Memorable
Effective
Style
Heart or Humor
Execution
The Great British Bakeoff is one of the biggest shows on UK TV. Here, we evaluate Channel 4’s take on launching this titan of a show on their network for the first time. In this post, we’ll give this advert a rating out of 10 for some of the most vital criteria a TV commercial can cover, memorability, effectiveness, style, humor, and execution. Let’s start with:
Memorability – 8 / 10
As you would expect, the ad is very British. Half clay cartoon, half musical – it’s certainly something that will stand out and stick in the minds of all food lovers. The animation is purposefully unsmooth and the clip becomes increasingly dramatic as it continues.
Effectiveness 8 / 10
It’s a concept that very clearly aims to retain viewers who already know what the show is all about, as opposed to seeking new audiences. If you’ve never watched Bake Off before, this commercial won’t make much sense to you. It is, however, likely to make you curious about the show and why it deserves such an elaborate display of food chaos.
Style – 8 / 10
The animation is perfectly tuned to relate to the target markets sense of national pride. A wealth of very British foods are prioritized in the content and a lot of effort has gone into making sure the key themes from the show are depicted in the choreography. The message is clear, “this is going to be the most exciting season yet, and at channel 4, we are not afraid to go big in order to make an impression”. This will excite fans and is an evident attempt at trying to pull as much of the shows gigantic fan base over to this new network as possible.
Heart or Humor – 7 / 10
The shows two leading presenters are reported to be leaving the program or this season, so it’s no surprise that the ad features no real life characters. This clip is mostly heart with the soundtrack and animation adding a touch of humor. It aims to pull at the heart string’s of Bake Off existing fans by directly showing them the bounty of treats that they’ve come to expect from past series. Many might feel a huge opportunity has been missed for Channel 4 to introduce their own brand of humor. A taste of what to expect in terms of tone and comedic dialogue would have gone a long way in reassuring loyal fans that the entertainment value has not been damaged even though the show has moved networks.
Execution – 8 / 10
Channel 4 had to throw a large budget at this campaign to create as much buzz around the new show as possible. This means great production value, elaborate content, and an impressive soundtrack. The ad is memorable enough, but most would have expected Channel 4 to throw some hard hitting humor into the mix. The clip will never be an internet sensation, but it does feel like the concept has a shot at luring a large amount of Bake Offs most loyal watchers over to channel 4 for at least the opening episode.
