David Brennan, vice president of research at Flextech, spoke about digital TV and said that there was a general feeling of “so what?” among the public and the industry. Despite this, together with a general fear of new technology, he predicted that there would be a take-up of 5 million households by 2003.
Brennan also predicted that, despite views to the contrary from other people, there would not be a proliferation of niche channels. Rather, there will much more pay-per-view television. Evidence from around the world suggested that viewers will not use digital TV interactivity for the sake of it and it would never take over the TV screen. It will be useful, however, for enhancing viewing experiences.
The importance of channel branding was also highlighted. Brennan said that because channels will in future be increasingly sold in packages, individual channels would need a strong brand identity to survive.
The next speaker, Annabel Smyth of Laser, revealed the latest research into Direct Response TV carried out by Laser. She said that there are misleading myths about DRTV – that it is only used on Channel 4 or satellite programmes during daytime slots on low-rating programmes. Laser DRTV Analysis however had shown that in 1996 DRTV reached 12% of total TV audiences, representing £380m. 24% of DRTV impacts were shown in programmes with a TVR of 15+ and 35% of DRTV ratings were delivered in peak time. ITV delivers 62% of DRTV impacts.
In the afternoon Sue Mosely, from TSMS, revealed the latest findings from the TV Span research. 750 homes were equipped with a product scanner and a TV-set meter and impacts were recorded along with the products which people bought.
This revealed that there was, on average, a 3.9% increase in brand purchasing due to TV advertising. The long-term effect of advertising was better than expected – showing a 3.8% increase over 4 weeks. As expected, heavy viewing groups responded best to ads, with a 10.6% increase in ad effectiveness, while the effect in peak time was a 5.6% increase.
Gary Duckworth of Duckworth Finn Grubb Waters finished the day off by highlighting the importance of integrating media campaigns. He said that the total advertising strategy should be worked upon within the frame of the brand – the brand remains “central to marketing” because it essentially helps people to choose a product. He was worried by the structural separation of advertising and media business and by the fact that different media considered themselves as rivals. He believed that different media should work together to create the best campaign for a client.
