Zone manages all of the editorial content for Channel4.com/food, the biggest commercial food and drink website in the UK. The editorial strategy for the website is based on complementing, rather than merely replicating, Channel 4's award-winning on-air programming.
The core of this strategy is a database of more than 3,000 original recipes, providing users with a central 'reason to visit' and establishing a strong SEO presence to deliver consistent, year-round traffic.
The team source recipes from a number of sources, including original commissions from leading chefs and restaurateurs and exclusive content from Channel 4 talent including Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver.
On-air programming is supported by a wide range of content, including exclusive video clips, behind-the-scenes features, how to video cooking guides, interviews and opportunities for users to get involved. Issues such as animal welfare and food provenance help to make 4Food one of the greatest generators of user comments on Channel4.com, and the team have pioneered Channel 4's use of social media.
Our coverage of the Gordon Ramsay Cookalong Live strand including a live blog and Facebook Group, with users invited to share photos of their dinner parties via a user upload tool. We use Twitter to provide a Recipe of the Day feed, attracting more than 1,700 followers in just one month. Our Come Dine With Me Facebook group boasts over 200,000 followers, with new applications such as our Come Dine With Me Homemade continuing to increase and engage this audience.
The Big Food Map project used the Google Maps API to allow users to share their favourite food secrets with Channel 4 and with each other, and provided the basis for a six-month video blog in which intrepid explorer Andrew Webb covered the length and breadth of the UK to report on the nation’s favourite farms, shops, chefs and restaurants.
The Big Food Map was developed in conjunction with Ford, just one of the blue-chip advertisers we have attracted to the site through an innovative approach to creative solutions. Other notable examples include advertorial projects for Hardys, Mazda, Philips, Marmite, Hellmann's, Gallo Wines, Tropicana and Alli.
http://www.channel4.com/food