It’s been around the world, and now it’s back home. You may have come across the BBC’s Box – a shipping container that the BBC used to symbolise world trade and a changing economy. The BBC has been tracking the Box as it travelled across the world’s continents, and viewers have been tracking it as well, via a live updating map. Stories about the box have appeared on BBC TV, radio and online, including BBC Breakfast this morning.
What you may not know is that The Box started here at Porter Novelli. We pitched the idea to the BBC on behalf of our clients the Container Shipping Information Service (CSIS), as part of a branding effort to put a human face on the service. It goes to show the PR value of having a simple, sellable idea that translates easily to a number of different channels. The BBC’s enthusiasm for the project has blown us away and produced some incredible footage, and the project was nominated for a PR Week Award and a Corporate Comms Award.
UPDATE: Apologies to all concerned with the The Box we’d like to clarify that Porter Novelli didn’t pitch the BBC with the The Box. Rather we were approached by the BBC following our initial outreach around the launch of CSIS. PN then worked closely with the BBC and CSIS to make the Box project a reality.
UPDATE 2: Please see a detailed post and apology here
Watch the box getting ready to leave.
Read the Porter Novelli case study.
BBC, CSIS