Ugly Wudi Ranks Number One

In China, a lot of hype has been generated in the last few months, and no, it’s not the Beijing Olympics, it’s Ugly Wudi or Ugly Betty’s Chinese equivalent. On the back of Hunan TV purchasing the rights to the Ugly Betty format, MindShare Invention has been a key stakeholder using this adapted series to leverage a value opportunity via integrated content and title sponsorship for Unilever across a portfolio of their product range which includes Dove and Lipton among others.

Attracting a massive 73 million viewers on opening night, Ugly Wudi came up tops, beating other syndicated Ugly Betty version’s in US, UK, Mexico and India to become one of the most successful branded content programmes ever broadcasted.

Ranking number one in its time slot across 30 markets, Ugly Wudi, garnered an audience share of 8.7% whilst delivering a 11.6% audience share for the younger, harder to reach 4 – 23 year old segment. The highly anticipated second season is due to launch on 5 January 2009 with seasons three, four and five already in the pipeline.

With the increase of clutter within the advertising space, content projects like Ugly Wudi in China are increasingly seen as a solution for brands to engage consumers to communicate the brand essence and values.

Congratulations to Mateo Eaton and team!