Howell Reveals His Vision For ITV’s Future
Rupert Howell, ITV’s new MD of brand and commercial, will aim to get the broadcaster “into some sort of virtuous cycle rather than the vicious circle that there’s been in recent times”.
In his first public appearance since the appointment, at MediaTel Group’s ‘Future of Television’ seminar in London this morning, Howell told the BBC’s media correspondent, Torin Douglas, that the ITV brand now needed to be actively nurtured as it moves into new channels and new media forms, rather than the passive nurturing that has gone on in the past.
The new recruit, who completes Michael Grade’s senior management line-up (see Howell Completes ITV Senior Management Line-Up), admitted he was very concerned about the state of the broadcaster in the immediate post-Charles Allen period.
“I looked at it [ITV] from the outside with some concern,” he disclosed. “A strong ITV is essential for the ecosystem of brands and advertising. It’s not good for the market if your market leader is not in a reasonably healthy state of affairs.”
He said: “I’m going to be responsible for how the brand is deployed and stretched into new areas and new opportunities‌ and how we can monetise that,” pointing out that Grade chose him as someone who could look at the whole picture of ITV with a broader perspective.
Howell admits he’s got a lot of learning to do, but insists he knows more about the media industry than he’s given credit for.
“I’m not experienced in broadcast and therefore it’s going to take me time to learn to read the signals [of how everything is going],” he said. “My exposure so far has been incredibly positive and actually fascinating.”
It was the appointment of his new boss (see BBC Chairman Jumps Ship To ITV Top Job) that Howell believes was a major turning point for ITV.
“When Michael was appointed, for me that just transformed ITV’s potential fortunes in an instant, and I think that’s been self evident in the year since he’s been there,” he enthused, admitting that it was Grade’s presence that lured himself and the new director of content, Dawn Airey (see Dawn Airey Confirmed As ITV Director Of Content) to the company.
He continued: “When Michael’s appointment was announced, I thought it was a genius appointment and I think the people at ITV who pulled that off… did a stunning job and a huge favour to the entire advertising and branding ecosystem for this country.”
The “brilliant” Grade, “probably the finest broadcaster in Europe”, according to his new right-hand man, has assembled a team that has a “huge opportunity to make things better for ITV” through “substantial change”.
Grade has been very public in his attitude that a focus on content is key to re-injecting confidence back into the ITV brand, and Howell agrees.
He explained: “Where ITV needs to focus now is on its content and Michael is beyond passionate about content, and his view is… if you can invest in the content and produce better content then everything else falls in line behind that.”
Other key priorities for Howell once he takes up the post on 1 November, are to look at how the company is going to optimise online revenue, and to discover strengths and weaknesses of the broadcaster’s channel line-up. ITV is also on the verge of appointing a new advertising agency.
Whilst having a wealth and variety of experience from his decades in advertising and business, Howell believes there is a still a lot he doesn’t know, but is giving himself three months to “ask the naïve questions”.
He explained: “That’s partly what I’ve been employed to do, to ask why do we do things this way when maybe the environment has changed sufficiently for us to really look at how we do things.”
Getting to know the people is key, he said, and getting out and talking to customers. “That’s what I love doing,” he enthused. “I love talking to advertisers about their brands, about their business issues, I love engaging with them on that basis.”
Howell also said that ITV would be working to engage younger audiences, but that the broadcaster would certainly not turn away from its core older consumers with their immense purchase power.
“We suffer in the advertising and media industries with an obsession with youth. There’s a lot of misconceptions about who advertisers want to reach,” he said.
“ITV will through its content be pushing towards stronger profiles in different age groups and categories, [but] let’s never forget where the bulk of the disposable income in this country lies, and that’s something I will be reminding advertisers of when I talk to them.”
He explained: “The reason why ITV has continued to be successful even when it’s been having less good times, is because it delivers effective results. Television delivers the numbers, it always has and always will.”
ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com MediaTel Group: 020 7439 7575 www.mediatelgroup.co.uk