Across top shows from Doctor Who, Bluey, BBC Earth or Top Gear, BBC Studios has unveiled plans to work with Northern agencies and brands through its new in-house advertising sales arm.
The newly-formed team behind BBC Studios Social, a division of commercial arm BBC Studios, is offering advertisers the opportunity to partner with its brand portfolio across over 90 social channels to reach global audiences.
From direct sales, branded content or original content, it marks the first time that BBC Studios has offered ‘social-first’ branded opportunities in-house.
With a global reach of 4.7bn views across all social platforms, BBC brands like Doctor Who reached 167 million views on YouTube and Facebook in 2022, whereas Bluey racked up 1.1 billion views on YouTube and has become the ‘fastest-growing’ preschool brand on TikTok. The team believe it presents a unique opportunity.
“With us taking this in-house and taking that ownership, it means that we can give a bespoke offering,” Jasmine Dawson, SVP of Digital Consumer Engagement, told Prolific North at an exclusive event in Manchester. “We can offer a single brand like Bluey or we can ask if you want to talk to a factual offering across our science channel through BBC Earth for example. It’s a real opportunity for us to not only control the narrative but also offer really unique opportunities.”
The team will be led by Dawson, which will have a presence across Manchester, London and New York. “We want to build that out,” she explained. “I think that the capability of being able to be all over the UK as well as over in the US was incredibly important to us and I think ultimately allows us to get a diverse range of capabilities and skill-sets.”
