Challenge.

TVNZ, New Zealand’s largest TV network, wanted to rebrand their online offering away from a (catch-up) on-demand service and position itself as a premium digital streaming service. And rightly so, with thousands of world-class movies, shows and documentaries that stack up with the likes of Netflix and Amazon. The best part? It’s completely free.

This was a strategy job as we looked for ways to reposition TVNZ simply and effectively without losing any existing brand love or alienating audiences. This meant small steps were required to bring people across to the new platform without fuss.

Solution.

With great content comes great responsibility because while TVNZ+ may be free, its shows are so good they’ll engross you to that point of distraction – resulting in an unsuspecting TVNZ+ viewer unwittingly ending up in a situation they weren’t expecting. Brought to life by the line, “It’s free, but it could cost you”. 

This brand positioning took advantage of the human truth that we all get distracted from time to time, using a bit of kiwi humour to illustrate that TVNZ+ could be the cause of that distraction.

“Perhaps getting ourselves into a sticky situation, and the consequences can sometimes be more severe than walking into a street sign, especially when you can’t stop binge-watching your new favourite show.

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Result.

Research results show a 52% more positive towards TVNZ+ after seeing the campaign. There has also been massive growth in the proportion of respondents who describe TVNZ+ as 'light hearted'. This is up by more than two thirds against baselines and the proportion who describe TVNZ+ as youthful has doubled.

The reception to the work has blown us away, with both Campaign Brief and The Drum recognising the work, alongside two of the three spots winning Best Ad on TV through July and August. The work has also received finalist spots at D&AD, One Show, and has won metal at One Asia and Axis New Zealand.