In a highly competitive TV market Philips’ media budget is 10-15 times less than its rivals. Our PR campaign needed to span seasonal sales peaks and demonstrate product functions in an emotive way to raise brand consideration. Films test TV performance. The PR strategy involved building a digital community for a cinematic experience film lovers would want to share via social media. PR built anticipation for the release of five different short films - Parallel Lines - which featured the same dialogue, through leading blogs and off-line teasing tactics. Following release interest was sustained through a UGC competition – Tell It Your Way – to create a sequel, the overall winner was selected by Sir Ridley Scott. The online community was encouraged to make and share their entry via Philips YouTube channel which allowed them to interact with Philips TV functions.

Real-time evaluation allowed on and off-line tactics to be tweaked, and provided comparative benchmarking of online engagement achieved. Annual Philips TV web site KPIs were exceeded within 7 months of the campaign’s launch, contributing to a 3.4% increase in brand consideration. The UGC competition received more than 630 quality entries helping push viewing numbers of the branded content to more than 9.5 million.

Pre Launch (Jan-March 2010): Concept seeded via guest blog on Slashfilm.com by Parallel Lines director Jake Scott, linking to Facebook page. Trailer release coincides with on and off-line tactics – dialogue projections in campaign markets and themed packs distributed to bloggers, each containing a different line of dialogue. These packs encouraged reporting and Facebook traffic.Launch (April–July 2010): Premieres in five European cities. RSA’s directors present to introduce the films and announce UGC competition. The directors also participate in creative forums & events like re:publica, onedotzero & cíclope festivals.Post launch: (Aug-Oct 2010): Release of Facebook content including 'Making of' films & directors’ video diaries. Shortlisted entries for UGC competition provide regional media hooks in countries. Winners are announced and share experiences via Facebook.

• 5.8 million film views within 7 months, exceeding the annual KPI. Films can be viewed through a unique media player demonstrating TV functions - including Ambilight.• 9.5 million visits to all online platforms• UGC: 630 entries• Message tone (100% V 80%), penetration (89% V 40%) and Facebook engagement (7% V 5%) KPIs exceeded• 7,973 pieces of campaign coverage• 77% of blog and 56% of traditional media coverage reference the Philips 21:9 TV• 96% coverage contained key messages, more than 50% in Tier A media • 50% of coverage with an AMS Average Media Score of 45 or higher (equivalent to a 7.25)• Shift in brand consideration 45.6% to 49%