In the communication industry, telling good stories is one of the essential tools. The story about the Norwegian girl Nellie, selected amongst 2400 applicants as a digital presenter for BBC Earth, is perfect proof that well-told stories will spread, as long as you just give them a little push.
Foto: Lisa Labinjoh & Joe Platko ©BBC
Background
The summer of 2018, BBC started an international search for a new digital communicator passionate about nature and science.
Objectives
The objective of the announcement was to find someone who could engage a curious public all over the world, someone who would get the opportunity to develop and present four films on the BBC Earths YouTube channel that has 3,2 million followers and 100 million page views. This project was ideal to use in the PR-work with the intention to strengthen the channel, and the BBC Earth brand.
Implementation
After BBC had announced the job post, they received 2400 applications from 84 different countries. The one who impressed the most, was Nellie Henriette Nilsen, 23 years old from Tromsø. Her application video explained her fascination for moss, taking her all the way to the top amongst the applicants.
We shared this news with newsrooms in entire Norway, exploiting Nellies local affiliation to different parts of the country. Many local medias published the story; on the Internet, paper editions and on the radio. Then the ball started rolling. Many wanted a piece of Nellie, like NRK, NTB, the radio show P3-morgen, Dagsrevyen (the news), the morning TV-show God Morgen Norge, and many more.
Results
The story about the young, talented girl from Tromsø engaged the media, both locally and nationally. Just the PR work on the announcement of the job position and then the winner, alone led to a reach of as much as four million on print, digital, radio and TV. All the clips have contributed to building knowledge about the channel and the brand BBC Earth. And yet Nellie has not premiered with her first episode on BBC Earth’s YoutTube-channel. When that happens, the ball is likely to start rolling again, as long as we give it a little push…
