Commercial Ad Campaign for BBC Sounds

Founded in 2018, BBC Sounds is a platform providing an online streaming media service, enabling audio downloads which include radio broadcasts, audio on demand, as well as podcasts. As the service is available across a wide range of devices and due to their brand reputation, they have a significant audience base.

BBC Sounds have a broader target audience, however this commercial ad project was specifically briefed to be aimed at those who display a keen interest in sports and the lives behind the well-respected public figures in various sporting fields. In this case, it was a podcast hosted by Tony Bellew. As a result, the ideal target audience is young men, whereby BBC are providing listeners with a different take on the typical celebrity/sports star interview.

Their overall aim of this commercial ad was to push the release of their new podcast, Tony Bellew Is Angry. The podcast would go on to see a variety of celebrity guests joining Tony Bellew to divulge in moments their anger was truly tested to the limit.

The aim of this commercial video was to provide the client with content to use across their social platforms, as well as on BBC iPlayer, to peak interest from prospective listeners upon the release of their new podcast: Tony Bellew Is Angry. It was important in the planning process to ensure we tapped into the listenership of other popular sports podcasts and provide something alternative to the usual sports star interview. The client wanted to play on the anger element, ensuring this was portrayed in the ad in an absurd, humorous manner, in order to pack a punch.

We had quite a large input into this project, meaning the idea creation, scripting, production and post production was a full Bearded Fellow labour of love! The only part we were not involved in was securing Tony Bellew himself.

We delivered one main hero video, and then a series of engaging shorts for social media, enticing listeners to tune into the podcasts. The main video saw Tony Bellew perfectly conveying the ‘anger’ across to the viewer in a ‘deadpan’ manner, being sure to make the viewers laugh, while also very simply delivering the message of his new podcast being released.

The initial planning required studying Tony Bellew’s public personality and ensuring the script was well-aligned with this. With the small budget in mind, we kept everything as simple as possible, which is when we decided to go with a ‘Behind-the-Scenes’ style commercial. The next step was finding the ideal location which we could mould to be the perfect space for the commercial video ad.

We used a single camera setup in cinéma vérité style to create the look of an actual documentary, allowing its “deadpan” and “absurd” humour to be emulated well. This supported the authentic and naturally written script to be captured as effectively as possible with the support of Tony’s delivery.

During the editing process, it was vital we overlaid sound effects to fit with a typical ‘shoot’. It was also vital that we kept the video fast paced, capturing the emotions of Tony perfectly and delivering this in a short, sharp commercial ad to lure the viewer in.

The final result saw Tony Bellew behind-the-scenes of a shoot to promote his new podcast, however the script on the autocue didn’t portray him in his usual light, ultimately creating a humorous commercial ad for viewers. Take a look for yourself to see.