Birmingham's Licence to Join In

Strategy

This wasn’t a job for generic national messaging. The team went local, granular and gloriously Brummie. The data science team mapped the city postcode by postcode, road by road, even household by household. It combined first-party payment data, BBC viewing habits and third-party overlays.

From the vibrant streets of Small Heath to posh Edgbaston and the football-mad corners near Villa Park and St Andrew’s, every message was tailored for maximum impact. Next, nudges were tested.

The winner was community spirit: Brummies cared about what their neighbours were doing. Armed with this, the team partnered with its media agency for hyper-local placements: bespoke OOH on your street, radio on your commute, digi-vans outside your football ground and multilingual support in your language.

Creativity

‘Your Licence to…’ was the creative rallying cry. Not a bill, but Birmingham’s licence to laugh, cry, cheer and keeeeeep dancing, all wrapped up in local community and social norming. After all, 69.1% of B-postcode households already pay, so why wouldn’t you want to join that party?

From the start, the creative approach was about pride and positivity. Local OOH and digi-van placements tapped into familiar faces and places - like advertising in the departure hall of New Street station a couple of hours before The Apprentice was due to air, with Sir Alan Sugar and the headline: ‘More departures than New Street station.’

These executions made content feel personal, fun and instantly relevant. On social, geo-targeted Instagram ads reminded residents that most households in Birmingham already pay, reinforcing that positive behaviour. Meanwhile, the BBC online and BBC local and commercial radio delivered educational messages tailored specifically for Birmingham, demystifying what the TV Licence covers and why it matters.

Results

Move over, Manchester: Birmingham’s back in the game. Willingness to pay rose by a show-stopping 62%; payment intention: up 22%; new TV licence sales: 3,100 extra Brummies joined in just a matter of months, generating more than £500,000 revenue. Cancellations dropped and positive perceptions soared.

Contributors

BBC, Talon, HAVAS MEDIA