Campaign highlights new home ent releases
October 8, 2021
By Colin Mann
The British Association for Screen Entertainment (BASE) has launched a three-month cross-category media campaign to capture consumer attention and drive awareness of the packed new release slate coming to the high street and digital retailers across the coming months.
For the first time on broadcast radio, a multi-layered marketing and PR campaign will deliver the Official Film Chart – the UK’s top five weekly releases on Blu-ray, DVD and digital download as compiled by the Official Charts Company – directly to consumers via an editorial-style paid radio campaign.
On air every Friday until December 17th, the two 40” creatives will play in equal rotation across the Bauer and Global networks on national stations Kiss, Capital FM, Radio X, Heat and Kerrang!, in the lead up to Christmas, amplifying both the chart and the strengths of the category including new franchise releases, TV boxsets, and physical gifting potential.
Simultaneously, a regional PR campaign will drive awareness of What to Watch At Home This Weekend, utilising individual expert interviews each month to reach new and lapsed consumers to the category, and let them know what their neighbours and friends are watching.
The campaign is the first of its kind for BASE, part of the planned entertainment media blitz across the next 18 months that will see an expected visual entertainment spend of over a quarter of a million pounds on consumer advertising, to let audiences know exactly when, where and how to buy the new content they’ve been waiting for.
Further high-profile partnership activity across November and beyond will also form part of the campaign, to be announced.
BASE members including Lionsgate, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Studiocanal, Walt Disney Studios and Warner Brothers Home Entertainment Group are all supporting the activity.
“We are now beginning to witness the impact that the re-opening of cinemas this summer has on the new release home entertainment slate,” notes Liz Bales, Chief Executive at BASE. “While other areas of the category performed incredibly during lockdown, notably catalogue and TV, our insights tell us that it is new release product that drives so many consumers to our category, on disc and digital. Amplifying this slate through a national broadcast and PR campaign, and simultaneously helping customers with their content choices, was a perfect opportunity that I am so pleased to say we have confidently taken as a category in the lead up to Christmas.”
“We are delighted to be working with our partners BASE to bring the Official Film Chart directly to consumers across the next three months,” adds Becca Monahan, Commercial Director, The Official Charts Company. “The Official Film Chart is the only weekly chart in the world to reflect sales of DVDs, Blu-rays and Digital Downloads, which makes it the perfect tool for audiences to use to know exactly what is available to buy and watch now in their chosen format. We have worked with BASE for a number of years and are so excited both for this wave of fresh activity, and the opportunities that 2022 will bring for us both.”