Tubi’s UK Campaign Isn’t Afraid to Call People Out

Tubi is doing its own British Invasion, launching its first brand campaign in the U.K.

Following its arrival in the U.K. earlier this month, the Fox-owned ad-supported streamer is now rolling out its “Watch What You Actually Want to Watch” campaign, focusing on British viewers.

Nicole Parlapiano, Tubi’s chief marketing officer, told ADWEEK that the concept of free streaming access isn’t unique in British culture, so Tubi—which is entering the market with one of the biggest libraries available, at more than 20,000 titles—chose a brand message that gives British viewers options, allowing them to watch whatever they want to without the constraints of subscription-video-on-demand or broadcast-VOD platforms.

“When you think of what the offering is on the BVODs, it’s traditional broadcast TV and traditional British culture. Then you have the SVODs that are bringing international content from everywhere, more edgy titles, and so we want to just set the U.K. viewing public free,” Parlapiano said. “We want them to feel free to watch whatever they want to watch, free to really tap into what they choose, combat that cultural snobbery and traditionalism.”

Created with Tubi’s creative agency of record, Mischief @ No Fixed Address, and supported by VaynerMedia EMEA, the campaign gives viewers a less stuffy option for their time outside of sophisticated activities, with ads that “humorously and gently dig at British traditional culture,” according to the company. Rather than go to museums or do the traditional historic tours, consumers could simply be watching Tubi.

Tubi or not Tubi

Poking fun at the theater, one 30-second spot shows an actor proclaiming, “To be or not to be”—or is it “Tubi or not Tubi?”—causing a prop skull to spring to life, complain about the theater and implore an audience member to check out Tubi instead.

“Just kill me … again,” the skull says as the actor takes it away.

In another commercial, artwork depicting a dying woman comes alive to tell a museumgoer to stop taking selfies and watch the streamer.

Oh, and her coughs? Don’t worry. It’s just “the plague,” she says.

“Tubi’s won the hearts of people by showing up in a way that no other streaming platform has. It leads with a unique brand-first personality instead of throwing mass marketing behind individual titles. And it gives viewers permission to stop pretending they want to watch shows about a soap opera aristocracy or yet another gritty murder mystery,” Kevin Mulroy, executive creative director and partner at Mischief, said in a statement.

VaynerMedia EMEA led 360 media planning and buying for the campaign, with high-impact formats including an Oxford Circus Underground takeover and Motion@Waterloo station; tongue-in-cheek out-of-home placements; social media and influencer marketing; and ads across connected TV, Spotify audio and digital and podcast host-reads.

“It’s also summertime, when people are going to do all of these cultural things for the ‘Gram to say they did it,” Parlapiano said. “And we’re going to have placements at museums and major landmarks, poking a little bit of fun at it and getting people familiar with the type of content they can watch on Tubi.”

See example messaging here:

Parlapiano said the company did social listening and relied on local strategists to help form the brand positioning, which will be an evolving process as Tubi finds its U.K. audience and optimizes its content for the viewer experience.

Tubi’s U.K. audience can expect four to six minutes per hour for ad loads, which comes in below the seven to nine minutes broadcast typically has in the U.K., and the product experience will be similar to the U.S., which has more than 80 million monthly active users on the platform.

However, the U.K. experience will change over time as the platform inputs more information from viewers.

“The brand in the U.K. will evolve based on what people feel and think about the experience and what they’re finding and delighted by, which might not look like it does in the U.S.,” Parlapiano said. ” I think we found a nice place to get a reaction out of people, get people on the product and listen and see what they think, what they’re watching and figure out what we want to double down on and how do we want to lean in.”

And Tubi’s CMO isn’t looking to win everybody over in the process.

Recognizing that the campaign might not sit well with all British viewers, Parlapiano noted that that’s not the point.

“We are looking to poke a little bit and press a little bit harder on things and call people out, which I think is done in an elegant British way, but it’s also done in a very American direct way and the way that we are polarizing a little bit,” Parlapiano said. “I’m sure there’s gonna be tons of comments, but if we launch it and no one’s talking about us at all, that’s my biggest concern.”