Thinkbox Unveiled As New TV Marketing Body
The UK’s commercial broadcasters today unveiled their long-awaited marketing body, dubbed Thinkbox, which will launch on 21 February with a budget of £1.5 million and a stated aim to help advertisers “get the best out of television.”
Jointly composed of commercial television companies Channel 4, Five, GMTV, IDS, ITV, Sky Media, Turner Broadcasting and Viacom Brand Solutions, Thinkbox aims to work with the UK’s marketing community to promote small screen advertising as an essential communication tool.
A statement from the body said: “Now is the right time for the commercial television industry to come together to launch Thinkbox. The marketplace is rapidly evolving the ITV merger, the growth of multichannel, changing audiences, the emergence of exciting new technologies and the importance of cross media solutions and customers want to know how they can take advantage of these changes. For instance TV can be a mass medium or a “me” medium.”
The statement continued: “As an industry, we have not spent enough time marketing its fantastic potential. Our task is to show how TV is innovative, straightforward, targeted, accountable, growing and how it can work for every brand and every budget.”
Amongst the body’s stated aims is its plan to demonstrate the variety of uses for TV marketing, highlighting its targeted nature for reaching narrow audiences as well as its uses as a mass communication medium and conveying that it need not be an expensive medium, with packages available to suit “any budget”.
Thinkbox will also highlight new technologies, demonstrating TV’s innovative new uses, such as red button interactivity, and its ability to return a measurable return on investment.
Promotional activity planned by Thinkbox for the coming year includes a major industry show, Inside The Box, to be held at London Olympia on 28 June. The show will represent the first joint marketing push by all eight commercial television stations, and will “focus on the power of TV today” with a range of interactive workshops, live shows, debates and opportunities for one-to-one consultations.
Inside the Box is being created by Jack Morton Worldwide, the agency behind the Opening and Closing ceremonies at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, setting the stage for an impressive show of TV advertising strength.
Prior to the exhibition, Thinkbox will be inviting customers to take part in roundtable discussions designed to raise industry issues which will continue throughout 2005. The body is also planning a regular programme of television training sessions catering for all levels of advertiser.
The body’s website is intended to become a one-stop resource for TV marketing, hosting a range of information including case studies and examples of best practice, creativity and innovation. Research data and studies will also be available to aid advertisers in making informed decisions. The website is currently live, containing information on Thinkbox, although an enhanced version with full functionality will launch on 1 May.
Thinkbox’s structure employs an eight-member board, responsible for the body’s direction and overall strategy. The board is supported by a working group, drawn from its member companies, whose remit is to develop the individual initiatives and act as a “taskforce to drive specific activities”. Thinkbox has been co-funded by its eight member companies, who each pay a yearly membership fee together with a contribution linked to their national revenue share.
The creation of Thinkbox follows a period of research into the advertising industry and its customers, examining what steps they would like commercial television broadcasters to take. The body’s research revealed that 76% of clients believed television needed an industry body to market the medium’s potential, the creation of which was the subject of speculation last year (see Commercial TV Giants Form Ad Marketing Bureau).
Thinkbox: 020 7499 7200 www.thinkbox.tv
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