Creative Execution

Our insight was simple – viewers of reality shows envy the contestants. So, for the first time in television history, we gave viewers the same challenge as the contestants. Only by watching the show would their phone come to life and the shovel appear. Our App combined audio watermarking technology to sync with the TV show and unlock the shovel, gamification techniques to encourage competition and repeat play, gyrometer and accelerometer to determine the player’s digging technique, and of course you had to race against the clock. Technically it was very complex, but to viewers it was interactive and magical.

To viewers this Global-first TV innovation was groundbreaking. Just by watching an episode, their mobile phone’s shovel came alive and they could compete alongside contestants on TV. Our App was the most successful TV App ever. In fact The Big Adventure ranked #1 for ALL free Apps in both iTunes and Android Appstores… and for more days in 2014 than Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, WhatsApp or ANY OTHER App! - 253,124 downloads in 5 weeks; almost 1-in-2 viewers - Played in 125 countries - At times had 18,000 people playing per second - Viewers played for 25 minutes & dug 18 holes each - 19,000 wallpapers downloaded - Social reach was 1.5 million - people shared scores, instant wins and encouraged others to tune in

Making television shows and selling ads used to be relatively simple – just attract eyeballs and ad revenue would follow. Nowadays the conversation between TV Networks and advertisers revolves around advertising effectiveness and engagement rather than just reach. However it’s not easy. Your multi-million dollar Production investment has to compete against thousands of shows spread across hundreds of TV channels plus competition by the likes of Apple TV, Netflix and other streaming services. And consumer behaviour is a major challenge; MagnaGlobal research showed that during commercial breaks 58% of people physically leave the room, 32% interact with another screen, and 23% concentrate on social networking. For Channel 7’s brand new show our challenge was make mobile part of the solution - to get viewers involved in the show, to share their experiences, have them return every episode and pay close attention to every minute of it…and to every ad.