The fandom flywheel BBC built to outlast Bluey
One hit show was never the plan, it was the prototype.
“For us, that is about proving out the model. Anyone can be successful once. It’s about that repetition, and that shows us that the model is not only working for us, but can be repeatable and hopefully scale.”
Jasmine Dawson, SVP of Digital, BBC Studios
Cannes Lions makes a lot of people perform optimism they don’t feel. Not Jasmine Dawson. This week on The Media Odyssey Podcast , Evan Shapiro and I talked with the BBC Studios SVP of Digital live from Cannes, for a second year running.
Last year she told us BBC Studios was betting on fandom over reach. This year the numbers backed her up. Anyone can have a good year once.
Jasmine Dawson also came with news. Three stories, all breaking first on this episode of the podcast.
BBC Studios is launching a new global advertising network called “Affinity” built around fandom rather than the reach metrics the industry still defaults to. 5 content verticals, each anchored in IP that already carries a proven, passionate audience.
The 2nd piece of news dismantles a wall that’s sat inside the BBC for years, the one separating BBC Studios from the BBC’s own public service channels. Dan McGolpin runs iPlayer and Channels. For the first time, the pair is coordinating their YouTube strategy as a single unit. The consequence is 50-plus new channels launching this year, each built around a specific community rather than a broad content area.
Then Anna Rafferty, SVP Digital Consumer Engagement at the LEGO Group, walked in. She didn’t come on to license a toy line and call it a day. She came on as a genuine co-creator, building new content with BBC Studios to delight families with LEGO brick recreations of beloved Bluey moments (Queens, Sleepytime, The Beach, etc.).
The first episode premieres today on The Bluey Channel, the official LEGO channel and the LEGO Little Ones channel on YouTube and Bluey.TV.
Start there, then listen to the episode for everything behind it.
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That’s it for today but before you go: