Mehdi Berrada

Emotional Branding: the Case of Big Brother in France: a Project Study Mehdi Berrada

Big Brother, the first and most successful Reality TV show all over the world, failed in France. Indeed, after one hugely successful season, the three following shows weakened to renew such a performance. The reasons for those failures are to be found among the choice of the casting, the ethical regulations and the very content of the show. After having conducted two focus groups, it has become very clear that the classical concept of Big Brother is outdated and doesn't answer anymore to the French viewers' expectations. Hence, it appears to be needless to air another season of Big Brother in France with only repeating what has been done before. My main finding is that, in order to be reintroduced,the new concept should be strong enough to overcome the ethical regulations, and, above all, establish an emotional relationship between the show and the viewers. The more involved the viewers are, the better the show would be and the more audience (and cash) it would generate. The example of M6, a French private TV channel, is given: a new concept of Big Brother would be focused around TV Series, one of the pillars of the channel, using emotional techniques.