On a budget of £20,000 we were tasked with promoting Channel 4’s new one-off docudrama, ‘Partygate’ – the story of the illegal parties at 10 Downing Street that broke the government's own strict Covid laws during the 2020 UK-wide lockdowns.

We were asked to resonate with a 35+ audience which informed our decision to promote Partygate with an era they could relate to, the rave scene of the 1990s.

When it came to advertising ‘Partygate’ Channel 4’s new one-off docudrama which told the story of the illegal parties at (Prime Minister’s residence) 10 Downing Street that broke strict covid laws during lockdown, we had simple idea – treat Partygate like the illegal house party it was, only this time invite the whole nation with a campaign inspired by the 1990’s illegal rave aesthetic.

The look and feel of the early 90s illegal rave scene is iconic and remembered fondly in British culture by those over the age of 35 (our target audience).

Channel 4 is the UK’s alternative public service broadcaster, known for holding power to account in a mischievous manner.

Guerilla lamp-post flyers (London) / Nationwide OOH posters / National press ad wristbands / ‘hype van’ stunt (London)

Live dates: September 11th 2023 to October 3rd 2023

Early rave flyers had a DIY cut-n-paste design approach with collaged bits of typography, trippy graphics and subverted brand logos and slogans. We liked the raw, lo-fi approach and designed all campaign visuals to have the right balance of poppy rave graphics in hi-energy colours with crude imagery and a dirty lo-fi finish.

9 unique ‘Partygate’ logos were made, each skewing and warping Channel 4’s bespoke typeface. We took the dashed chevron pattern seen on Boris’ podium throughout the Government's lock-down campaign and used it as a frame around key elements. Each poster had unique elements that looked at different aspects of the story.

Despite only having a limited production budget of around £20,000 The work, worked. The campaign was particularly effective at driving views amongst people over the age of 35 – the main target market from the brief – making up 84% of the show’s total audience. By the day of release, a third of the UK adult population were aware of the show. The stunt was picked up by national and international press, generating tens of thousands of pounds worth of earned media. As a result, Partygate had over 3.4 million viewers – 119% up on target and 2.5x higher than the slot average. The programme attracted new viewers, with 10% of streaming views coming from new accounts, making it one of the most successful docu-dramas in Channel 4’s 40 year history.