2023 Gold Entertainment and Publishing

Agency: TMW Unlimited

Client: Freesat

Entry Title: Avoid Sky-high bills with Freesat

Executive Summary

Sky TV might have the eminent Idris Elba fronting its campaigns, but its customers were questioning costs, value and long contracts. Amid the cost-of-living crisis, Freesat’s contract-free proposition sought to offer genuine value as the nation tightened its purse strings.

Strategy

The cost-of-living crisis naturally inspired relatively empty promises of support from well-meaning brands. But it’s known that people needed tangible solutions to make a difference to their day-to-day lives.

In the category brands were actually hiking contract prices: a perfect storm that inspired disgruntled customers to search for alternatives.

Freesat’s ‘no monthly bills’ approach might be an attractive option but media budgets couldn’t match Sky. The focus was therefore on reaching the right audience at the right moment. The team consolidated a series of data points to create a ‘pintarget’ of customers who had the highest propensity to convert, and launched a regional TV campaign through Sky Adsmart, partnering with SambaTV to reach Sky viewers digitally.

Creativity

The campaign was brought this to life with Freesat’s two intrepid crabs, Ossi and Pod, who leave the unentertaining depths of a seaside pier and discover a fairground world of free entertainment above their heads.

Sky customers were welcomed with a punchier tone of voice that spoke to customers’ contract concerns, with the cheeky headline: “Make sky high TV bills a thing of the past.”

Superior claims messaging, “Fed up with your TV provider? We've got 95% customer satisfaction!”, hammered home Freesat’s superior customer service scores. There was also a ‘wall of TVs’ content lock-up to showcase most-loved programmes and content from Freesat’s channel partners, along with social, display, VOD, and website takeovers to target contextually relevant moments.

Results

Results were crabulous as our intrepid crabs turned awareness into consideration, then into acquisition. First of all, they challenged brand perception and overwhelmingly convinced Sky customers to consider Freesat. The campaign recall was 23% amongst the general population and 27% of Sky customers. This toppled Sky for 1st choice brand consideration in key regions: a record high of 15% in 1st choice brand consideration. More Sky owners than ever before were aware Freesat is the place to enjoy top channel programming (51%, +15 points). During Price Hikes season, unique visits to the Freesat website increased +50.7% versus previous year and delivered a whopping 12,691 units, +16% (+1,756 units) over target. Plus, return on ad spend (ROAS) in Paid Search reached high of 4.26 ROAS for brand PPC. In the Freesat webstore, sales targets were exceeded by +47% and the campaign has so far delivered a total of 34,895 units – a +30.4% increase YOY.

The Team

Amy Rowcliffe, Director of Marketing - Michelle Wilding-Baker, Head of Digital & Customer Engagement -Jessica Frost, Brand Manager - Christina Thummanah, CRM Manager - Nicole Russell, Senior Content Marketing Exec

TMW Unlimited - Paul Dazeley, Head of Planning - Joel Girling, Senior Planner - Tom Harman, Creative Director - Jake Fasano, Senior Copywriter - Carl Winterbourne, Senior Art Director - Amy Philpott, Producer - Llyod Francis, Motion Creative Director - Luke Bosshard, Senior Motion Designer - Claire Wilson, Group Account Director - Sophie Peck, Account Director

TSW - Alex Keogh, Lopez – International Group Client Director - Conrad Turner, Client Manager - Sophie Chesire, Client Director - Ruchika Goenka, Paid Social Account Director - Jess Thurgur, Online Display & Video Manager - Anna Michael, AV Manager