BBC Pushes Digital Portfolio With Extended Ad Campaign
The BBC has launched the second phase of its high-profile ad campaign to promote its eight new digital television channels to a wider audience.
The heavy-weight promotion marks the next stage of ‘The Changing Face Of TV’ campaign, which launched last year across TV, radio, outdoor and online properties.
Ilse Howling, head of digital marketing and communications at the BBC, said: “We’ve taken the public information style launch campaign into a new dimension, which puts the BBC’s eight TV channels and how easy it is to get them right at the heart of the normal fabric of everyday life.”
The BBC is hoping that the promotional activity will encourage more people to switch to the recently launched Freeview platform to receive the new services. Commercial broadcasters have been extremely critical of the BBC’s digital offering, especially its heavily promoted youth-channel, BBC3, which launched last October following a series of delays and set-backs (see Government Finally Gives BBC3 The Go Ahead).
However, there is little doubt the BBC is crucial to the Government’s plans to switch off the analogue signal by the current 2006/2010 deadline. A recent report from Lehman Brothers confirmed this, claiming that the BBC’s strong commitment to digital TV is likely to drive uptake of the medium (see BBC Set To Boost Digital Dividend).
The success of the BBC’s digital endeavours may have a high price for commercial broadcasters and a recent report from Zenith Optimedia has warned that ITV’s audiences could continue to decline during 2003, as Freeview becomes increasingly popular (see ITV Could Lose Audiences To Freeview In 2003).
According to the BBC’s director of marketing and communications, Andy Duncan, Freeview has sold over half a million set top boxes in the four months since its launch. Speaking at the FT New Media & Broadcasting conference earlier this month, Duncan also justified the legitimate use of “modern marketing” in promoting the platform (see Freeview Sells Half A Million Decoders In Four Months).
The BBC caused controversy recently with the surprise announcement that it is ending its £85 million five year carriage agreement with BSkyB and from 30 May it will broadcast its eight TV channels unencrypted on digital satellite (see BBC Terminates Sky Carriage Deal).
BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk
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