In an age where everything shines, how do you make something truly sparkle? That question was the starting point of a marketing-centric reality TV keynote on Thursday, the final day of Conecta Fiction & Entertainment in Cuenca, Spain.
Charlotte Berman, business director at U.K. agency Red Bee Creative, was the speaker who stepped up to discuss the topic, bringing along a surprising bit of real-life experience. After all, she was a contestant on the third season of the U.K. version of the global hit format The Traitors.
Showing TV spots from the likes of Love Island in the U.K., Survivor in the U.S., Bake Off Italia, The Voice U.K., X Factor in Norway, and The Celebrity Traitors, coming to the BBC in the fall, she shared some tips for marketing departments.
Berman explained that creative cast reveals and launch spots are key to building excitement among fans of reality franchises. She also highlighted the importance of iconic brand properties, which she described as “recognizable iconography.” As strong examples, she mentioned the chairs featured in The Voice or the outfits, shields, settings and torches of The Traitors, which give the show a consistent “dark and mysterious” feel, she said. This makes the show immediately recognizable, the expert emphasized.
The expert suggested that dating and relationship shows these days often lack this distinctive look and feel. Showing a graphic with images of various shows, she said: “They’ve all got good-looking groups of people clustered together with palm trees and maybe a heart. And if not, then [there is a] purple background. I don’t really know why, but they all look the same.”
Berman called out one show that feels different. “If one of these titles had to stand out because of its consistent use of brand codes, it would be The Bachelor,” she said. “Crucially, they have this commitment to the roses, which are everywhere in The Bachelor. It’s really, really consistent.”
Berman also highlighted how gamification has become more and more important in reality show marketing. “It’s a really important plank in a bridge for a successful reality show. These days, increasingly reality brands are involving their audiences with the ability to play along or experience the game in some way or form. Love Island has had this very successful Hotel Hideaway game. Whenever they launch a new room or villa, it’s to mass fanfare. And of course, you can buy the bottles, the suitcases, the phone cases, everything, in the Love Island shop.”
The Traitors also has all sorts of games and interactive offerings, including in-person activations, as do other hits.
Concluded Berman: “It’s just amazing how much these formats have been gamified. And all of these are just proof that there’s this kind of expectation now to create brand verticals for reality TV shows. We need to further amplify that consumer experience.”
Conecta 2025 saw executives from the likes of Warner Bros. Discovery, Brazil’s Globo, Gaumont Television, production giant Banijay, and NBCUniversal Telemundo discuss their programming plans and the state of the TV industry.
