Channel 4 (www.channel4.com ) is one of the UK’s leading broadcast channels, and its youth-oriented E4 service, watched by over 7m 16-34s every month, is one of the strongest brands among this audience group. Always looking ahead, in mid-2007 executives decided to create a website – not just a website, but a web community – to engage and excite their broadcast audience. Creating an interactive medium fed into broader business objectives of building loyalty and delivering new paths for revenue growth.

ThoughtWorks’ approach helped Channel 4 meet the launch target, driven by an upcoming marketing drive for the new season of a popular series. The use of RESTful development principles enabled the whole site to be remarkably lightweight and low cost. Innovative integration with the content management system (CMS) allows easy dynamic page-building by editors. Content for individual TV programmes is updated on-the-fly, meeting user expectations for a fully integrated experience between TV and Web. The microsite made for ‘Dead Set’ won a Bafta for Interactive Creative Contribution, made possible by ThoughtWorks’ back end.

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