New mural gets centre stage in Channel 4 marketing campaign for the return of Derry Girls

25 February 2019

Channel 4 has today launched its full marketing campaign for the new series of hit comedy, Derry Girls, produced by 4Creative for Channel 4 Marketing.

Inspired by the tradition of murals in Derry, the campaign features at its heart posters of a celebratory mural of the cast commissioned by Channel 4 and created by Derry not-for-profit social enterprise group, UV Arts. This kick-started the project and gained traction on social media last month.

The UV Arts team, who use street art as a tool for social change, immortalised the main Derry Girls characters - Erin, Orla, Clare, Michelle and James – in paint onto an entire side of a building in Derry’s city centre.  The new posters will also include a playful reference to fan favourite, Sister Michael, looking out of a window.

The attention-grabbing mural was created to celebrate the return of the series, and to mark the incredible support it received from the local community. It took the artists five days to complete and received an overwhelmingly positive reception from the Derry community and the cast.

As well as on posters, the artwork will be feature on press cover wraps and will be supplemented by clip-based assets that will run on TV.  Social media activity will include 90’s ‘school pics’ of the cast, and ‘Derrytext’, an @Channel4 Instagram story inspired by services popular in the 90s such as Teletext, Ceefax and Fivetext. Users will enjoy everything from updates about the weather in Derry to ‘spiritual guidance’ from Sister Michael.  

James Walker, Head of Marketing at Channel 4, said:
“The collaboration between 4Creative and UV Arts has resulted in a fantastic artwork that has already generated lots of buzz and excitement and community engagement locally for the return of the show. We’re incredibly proud of the series so by supporting its return with a large national campaign we’re able to build anticipation and make a bold statement across the UK – our hit comedy Derry Girls is back!”

Eoin McLaughlin, Creative Director at 4Creative, said:
“My family are from Derry, so I know first-hand how proud everyone is of the show. By launching the campaign for the second series with a mural in Derry, the city has a fantastic new landmark that recognises the tremendous support the show has received locally and also celebrates the city’s culture, its people and their spirit.  We have developed a truly exciting visual campaign that captures the mischief and humour of the characters and the essence of the show. Pure class, as they say!”

Derry Girls is the creation of acclaimed writer Lisa McGee who has mined her own experiences to create a candid, one-of-a-kind, family-centred comedy set against the backdrop of The Troubles. The first series aired in January 2018 and received an overwhelming positive reaction from viewers from around the UK and particularly from the local community in Derry, making it Channel 4’s biggest comedy launch series in 14 years.

The series returns to Channel 4 on Tuesday 5th March at 9.15pm.

-Ends-

NOTES TO EDITORS

More details of the ‘Derrytext’ @Channel4 Instagram story will be available nearer to transmission of the series.

CREDITS

Client: Channel 4 Marketing

Head of Marketing: James Walker

Deputy Head of Marketing: Laura Ward-Smith

Group Marketing Manager: Nic Moran

Marketing Manager: Clare Morrish

Marketing Executive: Laura Bedford

James Smart: Group Social Media Manager

Emma Dowling: Social Media Manager

Luka Shimada: Social Media Executive

Agency & Production Company: 4Creative

Executive Creative Director: Alice Tonge

Creative Directors: Eoin McLaughlin, Jim Chambers / Tom Woodington, Robin Temple  

Creatives: Caio Turbiani and Raminder Samra

Exec Producer: Shananne Lane

Senior Producer: Fiona Wright

Production Assistant: Samuel Baker

Business Director: Jane English

Project Manager: Olivia Emmerson

Designer: Oliver Booth

Creative Artworker: Giles Butcher

Executive Producer, Digital: Christos Savvides

Digital Producer: Maddie Smith

Social Creative/ Director: James Henry

Design Creative: Chris Rice

Digital Production and Edit Assistant: Kelly Lacroix

Director (On Air): Mick Arnold:

Producers (On Air): Nicole Roberts, Kate Manning

Production partners:

UV Arts

Location Manager & Pre-Production Consultant: Steve Bradley

Off Air DOOH Motion & On Air Opticals - JAM VFX

Photographer: Dan Burn-Forti Making Pictures 

Retouching: Stuart Frost at Curious

About Channel 4

Channel 4 is a publicly-owned yet commercially-funded public service broadcaster and has a remit to be innovative, experimental and distinctive. Its public ownership and not-for-profit status ensure all profit generated by its commercial activity is directly reinvested back into the delivery of its public service remit. As a publisher-broadcaster, Channel 4 is also required to commission UK content from the independent production sector and currently works with around 300 creative companies across the UK every year. In addition to the main Channel 4 service, its portfolio includes: E4, More4, Film4, 4Music, 4seven, Channel4.com and digital service All 4.

About 4Creative
4Creative is Channel 4’s multi-award winning creative agency. Headed up by Alice Tonge, 4Creative acts as both creative agency and production company across all advertising and branding output for Channel 4 and its family of brands. In 2017, they won their fifth D&AD black pencil for Channel 4’s Paralympics campaign ‘We’re The Superhumans’, which was ranked in the top 10 of 2017’s Gunn 100, the global index of creative excellence.