

TOTAL NZ$199,135 (US$154,240)

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