The Discovery Channel ‘strikes gold’ with campaign

For the New York launch of mini series Klondike, a TV show about the Yukon gold rush, the Discovery Channel has gone the whole nine yards and created a 19th century-style Dawson City.

Those that attended the New York premiere not only nabbed themselves a husky plush toy, but after the showing, the guests attended the Discover Times Square Exposition.

This event included recreated sets, props, costumes, and photographs from Klondike. With serving staff dressed in costume, and on-theme chow available, the premiere didn’t just show the movie, it fully immersed the attendees in it, in a great example of experiential marketing.

This wasn’t the only experiential project that the Discovery Channel worked on for this launch, and the week before the themed premiere, they also helped with a project for the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour, which featured a panel from Klondike. For this they recreated Pasadena’s Monte Carlo in Los Angeles complete with characters to bring it to life.

The Discovery Channel has a reputation for similar experiential pranks, and as part of a promotion for Frozen Planet, it took some penguins on a vacation to New York, even going as far as flying them First Class.

And these aren’t the only examples, when Bear Grylls: Escape from Hell was released, Grylls abseiled down Battersea Power Station, the whole 150 feet of it.


We can’t help but love the Discovery Channel’s use of experiential marketing, and these are events that really generate a great brand experience, and give their audience an experience to remember and speak about to friends and family.

Judging by these campaigns, when it comes to experiential marketing, it probably is a good course of action to, ‘do it like they do on The Discovery Channel’, as they say.

Joss Davidge is managing partner of BEcause, an award winning brand experience agency which has been helping brands become more tried, tested and talked about for over 20 years.