Channel 4 Sales and pizza chain Domino’s will launch the world’s first food-themed spa retreat as the centrepiece of a new branded entertainment vehicle.
The “ultra-exclusive” Dough & Glow spa, which offers tomato and pepperoni facials, pizza vastas, garlic and herb ice dips and more, will feature in a “behind the scenes” branded content show that goes live on Friday.
Brokered by Havas Play UK, Pizza Spa will go live on Channel 4’s YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok channels. Havas Media Network UK handles media for Domino’s.
The one-off comic episode will follow Holly and Alex, a couple who are spending a weekend enjoying the luxuries of the pizza retreat. There, they meet the spa’s creator Hoagy Nidd, who demonstrates a pizza gong bath.
It stars comedian Finlay Christie, the 2019 So You Think You’re Funny? stand-up competition winner, and Jada Brevett, an actor, writer and director known for Vilaria.
Pizza Spa is produced by Mother’s Best Child and commissioned by Channel 4 digital commissioning executive Catriona White and digital commissioner editor Charlie Hyland.
Analysis: Quality branded content more important than ever
It’s a stretch to say that branded content could begin to replace the long-term decline in linear ad revenue that UK broadcasters face.
But media’s storied fragmentation challenge, as audiences bleed away to various digital platforms with less established measurement and trading practices, could provide a unique opportunity for branded content initiatives with broadcasters — particularly those with a distinctive positioning to leverage.
Channel 4 is still a £1bn advertising business that, despite suffering a 16% slump in linear TV ad revenue last year, can achieve cut-through for brands in ways that would be prohibitive for most UK media owners.
The public-service broadcaster’s stated remit — to deliver significant and sustainable cultural, economic and social impact across the UK — just happens to offer an authentically distinctive branded content vehicle for brands that are otherwise faced with “platforms” as distribution vehicles.
Being “edgy”, in other words, is a bigger advantage when trying to stand out in a noisy online world than it was in a relatively sedate offline landscape that valued large “family” or “mainstream” audiences.
This means viewers probably haven’t seen the last of hot cheese being deployed in ever-inventive ways on the TV screen.
Domino’s: ‘Huge bang for the buck’
This latest project follows the branded content piece This Man Pays to be Treated Like a Pizza, which to date has had over 8m views, and builds on previous creative partnerships between Channel 4 and Domino’s that include Marriage Material and Can Yodel Rap Make its Way to Christmas Number One?.
Harry Dromey, director of marketing at Domino’s UK, said: “This is our sixth piece of branded entertainment made with Channel 4 and Mother’s Best Child. People don’t think deeply about their takeaway choices, so it’s essential Domino’s is top of mind to win sales. These films have huge bang for the buck because of their viral appeal and they are a great way to get in consumers’ heads.
“I defy you to forget the pizza enema.”
