Two documentaries bookending a 24 hour social event. Experiencing D-Day in real-time through the eyes of seven people who were actually there.

Channel 4 needed an innovative approach that would revolutionise the way it presented the Second World War D-day landings. An approach that could tap into viewers social media activities and break the mould of second screen viewing to engage people with compelling multi-platform ways of interacting.

By painstakingly mapping archive film, photographs, radio reports and personal testimony to the very moment and place they happened 69 years ago, the agency alongside the production company were able to build a multi-platform framework that allowed users to live through the 1944 invasions in the way they have become accustomed to experiencing breaking news stories today.

Viewers were prompted through TV trailers, real-time snippets mirroring social updates, to sign up to social media channels in real-time.

Directed to a multi-platform experience consisting of a responsive desktop site, a stripped down mobile site and a presence on twitter for all characters that allowed the public to share their experiences and memories of D-Day.

These connections prompted people to add their own experiences of the war. Pictures of their families, that related to the live action, along with diaries and mementoes were uploaded to the timeline, further connecting viewers to the characters and feeding the interactive storytelling experience.

By turning second-screen on its head, the project marked a pivotal moment in the evolution of how content is disseminated across media, and by allowing people to experience D-day in real time we provided a new perspective on an event that has been in danger of becoming normalised.

Given that this was a 24 hour campaign directed at Channel 4 small audience share, the program was hugely successful, attracted 100,000 unique website visitors, 10% of total channel viewership.

And although 42,000 twitter followers within 24 hours was a major feat, the real success came in the personal reactions around events as they played out. People were moved to begin adding their own experiences of war, their own ‘shoeboxes’, which added to our timeline. These pictures, diaries, drawings and mementos would connect their experiences of war with that of our characters. One man even felt it necessary to travel to France to put a poppy on the of grave Dixie Dean.

The platform not only unlocked brand new ways in which to bring stories to life for Channel 4, it also allowed it to provide a deeply emotional experience, placing it at the forefront of multiplatform storytelling.