'Curious' Ads for Nat Geo Channel

A month after National Geographic Channel said it was readying a new global brand campaign, the cable network has taken the wraps off the first examples of its "Live curious" creative.

In conjunction with Nat Geo's launch of its second annual Expedition Week programming promotion, the net unveiled a pair of evocative ads designed to communicate its ideology. Shot in 40 locations around the globe, the two spots juxtapose arresting images of human activity with a litany of interlocking declarative sentences.

The 60-second brand spot opens with a young couple dashing from an underground enclosure into the light of day. As the girl turns back to face the camera, her voiceover proclaims, "If you are, you breathe." The clip cuts to a middle-aged man doing tai chi in a park ("If you breathe, you talk"). From there, new subjects fill the screen about one every three seconds, the voiceover progressing along with the visuals.

The spot ends with a shot of an older man in a corral, at sunrise: "If you want to know more, you are alive." As the man slides out of the frame, the National Geographic logo appears onscreen alongside the "Live curious" tagline.

A second spot distills the one-minute execution down to 30 seconds. The new tag replaces "Dare to explore" in the U.S. and "Think again" overseas.

Another promo focuses on Nat Geo's on-air talent, incorporating shots of Cesar Millan (Dog Whisperer), Sean Riley (World's Toughest Fixes) and Chris Fischer (Expedition Great White).

The Italian production company Mercurio Film and creative consultant Patrizio Marini developed the first two commercials, which Nat Geo refers to as its "anthem" spots. The New York-based studio Click 3X created the program-themed extensions for the campaign.

Rafael Sandor, evp of creative and marketing for Nat Geo Channel International, and Kiera Hynninen, evp of marketing for Nat Geo's stateside unit, together oversaw the development of the tagline and brand campaign.

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