How did Chanel 4 create an extraordinary marketing campaign? The use of storytelling in one of my favorite marketing campaigns

A succesful marketing campaign that I really fell in love with is „Meet the Superhumans“. A campaign that did not only promote the Paralympics in London 2012 but raised awareness and changed the way we view the Paralympics completely.

Every four years the biggest sports event of the world with athletes from all over the world is held: the Olympic Games. When these are over there are also the Paralympics but these are widely seen as a simple afterthought to the Olympics.
Paralympics exist in the shadow of the Olympic Games and often not even cosidered as its own event. Unfortunately Paralympic athletes do neither get the attention nor the money that Olympic athletes get. As they are seen as not the real thing or just an appendix.

To promote the event Chanel 4 had to ask themselves if it would be possible to raise awareness for the Paralympics and the participating athletes?

They understood that the product was good but unfortunately the event was perceived by most of us in an absolutely wrong way. Therefore Channel 4's campaign aimed to change our view of the Paralympics, encouraging viewers to see the Games as an "event in its own right" rather than as an simple afterthought to the Olympics.

„Meet the Superhumans“- a campaign was created that changed perception of Paralympics forever. For the first time we could see and understand that Paralympic athletes are not handicapped athletes that try to do the same as non-handicapped athletes – paralympic athletes are presented as Superhumans who face an even more complicated challenge and have to conquer much bigger obstacles than their non-handicapped counterparts and therefore present an even more interesting viewing experience for the public. Chanel 4 showed us that these men and women are not simple athletes they are Superhumans!