In the UK there is a rush among brands to create branded content. In doing so advertisers face two major barriers.

Firstly, having the confidence to make content that an audience wants to actively engage with (and not long ads).

Secondly, broadcast regulation. Product placement on TV remains off limits for many brands (alcohol, gambling, products that contain a high ratio of Fat Sugar Salt). For those that can, screen time is limited by a requirement to only appear when editorially justified. This over-regulation combined with broadcasters’ protracted processes for commissioning programmes results in very few opportunities for branded content in the broadcast environment.

To get people to engage with our content we broke all the rules and took an advertising approach to TV programming.

We created content our audience couldn't avoid watching, designed to interrupt viewers and make them think differently about Paralympic Sport.

Our programs were only 2' long (less than 1% of UK TV programming is under 5' long) and we took a media planning approach to their distribution.

Programmes were scheduled multiple times across the Channel 4 network alongside some of their biggest programmes. They were also distributed via Channel 4’s and Sainsbury’s digital channels.

Official research concluded thus: “Without wishing to get carried away, these films are important. They provide easy access to content that is normally reserved for documentaries that people wouldn’t be inclined to watch.”

In a rare step, many viewers approached Channel 4 directly to congratulate them on the programs with comments like: “An eye opener. A powerful intro to how bloody good they are”, “He’s got cerebral palsy. I looked it up afterwards”.

It would be churlish to claim the success of the Paralympics as solely down to these films, but they contributed to 100% uplift in viewing of Paralympic Sport.

- 7.2m adults in the UK who saw the videos agreed that Sainsbury’s is helping the nation to change the way they think about disability (this is 14% of the entire UK adult population).

- Sainsbury’s outperformed all of its competitors for the first time by increasing by 5% on points for consumer empathy compared to before the games.

- Sainsbury’s' ‘Brand awareness’ and ‘Consideration’ also hit the highest ever levels, reducing the gap between Sainsbury’s and market-leader Tesco to its smallest margin in two years.