Channel O is Africa’s first homegrown music television channel. But over the years, they have lost viewership to global music TV giants. With a comparatively small budget, we couldn’t afford to do a big campaign. Instead, we used the power of music to spread a message, and the power of social media to seed a movement. It began with a groundbreaking pan-African musical collaboration: a music video cover of Nina Simone’s classic pride anthem 'Young, Gifted and Black'. Then, a range of designer YGB T-shirts and an online and mobile application helped encourage young people across Africa to make the message their own. They joined the movement at Oboma.net, Channel O’s pan-African version of Facebook. YGB became a buzzword across the continent, putting Channel O top of mind, body and soul – generating unprecedented media coverage and a 50% year on year growth in AR’s.

The campaign was launched on Channel O through the 'Young, Gifted and Black' music video. We then flighted the 'Making Of', which told the story behind the song, interviewing 9 artists from across Africa and building the message behind the song. This was seen in over 2 million households. We then began activating the campaign on the ground, distributing YGB T-Shirts to 11 campuses, parties and live events across the continent. The “Make Your Own T-Shirt” web and mobile applications went live and were promoted via On-Air idents, a radio campaign, campus posters, and web banners. These encouraged people to join us on Facebook and Oboma.net. The campaign culminated in the “Young, Gifted and African” music awards in August 2009

For Channel O the campaign was an unprecedented success. Participation was beyond their expectations – and most importantly, it helped reverse a 5 year decline in viewership – with a 50% year on year growth in AR’s, and a 100% rise in advertising revenue. For the first time in 5 years, Channel O overtook Trace and MTV Base in viewership and ratings. The campaign also received huge press and P.R., with articles, features, blogs and TV shows all featuring the campaign and helping to turn it into a buzz movement – and Channel O into an iconic African brand.