Proximus
Client: Proximus
Product: Pickx
Title: The TMF Generation
Media: DOOH & Programatic DOOH, Digital Campaign (OLA, Teads & OLV, (Mobile) Banners/ displays & Native), Social, Radio
Country: Belgium
Date Of Campaign: 11/09/2023 - 04/10/2023
Background: TMF (The Music Factory) was a one-of-a-kind TV channel in Flanders during the late 90s and early 2000’s, portraying music, fashion, and hot topics. TMF occupied a unique place in popular youth culture. With the rise of YouTube & Spotify in the late 2000's, TMF went into slow decline and eventually went off the air.Pickx is a one of the leading local streaming platforms of Belgium (7% market share) but is in a continous uphill battle with market leaders Netflix (40% market share) and Disney+ (20% market share).With 80% of millennials consuming TV via streaming platforms, Pickx was faced with the challenge of capturing their attention.But Pickx doesn’t have international blockbuster content or large marketing budgets like Netflix and Disney+ have. Therefore, we transformed our constraint into an advantage. We decided to bring back the local TMF TV channel for one day and hit the nostalgic sweet spot of millennials in the weeks leading up to one of the most anticipated comebacks of 2023.Objectives were: - earned media impressions - press clippings- free PR value- awareness of the Pickx brand among millennial audienceINSIGHT:Forbes declared that nostalgia-centric campaigns resonate the best with millennials (source: https://bit.ly/49T7rki ). A lot of today's music and fashion trends originate in late 90s and early 2000’s. In an age of impersonal digital media, building social connectedness through nostalgia is an smart way to leverage positive feelings. Our own qualitative research (via digital focus groups) revealed that local millennials feel culturally & digitally overtaken by the younger GenZ generation. They told us that a lot of today’s music, fashion and digital trends date back to the 90s, but that they (as millennials) don’t get the credit for it.KEY MESSAGE:The TMF generation. Back for one day.TARGET AUDIENCE:Millennials for which TMF was a lifestyle companion in the late 90s/early 2000's. Today in their 30s/early 40s with busy lives, they think back to it with warm feelings. USAGE OF SOCIAL & INFLUENCERSWe reconnected with our old audience via new platforms. Social media gave an immediate momentum: before, during and after the comeback event. Local music & fashion influencers broadened up the The TMF Generation to a broader audience. The forgotten 90s VJ's & artists of TMF became influencers on their own during & after the event.
Idea: Instead of trying to compete with the star-studded lineups of our competitors we turned to nostalgia. We didn’t bring back a nineties haircut, we brought back a whole TV channel and a way of life. TMF was the nineties channel TMF that shaped every millennials' childhood in Belgium.For one day, we brought back an iconic TV station and a matching lifestyle, through the people that made it iconic. And this included not only the VJ's and artists but also the viewers, aka "the TMF generation". Our creative used insights from this 90s culture that only our millennial audience would understand, and that made them feel special.This was a great example of using social&influencers because we orchestrated the most talked about streaming TV event in Belgium without having the giant marketing budgets or blockbuster content of competing international streaming platforms. For the first time in history, we brought back an iconic 90s TV channel for one day. We also brought back the celebrities (VJ’s, artists,…) that once made TMF iconic. This mix of local nostalgia, celebrity and novelty worked extremely well.We worked in 3 phases:1/ TEASING/PRELAUNCH (11/9 -> 13/10)We built up anticipation to the TMF comeback using radio, digital and outdoor with clever 90’s insights (starring Buffalo shoes, MSN, 90s haircuts,…) that only our audience would understand and talk about with peers of their generation. PR & influencers reinforced the momentum of "TMF back for one day". 2/ D-DAY 14/10We went live nationwide (total population Flanders = 6 million people - the live feed was open for everyone also non-clients of PICKX) for 13 hours on the PICKX steaming platform with a mix of interviews, music performances and highlights from the 90s and early 2000s. During the TV event itself we reunited for one day the original TMF crew of VJ’s and artists in an open studio on a central city location where fans could interact and show to more than 500.000 TV viewers how important their generation was for today’s music, fashion and digital culture.We used forgotten 90s artists (including VJ Roos en Jessy Mackenzie). Also their comeback provided fantastic PR value. Our open studio in a central Antwerp location made fans came to the studio and interact with their idols. 3/ EXPAND (15/10 -> 31/10)Opportunity to relive the event via digital.
Results: REACHWe had more than 220 press clippings, amounting to 7,5 million euro PR value. The event struck a chord in culture, total PR reach was 39 million in Flanders, meaning that everyone encountered the event at least 6 times.ENGAGMENTDuring the one day TV event, we opened the Pickx streaming platform for everyone. This resulted in a record audience of 520k viewers (total population Flanders = 6 million) with an average viewing time of 47 minutes per viewer.BRAND PERCEPTION- 30% said it had a positive impact on their view on Pickx. - 74% had talked or shared content with friends about the event- 94% said they would come back if their was another nostalgia event.BUSINESS OUTCOMESThere was no direct sales objective but in the weeks after the event there was a significant uptake in search volume for the Pickx brand.
