Wavemaker UK and Department for Business and Trade help British SMEs make it ‘Big in America’ 

The filming follows the companies on their export journey, from their factories and offices in the UK to their encounters on the ground in the Big Apple

Wavemaker UK has collaborated with the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), responsible for promoting UK trade across the world, on a five-part documentary series to be premiered and hosted on LinkedIn’s Live Events platform. The campaign, titled Big in America, aims to encourage more businesses to export and to take advantage of the free expert advice offered by the UK government to help them on their international trading journey. 

Big in America will follow five small businesses that are determined to crack the American market and export their goods and services. Each fifteen-minute episode will see British hotelier, businesswoman, and television personality Alex Polizzi mentor the businesses as they learn the ropes of the US market in preparation for a pitch to a major US business in New York City. The series, launching on 14th August, was developed and produced by television and content creation company Zinc Media Group, in partnership with Wavemaker UK. 

LinkedIn was selected to host the series for the unrivalled access to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and business decision-makers the platform provides. As part of its global professional community of 930 million members, there are more than 70 million decision-makers on LinkedIn today, and more than 94 million global SMB professionals are LinkedIn members. Through its Live Events, DBT will bring together this large base of SMEs in real-time, driving awareness of the opportunities around exporting and encouraging businesses to pursue international prospects. 

Big in America is the first time LinkedIn has partnered with an external channel (DBT) to stream an exclusive ‘made-for-TV’ entertainment content series via its Live Events solution. Wavemaker was responsible for the conception and delivery of this original and innovative campaign, as well as for the content creation and planning of the paid amplification through LinkedIn. 

The series has been commissioned by DBT as part of its wider flagship campaign, ‘Made in the UK, Sold to the World.‘ Wavemaker UK has been the agency of record for DBT since 2017 and was reappointed to continue handling its domestic and international B2B media planning and strategy earlier this year. 

Featured image: Michael Discenza / Unsplash