When a bridge became a TV celebrity

"Bridge Builders" – a web TV series with over a million viewers

How do you get people to engage with the construction of a new bridge? The web series “Bridge Builders” brought a large-scale infrastructure project in Gothenburg, from the banks of the city’s river to the screen – and into the hearts of its residents.

Background

Since its inauguration in 1939, the Göta Älv bridge between Gothenburg and Hisingen, has been a vital transportation link for residents and businesses in the area. As the bridge became older, it was decided it was to be demolished and replaced with a new bridge – the Hisingsbron – and it was to be completed in time for Gothenburg’s 400th jubilee in 2021. Construction took around five years, during which time Spoon was commissioned by the City of Gothenburg to record the demolition of the old bridge and the construction of the new one.

The challenge

The City of Gothenburg wanted to show people that the new Hisingsbron would be more than just a crossing over the Göta Älv river – it would be a new landmark that would reshape Gothenburg’s cityscape. The complex construction project would greatly impacted Gothenburg’s residents with closed roads and traffic jams, but in the end it would connect everyone in more ways than one.

Our mission was to create awareness and an understanding of the building process among the city’s residents, and make everyone involved in the project to feel proud. The goal was to create entertaining yet educational content and reach as many people as possible.

The solution

We wanted to create ongoing, engaging content that showcased the construction process and the people around it. We therefore chose a web TV format and named the series “Bridge Builders.” The construction process itself was interesting, especially because so many of the engineers lived in Gothenburg. However, we needed to engage the general public too, and to do that, we incorporated a human element in the series where we followed those involved in the project.

In “Bridge Builders”, over twelve episodes, we follow the construction of the bridge in chronological order. In each episode, a new challenge or event is tackled, all the way up to the opening ceremony in September 2021. An extra episode was also produced focusing on how the old Göta Älv bridge was dismantled.

By focusing on and following individuals who were directly involved in the project, we could create familiarity among viewers throughout the series. This allowed them to see the many different disciplines required to build a bridge of this type. Each episode was three to four minutes long and was published on the bridge’s official website hisingsbron.se and on the City of Gothenburg’s social media channels. Short versions of the episodes were also optimized for Facebook and Instagram.

The results

Since we wanted to reach people within an hour’s drive of Gothenburg, who commuted by car, the films were sponsored on YouTube and Facebook. 40 percent of the target audience who saw a film in their feeds started watching it. In total, the films have over 3 million views with nearly 300,000 three-minute views.

When it comes to getting people to stop scrolling and actually watch a three-minute film, it really only takes one thing – relevant content. In total, 18,000 hours – or two years! – of “Bridge Builders” have been consumed so far. Amongst all the content competing for attention on the City of Gothenburg’s Facebook page, episodes of “Bridge Builders” have been the third most engaging content pieces throughout 2020. It has also led to nearly 28,000 visits to the landing page.

Brobyggarna, en webb-serie om byggande av nya Hisingsbron. Gjord av kommunikationsbyrån Spoon.

Hisingsbron - Brobyggarna skapad av kommunikationsbyrån Spoon

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"We have received a lot of positive reactions to Bridge Builders and also noted a lot of engagement on the City of Gothenburg's social media channels. The competition among the large amounts of content that already exists there is high, which only makes me even happier that Bridge Builders has managed to engage and create such great interest. I have also heard from colleagues that Bridge Builders has made them feel extra proud to be part of such a large, complex, and successful project."

– Charlotte Falke, Communications Manager, Hisingsbron