Campaign
Babylon Berlin
Welcome to the city of sin
- Client / employer
- Sky Deutschland
- Period
- 2017
- Role
- SVP Marketing & Creative Services
- Agencies / partners
- uplift
A series that marked a turning point for Sky
In 2017, Sky launched Babylon Berlin, its first German high-end drama production. The launch was also intended to broaden perceptions of the brand: from a provider primarily associated with football to a relevant entertainment and drama brand.
The campaign distilled the series’ lavish world into a promise:
“Welcome to the city of sin.”
Key facts
- eight-figure media budget
- Sky’s largest campaign for a series title
- eight campaign creatives
- Germany and Austria
- large-format outdoor posters in six major cities
- TV, cinema, print, digital, social and OOH
The central idea:
Berlin as the main character
Rather than the complex plot, Berlin in 1929 became the protagonist of the campaign – a city caught between optimism and downfall, glamour and poverty, freedom and corruption.
The eight creatives expressed these contrasts through double meanings and wordplay. Art Deco frames, gold typography and dark imagery brought them together in a distinctive campaign system.
“The only thing asleep in this city is its collective conscience.”
“Morals? Another time.”
One campaign system
across all channels
The central idea was rolled out as an integrated campaign:
- TV and platform trailers
- cinema, print and display
- OOH, DOOH and large-format outdoor posters
- YouTube pre-rolls and bumper ads
- mobile-optimised videos for Facebook and Instagram
- collaboration with visitBerlin
For social media, Sky Creative Services and upljft developed a range of video assets around crime, politics, nightlife and the characters.
My role
As SVP Marketing & Creative Services, I led my team’s work on strategy, the campaign idea, concept development and production. The campaign was created entirely in-house at Sky Creative Services – from positioning and the creative system through to orchestration of the integrated rollout.
“To mark the exclusive TV premiere of Babylon Berlin, we are launching Sky’s largest marketing campaign for a series title.”
Impact
- +17 points in ad recall
- +9 points in awareness
- +3 points in intent
Across all 16 episodes, Babylon Berlin generated
10.4 million viewing contacts.
Each episode attracted an average of 570,000 viewers.
44 per cent of viewing was on demand.
This made Babylon Berlin the second most-watched series on a Sky channel at the time, behind Game of Thrones – and a strategic reference point for the further development of Sky Originals.
Trade media: W&V · HORIZONT · DWDL · kress · Social media case study
