How Range Rover and Sky joined forces to create ‘event TV’

The launch of the Range Rover Sport required something beyond simply branded content. The car marque wanted to make history, teaming up with Sky on a stunt that would see W-Series driver Jess Hawkins scale Europe’s biggest dam – Iceland’s Kárahnjúkar Spillway – in the Range Rover Sport.

Sky Media was tasked with landing ‘The Spillway’ film with a bang, elevating Range Rover as a modern luxury brand and driving sales.

The broadcaster released 10-second teasers across the Sky Sports network in advance of the film’s launch during the derby between Premier League sides Arsenal and Tottenham.

In-programme promotion ran during the match coverage, alongside cross-promotion on Sky Sports News, marking the first time in 18 years branded content was scheduled as a programme. Range Rover also became the first Sky advertiser to use voice and QR search to direct users to its branded content.

Repeats of The Spillway film aired during Sky Sports coverage of the W-Series, while an interview with Hawkins and behind-the-scenes footage were included in a bespoke collection available on demand. A series of call-to-action TV ads promoted the film, with the creative being hosted on a Range Rover branded page on the Sky Sports website.

The Spillway notched up almost 3 million views across Sky TV, digital, social and on-demand channels, including more than 70,000 article views on SkySports.com. The film sparked conversation, generating over 120,000 engagements on Sky Sports and Sky TV social channels.

The campaign exceeded benchmarks for ‘standing out’ and ‘gaining attention’, results which helped Range Rover win the 2023 Marketing Week Award for Content.