CHALLENGE
Most Dutch people watch the Winter Olympics via the NOS, but the majority of them are completely unaware that the world’s biggest sporting event can also be watched via discovery+, Discovery’s streaming service in partnership with Eurosport. It was up to us to change that by deploying creative media strategy, directly from the Eurosport studio.
APPROACH
Ketchum, one of our three international brands, had been appointed by Discovery to coordinate putting discovery+ on the map across Europe through a so-called Hub-Spoke model with local markets. The centrally created campaign was thus activated locally in the Netherlands by Omnicom PR Group with our own team, using our knowledge and experience of the Dutch media landscape and Dutch best practices.
Prior to and during the Games, we built strong media relations with leading media outlets such as NU.nl, De Telegraaf, RTL Nieuws and Trouw. By facilitating close contact between the Discovery / Eurosport producers in the studio and the media, we were able to offer the media the most relevant content. We did this by sending out press releases, organising press meetings and events, but also by setting up a WhatsApp group with various journalists, so that the news always reached the right place as quickly as possible.
For a fortnight, our team sat on top of the latest developments in the Discovery / Eurosport studio and transformed newsworthy moments into creative and thought-provoking content. This ranged from factual news, snackable highlight videos and funny background stories. Discovery+ sports videos were valuable to journalists from various sports media, such as Sportnieuws.nl. Also, the renowned Discovery / Eurosport presenters and Dutch talents we pitched to various media were regularly heard on TV and radio.
RESULTS
Together with the Discovery / Eurosport team we determined the news in the studio. During the Winter Olympics Discovery+ was on the front page of De Telegraaf every day, our content was frequently shared by a number of key media outlets and our videos were shown all day long on various media channels. In addition, the Dutch talents that we pitched to various media were regularly heard on TV and radio. Through creative media strategy and strong media relations, discovery+ was mentioned by leading media outlets such as De Telegraaf and RTL News as the place to watch the Winter Olympics.
