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How DrumOMG created a positive representation of Black Britain with Google Pixel 6

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By Awards Analyst, writer

December 9, 2022 | 7 min read

Drum OMG, Essence, OMD UK and Channel 4 won at The Drum Awards for Content 2022 in the Grand Prix, Best Multi-Channel Content Distribution Strategy, Best Branded Content Strategy and Campaign and Consumer Products or Services categories. Here, we find out more about what went into this successful campaign...

Highlife

DrumOMG wins the Grand Prix at The Drum Awards for Content 2022 with Highlife

Reality shows are the most-watched UK programming. But, year after year, the casts look similar. For the launch of Pixel 6, a phone that accurately photographs the beauty of all skin tones with Real Tone, Drum OMG saw a chance to change that and drive consideration while demonstrating the brand’s values of progress.

The brief

After a few years without above-the-line marketing, Google wanted to drive awareness and consideration for Pixel with their target audience. First, DrumOMG needed to find a partner with a big enough platform and ambition to drive change that matched Google’s.

Enter Highlife, Britain’s first all-Black reality show saw Google and Channel 4 coming together in a fully integrated partnership championing Black representation and excellence in media.

Hear what the winners had to say about their award-winning work above.

The idea

A show was created that would change the face of mainstream culture, both in front of and behind the camera, increasing positive representation of Black Britain by creating a four-part reality show, Highlife, featuring a cast of ambitious, glamorous trendsetters.

The agency fused Pixel and Highlife in a fully integrated campaign, product placing the Pixel 6 in the show and creating a set of indents and contextual ads that aired in the ad breaks. In the indents, Black British comedy talent was asked questions about their lives and culture aligning with Pixel 6’s progressive nature and championing the real need for a show like HighLife to be on air.

For social and contextual content, the cast of Highlife was asked a series of questions about their lives and culture that align with the progressive nature of Pixel 6.

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The accompanying five-part social series ‘Picture This’ was developed where cast members explained what concepts like ‘tradition’ meant to them by taking a picture on their Pixel. This gave cast members extra space to discuss their life experiences and worldviews outside of the reality show format.

For contextual ads and organic social, we asked Black British comedy talent questions about their lives and culture aligning with Pixel 6’s progressive nature. All elements of the partnership worked to hero the show and further promote positive representation.

The content suite began in September 2021, when competitor activity was high in the run-up to the festive season to ensure high Pixel 6 consideration. More than 25 total pieces of entertaining content were created.

The results

Highlife saw a 37% share of Black viewers and became the number one trending topic on Twitter. It was Channel 4’s largest-ever branded entertainment series, driving 6.1k social media mentions and more than 47 million impressions globally.

By reaching 1.6 million viewers, it won the Friday 10 pm slot with 21% (87K) of 16-34 adults watching.

The campaign led to a 6.8% uplift in consideration and a 20% lift in unaided awareness. Subsequent surveys showed a 7.5% uplift for Pixel inspiring change, 8% for commitment to racial equality, 8.2% for a brand they would be proud to own and 10.2% for the diverse and inclusive brand.

This campaign was a winner at The Drum Awards for Content 2022. You can see all the winners here. The Drum Awards for Marketing are currently open for entry. Find out how you can enter now.

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