September 6, 2024 — Channel 4 is launching a campaign to celebrate the hotly anticipated new series of The Great British Bake Off which is set to return later this year.

Developed by Channel 4’s in-house award-winning creative agency 4creative along with Nexus, the campaign centres around an animated world created to reflect the warmth, and joyous relief that The Great British Bake Off brings to its viewers.

Introducing the tagline, ‘sweet relief‘ this trail highlights how once a week audiences can escape into a world where the most important thing is cake. Depicting beloved hosts Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond, in animated form, as a butterfly and leopard print clad Queen Bee, audiences are taken from a stormy, angry sky into a bright and colourful idyllic world of baked goods. Alison and Noel fly towards the iconic tent, passing jammy dodger flowers, chocolate log trees, showstopping bakes from past series and sweet and savoury classics, all set against a backdrop of beautiful matte-paintings. The single cel animation style characters are playful, and fun capturing the presenter’s real-life qualities.

The wider campaign will include a series of buses and taxis covered in gingham and adorned with pin badges spreading messages of ‘hope and handshakes’ and ‘sprinkles of joy’. In addition, there will be digital displays, social activity including a Snapchat Lens game and four further 10 second animations based on different episode themes.

Lex Down, Deputy Executive Creative Director, 4creative at Channel 4 says: “The Great British Bake Off is comfort telly at its best. We wanted our campaign to reflect this and deliver its own slice of cakey warmth and joy. We created pin badges adorned with bright baking illustrations and messages of positivity, and in a Great British Bake Off first created a fully animated world rich with detail that reveals different delights with each watch. Set to the smooth voice of Sammy Davis Jnr singing Sweet Gingerbread Man, with Noel and Alison as our metamorphosed guides, we hope to transport young and old, baking fans or not, to a place where the worst that might happen is a collapsing cake. Flour Power indeed.”

Bonnie Taylor-Forsyth, Director at Nexus Studios says: “We were blessed with our clients at Channel 4 who understood the nostalgic nerve I wanted to hit with this piece. We balanced it out with a more contemporary design style for the characters to keep it fresh. As a result, we have a series of shorts that reflect the warm tone of The Great British Bake Off as a series, peppered with some moments of comic wit.”

Iain Walters, Head of Marketing at Channel 4 says: “This beautiful, animated world is just the Sweet Relief we all need. It’s part of a joyous campaign that will encourage us all to stop scrolling and start artic-rolling, and see gingham become the colour of the season.”

The Great British Bake Off is produced by Love Productions, with the new series building on the popular show which saw episode 1 of Series 14 reach a staggering 243 million viewing minutes on Channel 4 streaming.*

Notes to Editors

Source: BARB

Creative Credits:

Brand: Channel 4
Chief Marketing Officer: Katie Jackson
Marketing Director: Amber Kirby
Head of Marketing: Iain Walters
Marketing Lead: Sian Gray
Marketing Exec: Gabi Schuman
Brand Planner: Thomas Schofield

Agency: 4creative
Executive Creative Director: Lynsey Atkin
Dep ECD: Lex Down
Creatives: Stuart Gittings, Reuben Dangoor, Chris Rice & Greg Carter
Director of Production: Miketta Lane
Head of Production: Charlie Bettice
Executive Producer: Louise Oliver
Senior Producer: Paul Gleeson
Senior Project Manager: Sophie McNeill
Junior Producer: Sophie Hedgley
Head of Design: Rob Boon
Senior Designer: Sarah Jones
Designer: Armelinda Beqiraj
Digital Apprentice: Harry Gowthorpe

Production Company: Nexus Studios
Director: Bonnie Taylor Forsyth
Executive Producer: Jason Bartholomew
Creative Director: Delfina Maria

PR & Marketing: Nancy Edmondson, Bruce Bigg, Alyaa Ridha

Studio: Mighty Nice
Executive Creative Director: Darren Price
Executive Producer: Tina Braham
Producer: Chloe Marshall
Production Assistant: Kirsten Bassil
Head of Studio: Ben Seager
Design: Jarrod Prince, Anthony Vivien, Courtney Page
Design Intern: Josephina Hau
2D Animators: Darcy Woodbridge, Jasmine Veljanovski, Jarrod Prince, Alea Trinajstic

2D Clean-up Animation Intern: Theo Dahlstrom
Compositor Lead: Mike Lomas
Compositor: Gary Fouchy

Audio Post Production: String and Tins

Sound Design and Mix: Jim Stewart

Foley: Cobblestone Foley
Audio Producer: Esi Jonuzi

OOH: Curious Productions
Head of Creative Production: Tom Gibson
Photographer: Dan Humphreys
Assistant: Max Parker
CGI: Chris Veitch
Retouch: Rob Lanario

Endboard Graphics: Pictureshop
Post Producer: Ryan Pagett
GFX & Video Editor: Jonathan Moniatis

Packaging and Social: Platform Post Production
Creative Director: John Cryer
Online VFX: Nathan Rushby-Jones
Online VFX: Andres Del Cano
Dubbing Mixer: Alex Paul
Senior Producer: Jackie Sanders

Media Agency: OMD