NCA Promises A Mountain of Entertainment For Paramount+

Paramount Global (Paramount) will stage its biggest and most ambitious marketing campaign in the UK throughout the summer, to herald the launch of its new streaming service, Paramount+.

Paramount+, which promises viewers of all ages a ‘mountain of entertainment’, will be available in the UK and Ireland from 22 June. The launch line up will include exclusive originals, blockbuster films from Paramount Pictures and a wide selection of Paramount’s most iconic shows, including the sci-fi smash HALO, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, The First Lady and kids’ favourites Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years and PAW Patrol: The Movie.

Paramount’s campaign will encompass a mix of impactful experiential & out-of-home (OOH) activations – which will bring Hollywood to the heart of London – as well as advertising across TV, cinema, print, digital & social media, influencer activity, stunts and more.

Uma Thurman fronts ad campaign for the big and small screen.

A brand-new advertising campaign starring Uma Thurman will see the actress give viewers a peek behind the iconic Paramount mountain, to introduce them to the line-up of stars and titles heading to Paramount+.

On television, the spots will be placed around peak time programming on a range of commercial channels, including Channel 5 and its digital portfolio, as well as broadcasters’ video-on-demand services and YouTube.

On cinema screens, the adverts will take premium positioning around some of the most anticipated films of the summer, such as Elvis and Thor: Love and Thunder.

Additionally, Paramount will leverage the reach of its owned and operated platforms in the UK and Ireland to cross-promote Paramount+ content on its free-to-air and pay TV channels, including Channel 5, MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon as well as the streaming services My5 and Pluto TV.

Launch night will see Channel 5 air the opening episode of one of the biggest hits on the streaming service under the banner ‘Paramount+ Presents – HALO’, with viewers encouraged to watch the rest of the series on Paramount+.

Creating an experiential wonderland in the heart of London

In a first-of its kind takeover of London’s West End, Paramount will transform the capital’s entertainment district into an homage to its iconic stars, hit shows and entertainment brands to surprise and delight visitors. Augmented reality-enabled signage around all major installations will enable fans to interact with Paramount+ content and sign up for the service.

In partnership with Heart of London Business Alliance and Westminster City Council, a variety of large-scale installations and pop ups will include:

• The Walk of Stars: The streaming service’s answer to the Hollywood Walk of Fame will see more than 50 illuminated stars hung above four West End streets to honour Paramount superstars including Sylvester Stallone, Gillian Anderson, Michelle Pfeiffer and Viola Davis, alongside hit titles like Transformers, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Scream.

• Paramount+ Experience: A pop-up space in Piccadilly Circus will allow fans to immerse themselves in their favourite films and shows through replica sets, memorabilia, stunt experiences and other opportunities for social amplification.

• ‘Leicester SquarePants’: Leicester Square, the home of film premieres, will be transformed into Leicester SquarePants, with the beach loving Bikini Bottom resident pitching up in his pineapple home and serving up Krabby Patties and other surprises.

• ‘Sheridan Street’ makeover: Irving Street will get a Wild West makeover, to honour some of the shows and A-list talent from the Taylor Sheridan TV universe, including Yellowstone and 1883.

• HALO installation in Piccadilly Circus: Adding to the invasion of the West End, London’s streets will also bring visitors face-to-face with a spectacular scene from the sci-fi hit HALO.

Immersive Out-of-Home advertising nationwide

In addition, the Piccadilly Lights screen will feature an extraordinary HALO 3D anamorphic display to complement the large-scale installation on a nearby pavement.

A widespread OOH campaign will also see talent and programming from Paramount+ highlighted in premium, high-impact sites nationwide, including London’s Storm Cromination and the main commuter corridor at King’s Cross Station.

Across the country, prime digital displays have been booked at major travel hubs and shopping centres in major cities, while the transport network will see buses and trams wrapped in the hero shows from the streaming service.

Showstopping stunts

Paramount+ will stage a spectacular drone show in Hollywood, Birmingham, one of the biggest ever seen in the UK, in partnership with Sky Magic.

Plus, a projection of the famous Paramount mountain will be displayed on the lastminute.com London Eye.

Maximising reach through a varied media mix

The launch campaign for Paramount+ will encompass many more elements to raise awareness of the service and its broad content offering, such as:

• A high-profile influencer campaign: Some of the most recognisable faces on social media will join forces with Paramount+ to amplify its launch messages over the summer. The influencers will create and share content based on the streamer’s lead series and films, while also capturing the range of events and installations accompanying the arrival of Paramount+.

• Digital and print advertising: This element of the media campaign will extend across newspaper wraps, home page takeovers, interactive skins on leading news websites and more.

• Radio coverage: Adverts on nationally distributed networks including Global’s commercial stations, GTN UK (the Global Traffic Network) and Digital Radio will broadcast the Paramount+ offering to audiences around the UK and Ireland.

• Activating fandoms: Paramount+ will tap into fandoms of some of its most popular titles, like HALO, Star Trek and South Park, with interactive experiences at major events over the summer. The first of these was Comic Con at ExCeL London in May, which featured a dedicated HALO fan zone where visitor perks included early access to exclusive HALO content.

Anna Priest, Chief Marketing Officer, UK, at Paramount said of the campaign:

“We’ve launched an exciting, ambitious and far-reaching campaign to match the scale of the offering on Paramount+. This campaign is about unleashing the power of our brand and content to local audiences and is the biggest we have ever undertaken in this market. It blends the impact of mass-reach mediums with cutting edge new experiential technologies, like our AR-enabled Walk of Stars in London, the Drone Show in Hollywood, Birmingham and the anamorphic HALO display on Piccadilly Lights. We want visitors to our experiential wonderland to be surprised and delighted by the opportunity to interact with our mountain of entertainment.”

The overall campaign was devised and overseen by Paramount’s Marketing, PR and Creative teams in the UK, in partnership with US colleagues and with support from agency partners, namely, Glass Eye for social media creative work; creative agency New Commercial Arts (NCA); New Stance for influencer marketing; Premier PR for consumer comms & event support, and media agency Wavemaker.

Anna Priest added, “Our agency partners have brought an abundance of creative ideas and unbridled energy to this project. Each one has worked as an extension of the team here at Paramount and that collaborative approach has been vital to the success of the overall execution of the campaign.”