Since SBS Belgium partnered with energy supplier Electrabel to produce Belgium’s poorly received branded entertainment première ‘Onder hoogspanning’ in 2006, viewers had not been treated with branded TV before ‘Couleurs Carolo’ was broadcasted. Despite affluent lip service to the branded entertainment trend, even in 2011, all approached commercial stations had a very hard time imagining precious airtime being traded for ready-made branded content and preferred to cling to traditional ad airtime models. Belgium’s commercial broadcasters obviously still fear cannibalising on traditional ad revenues and hence regret to see an advertiser spend his budget on entertainment production, especially when combined with a clever earned media strategy.Regulatory restrictions in Belgium are hardly insurmountable nevertheless. The European Union’s 2007 Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) was incorporated into domestic legislation in 2009. On February 1, 2010 the first broadcaster in the French community of Belgium to use product placement was not a commercial TV station but the public channel RTBF/La Une, which, in 2011, agreed to air the branded docu-reality series Couleurs Carolo.

Couleurs Carolo’s pulling power was as much a product of the earned transmedia strategy as it was a result of the narrative force of locals painting 6 colour landmarks in the ‘Ugliest City in the World, Charleroi’.Scouting for these stories and their celeb ambassadors, generated a first wave of WOM, supported by social media. Broadcasting on national TV, 8x26’ on Sunday nights, was preceded by a PR and autopromotion campaign, echoed in owned media.Most importantly, news of ‘The Black Country’ being coloured triggered extensive earned media space, including TV news items, newspapers, radio, (re)tweets, blogposts etc.

For Akzo Nobel Belgium, Couleurs Carolo realised a successful transmedia visualisation of both the paint brand Levis’ new brand identity, ‘Let’s Colour’, and the generic brand’s mission ‘adding colour to people’s lives.’ An operation that simultaneously benefited the brand’s structural partners, broadcaster RTBF and the reconversion of the post-industrial city of Charleroi.•8% market growth for Akzo Nobel Belgium •Levis brand market share rise from 41.3% to 45%•6 colour celebrations + 6 lasting major urban colour landmarks•>2000 engaged local volunteers from 6 urban communities•1000’s of citizens rediscovering their city’s pride•8 x 80,000 viewers and 15% market share for the 8x26’ TV-series•1, 351, 141 daily news views and a 1000 fans per month growth rate on Facebook•6m reach via earned newspaper and magazine articles•1m national TV-news viewers: French, Dutch & Flemish•Daily updates on local radio Vivacité throughout the summer•Story injection in owned media: online, customer magazine (print & iPad), POS•Idem on managed social media: Youtube channel, Flickr, Facebook, blog.