‘The digital support has the potential to be a real force for good’

Lime Pictures for All4 & E4

Hollyoaks’ efforts to engage with its audience outside of its fictional Chester village has secured it a win in this category for the second year in a row.

The programme’s digital output reached over 460 million views with 900 million impressions across its social media platforms in 2022, as the digital team created ground-breaking campaigns around storylines.

The Long Walk Home was an immersive VR experience based on a special episode of the same name where character Maxine is separated from her friends on a night out and is violently attacked by a man on her way home.

Though the 360-degree Meta experience did not end in violence, it placed users in Maxine’s shoes as she walks around Hollyoaks village at night, interacting with men who subject her to misogynistic and threatening behaviour, with informative statistics popping up throughout the experience about the real-life issues women face.

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It hit over two million views across Facebook, YouTube and Oculus, and accessed a male-skewing audience by featuring in Quest’s ‘Must-See Immersive’ and ‘VR for Good’ playlists.

As well as a second series of its multi-platform documentary series Hollyoaks IRL, which showcased the real-life stories behind impactful storylines, which included knife crime, teenage cancer, and the incel community, the created a unique TikTok channel for viewers.

Coinciding with a special Mallorca-set episode, the channel received over 50 million views in its first nine months, helped by a QR code which appeared during episodes and drove traffic to the TikTok channel.

Our judges were impressed by the “real-world impact” of the digital support, with one calling it a “standout entry,”. One judge said it “pushed the envelope” while another praised it for its “purpose, innovation and clever strategy” and its “potential to be a real force for good”. 

SHORTLISTED 

 

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Outsiders: Gone Wild
UKTV for Dave

This companion series doubled down on the silliness of its linear parent show by turning host David Mitchell into a bunker-dwelling YouTuber with his broadcasts gaining over 500,000 organic views on YouTube. Overall, Gone Wild content has earned over 35,000 hours of organic watch time, 5.6 million impressions, and above average retention rates across YouTube and UKTVPlay.

 

RuPaul Drag Race

RuPaul’s Drag Race- ASMR
BBC3 digital for BBC

ASMR is an online phenomenon that has already amassed over 358 billion views on TikTok alone in recent years. The Drag Race UK series four team tapped into this community while also allowing its 12 queens express their individuality by creating ASMR concepts that were authentic to their brands and personalities, such as car crash makeup tutorials and a masterclass in etiquette.

 

Taskmaster

Taskmaster
Avalon Television & Avalon Promotions for Channel 4 & All 4

The Taskmaster online community has grown exponentially in 2022, achieving more than one million YouTube subscribers and 300 million video views across its social platforms. As well as curating long- and short-form content across its socials, the Avalon format launched an app and a second podcast. It has also expanded into the classroom with bespoke content designed to engage young people.

 

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The Masked Singer
Bandicoot & StoryHunter for ITV

The Saturday night ITV1 show was aided by a social media ‘war room’ which published more than 100 pieces of content every week, including mini-games, performances and exclusive unmasking interviews recorded immediately after the studio unveiling. A coordinated campaign between the show’s official accounts, the panel’s socials, key influencers, Facebook fan groups and the masked celebrities ensured it was the top trending topic on show nights.

 

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The Traitors
Studio Lambert, Metavision & Social Chain for BBC

The word-of-mouth hit started its ‘Let the Mind Games Begin’ digital campaign with a carefully constructed array of assets across paid socials ahead of the show’s launch, evolving into reactive and collaborative content with influencers as the show aired. The campaign culminated in a bespoke Traitors game in Fortnite, allowing users to take part in mini challenges and to decide which of their fellow players to banish while avoiding the traitor in the group.