how bbc worldwide unearthed the plant earth ii audience · gaming boys – 10% of total audience...
TRANSCRIPT
The Marketing Intelligence Platform
How BBC Worldwide Unearthed
the Plant Earth II Audience
The Marketing Intelligence Platform
Table of Contents
Background.......................................................................................................1
Challenge...........................................................................................................1
Approach............................................................................................................ ...2
Initial Analysis..........................................................................................2
Audience Segments Up-close.................................................................. 3
The Expected........................................................................................... 3
The Unexpected...................................................................................... 6
Results...............................................................................................................9
About Planet Earth II..........................................................................................11
About Affinio....................................................................................................12
1 The Marketing Intelligence Platform
The Bafta award-winning Planet Earth II, premiered in the UK on the 6th of
November 2016. The first episode of the six part Natural History documentary
series, known for its stunning visuals and filming techniques, attracted an
audience of over 12 million viewers in the UK alone. [The Telegraph]
Background
Following on from the success of the premiere, BBC Worldwide wanted to gain
a deeper understanding of what online communities were using the hashtag
#PlanetEarth2.
Whilst social listening tools can generally capture conversations happening at any
given moment in time, they are unable to reveal what audience segments exist
amongst those chatting. That is until BBC Worldwide discovered Affinio…
BBC Worldwide turned to Affinio to validate its understanding of the Planet Earth
Challenge
2 The Marketing Intelligence Platform
Initial AnalysisBBC Worldwide initially used Affinio to analyse anyone who engaged with the
Planet Earth II official hashtag (#PlanetEarth2) shortly after its UK airdate over a 30
day period.
“Affinio has a unique strength over other audience analysis tools in
that it provides insight on those outwardly talking about our brands on
social, without necessarily following them. This was particularly helpful
in understanding who the Planet Earth II audience really were and what
makes them tick.”- Richard Bowman,
Vice President of Insight for Brands, BBC Worldwide
Approach
II audience, confirm hypothesis of which key audience segments were engaging
with the show, uncover new insights, strengthen audience understanding, and
inform brand strategy.
Affinio data enabled the team at BBC Worldwide to uncover natural audience
segments and develop cultural profiles by segmenting individuals based on their
shared interests and affinities. Immediately this presented BBC Worldwide with
insight into the individuals who were engaging with #PlanetEarth2, revealing their
passion centres, their influencers, the content that resonates with them, along
with many more attributes that begin to tell a story and paint a detailed profile of
viewers.
The audience segmented into eight interest-based clusters including UK Current
Affairs, UK Football Fanatics and Nature Lovers, broken down from largest total
audience share to smallest.
3 The Marketing Intelligence Platform
Image: The graph shows the eight interest-based clusters using the #PlanetEarth2 hashtag, listed from largest total audience size to smallest.
Audience Segments Up-closeAffinio’s interest-based audience segmentation provided BBC Worldwide with a
new lens through which to view their audience and a new way to understand the
cross-genre success of Planet Earth II.
The Expected:Based on the show’s genre, before conducting Affinio analysis, BBC Worldwide
hypothesized that the show would attract audience segments such as UK/
International Current Affairs, Nature Lovers, and more.
Using Affinio data, BBC Worldwide honed in on these segments to identify exactly
who made up the Planet Earth II audience, their areas of interest, other topics
being talked about, and the context of their Planet Earth II engagement.
4 The Marketing Intelligence Platform
Top Interests of UK Current Affairs:
UK Current Affairs and International Current Affairs – 42% of total audience
The two largest segments engaging with Planet Earth II were segments labelled,
UK Current Affairs and International Current Affairs. The engagement from these
two segments was not surprising to the team as both segments have a high
affinity to the BBC and its programming, as shown in the cluster interests below.
Top Interests of International Current Affairs:
Affinio data showcases the interest of both segments in news and media brands
as well as prominent public figures. However as the segment name suggests, the
UK Current Affairs skews primarily towards UK-based individuals.
5 The Marketing Intelligence Platform
Nature Lovers – 8% of total audience
BBC Worldwide knew that Nature Lovers would be tuned in to watch Planet
Earth II. While this was a community familiar with the brand, using Affinio, BBC
Worldwide delved deeper into this audience segment, observing how they engage
on Twitter and uncovered other areas of interest.
Top Interests of Nature Lovers:
Affinio data showcases the interest this particular audience segment has in
organizations such as The World Wildlife Fund, The Wildlife Trusts, and The
Woodland Trust; environmental ambassadors such as Mark Avery and Bill Oddie;
and publications such as The Guardian and HuffPost Green.
6 The Marketing Intelligence Platform
The Unexpected:From Football Fans, Entertainment and TV Junkies, to the younger generation of
Gaming Boys and YouTube fans – many surprising, hidden audience segments
emerged from the Affinio analysis.
Whilst BBC Worldwide knew that the show had attracted younger viewers from a
ratings point of view, Affinio showed them that they didn’t just tune in, but were in
fact highly socially engaged with the show and its content.
Building on the overall picture, BBC Worldwide used the Affinio platform to
deepen their understanding of these segments, identify other areas of interest,
topics of conversation, influencers and more.
Entertainment and TV Junkies – 13% of total audienceA surprisingly engaged segment was the Entertainment and TV Junkies audience.
This audience loves entertainment and reality TV shows such as ‘I’m a Celebrity…
Get Me Out of Here!’, ‘The Apprentice’, ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, ‘The X Factor’ and
more. What intrigued BBC Worldwide about this segment was that the Planet
Earth II content obviously transcended the genre this audience knows and loves,
solidifying the documentary series as a cultural sensation.
Top Interests of Entertainment and TV Junkies:
7 The Marketing Intelligence Platform
Affinio data showcased the interest in TV personalities including broadcasters like
Holly Willoughby and reality TV stars like Charlotte Crosby; singers such as
Ed Sheeran and Adele; as well as shows like ‘I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!’.
Gaming Boys – 10% of total audience
One of the most surprising insights for BBC Worldwide, was a small segment
of the Planet Earth II audience (10%) identified as Gaming Boys. Based on their
interests we can infer that this segment skews younger and does not have a high
affinity with the BBC Earth brand. However, the Planet Earth II programme was
able to engage them.
Top Interests of Gaming Boys:
Affinio data showcases the interest in rap and hip-hop artists such as Kanye West
and Tyler the Creator; gaming platforms and publishers such as Rockstar Games,
PlayStation, IGN, and Steam amongst this segment.
8 The Marketing Intelligence Platform
YouTube Generation – 9% of total audience
However, the most surprising group was a small segment (9%) identified as the
YouTube Generation. Like the Gaming Boys segment, based on their areas of
interest we can infer that this segment skews younger and does not have a high
affinity to the BBC Earth brand.
Top Interests of YouTube Generation:
Affinio data showcases that the YouTube Generation is heavily influenced by young
pop music acts including the members of former boy-band One Direction, Ed
Sheeran, and Shawn Mendes; young ex-Vine/MAGCON stars like Cameron Dallas
and Nash Grier; as well as stars like Emma Watson and Zendaya.
9 The Marketing Intelligence Platform
Affinio data provided BBC Worldwide with deeper audience insights,
strengthening their understanding of the Planet Earth II audience overall and
uncovering new and specific viewer segments. This data was then used to inform
brand strategy.
“Affinio added an extra layer of colour to the huge success story which
was Planet Earth II. It confirmed engagement.”- Richard Bowman,
Vice President of Insight for Brands, BBC Worldwide
Audience Discovery & Validation
Beyond simply providing a snapshot of the audience segments engaging with
Planet Earth II, the Affinio platform revealed and validated the show’s popularity
amongst some audience segments that surprised and delighted the BBC
Worldwide team. BBC Worldwide hoped that the series would attract a ‘younger
generation’, however the analysis identified that the younger-skewing audience
segments, Gaming Boys and YouTube Generation, were more prominent than
initially predicted. Affinio revealed these audience segments made up 19% of the
total audience composition.
Takeaway: Affinio data validated that Planet Earth II was gaining traction with
younger audience segments.
Results
10 The Marketing Intelligence Platform
Strategic Targeting and Planning
Using Affinio, BBC Worldwide unpackaged each audience segment to understand
more about them including who they are, the brands with highest affinity, and
how they are talking about Planet Earth II in context. These high-quality, scalable,
actionable insights can be used by BBC Worldwide to keep them ahead of the
curve and remain competitive.
“Whether it is optimizing content strategies, partnership selection, or the
decision to expand into new viewing markets, Affinio’s audience data
serves as a defensible validation point.” - Sarah Villegas, Brand Insight Manager
Takeaway: Affinio data provided BBC Worldwide with the cultural insights needed
to make better strategic decisions to grow, cultivate, and better nurture their
diverse Planet Earth II audience over time.
11 The Marketing Intelligence Platform
• The original Planet Earth series premiered in 2006
• Planet Earth and Planet Earth II were both narrated by Sir David
Attenborough
• Filming for Planet Earth II took place over the course of three years
[BBC Media Centre]
• Planet Earth II utilized new technologies developed since the development
of Planet Earth including aerial drone technology, ultra high definition (4K),
improved camera stabilization, and remote recording [BBC Media Centre]
• Planet Earth II includes episodes on jungles, deserts, mountains, islands,
grasslands, and cities [BBC Media Centre]
• Planet Earth II represents the most watched Natural History title in the UK in
more than 15 years
About Planet Earth II
12
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