Freeview Launches Major Ad Campaign For PVR
Freeview is to unveil its first major marketing push for its personal video recorder, Freeview Playback, focusing on consumers who have yet to go digital.
Online is at the heart of the campaign, with a variety of banners, skyscrapers and listings page sponsorships on sites such as lastminute.co.uk, timeout.co.uk and MSN from 11 June.
The campaign will encourage consumers to visit a new micro site, www.freeviewplayback.co.uk, where they will be able to purchase Freeview Playback digital TV recorders online.
A four-week media tie up is hoped to reach over 3.5 million Londoners and highlight Freeview’s channel content and the benefits of Freeview Playback – ‘pause, record and rewind live TV for no subscription’ (see Freeview Playback To Be Widely Available By Next Summer).
This tie-up will include a cover-wrap (likely to be on one of the capital’s freesheets), display advertising and TV listings page sponsorship. The creative will also feature on the publication’s website at launch.
Ilse Howling, general manager at Freeview, said: “The launch of Freeview Playback is the next step to maintaining Freeview’s position as the nation’s favourite digital TV service.
“Our combined online and press campaign aims to reach 18-35 year olds who have an understanding of technology and are likely to demand more from their viewing experience. Highlighting the great features of Freeview Playback will be a ‘tipping point’ for non-digitals to get a digital-ready recording solution ahead of digital switchover which starts in October 2007.”
The first Freeview Playback digital TV recorders available to buy online and in retail will be from Humax, Sony, TVonics and Vestel. There will be additional in-store branding and advertising, including point-of-sale, consumer leaflets, national flyers and interactive display units, to support the campaign in leading retailers including; Argos, ASDA, Comet, Sainsbury’s and Tesco.
Last week, Sky+ announced that it is to get rid of its monthly subscription charge in a bid to boost take up ahead of Freeview Playback’s launch (see Sky+ Subscription Charge To End).
Figures from Freeview suggest that it is now the most popular way to watch multichannel television in the UK, having overtaken Sky.
According to Freeview, it has sold about 1.7 million set-top boxes and integrated TV sets in the first quarter of 2007, with about 500,000 of those going to houses switching to digital for the first time (see Freeview Overtakes Sky).
Freeview: 08708 80 99 80 www.freeview.co.uk