NewsLine Column: Where Were You When They Shot J.R.?
Time was when all you needed to gain exceptionally good viewing figures was an exceptionally good TV programme. These days, as everyone from Big Brother to Her Majesty knows, its all about mixing one’s media, as Naked Communications’ Will Collin explains…
In this age of multi-channel, brand cluttered fragmentation, it’s said that TV’s role as cultural glue is on the wane. Gone are the days when the previous night’s big programme would be the main topic of conversation at every factory tea break and office lunch hour. In those days it went without saying that everyone would have watched it, or had a good reason not to have done. Those big programmes, from Dallas to Morecambe & Wise, were nationally shared experiences that became a universal cultural currency. The shooting of J.R. Ewing is more etched in my mind than the murder of John Lennon.
That was the week that was, but it’s long in the past. Last night, while you were bettering yourself with an egghead documentary on BBC4, I was watching an Alan Partridge repeat on Play UK. What will we have to discuss at the water cooler today? It’s no longer common for programmes to achieve regular audiences of 15 million or more, so has TV’s cultural dominance evaporated?
Judging by the 15 million who watched Paul McCartney serenade the Queen at Buckingham Palace, or the 14 million disappointed viewers of England’s draw with Sweden, landmark occasions still draw landmark audiences. But the difference here is that these occasions define the landmark and draw the audience, whereas in the past it was because of big audiences that programmes became landmarks. Who can forget Angela Rippon’s dance routine?
But what about Pop Idol? Big Brother? Surely these prove that TV can still produce cultural landmarks? Well, these are undoubtedly national cultural icons, but how this came about says a lot about modern media strategy. These days, the arrival of Big Brother, for example, is a textbook case study of mixed media communication. Firstly there was the sophisticated newspaper PR campaign, ensuring massive ongoing coverage and comment. Then the paid-for media, from press ads to billboards. Not to mention the partnership marketing via sponsor O2 , delivering additional visibility. Oh, and some programme trails on air.
These days, it seems that turning a TV programme into a landmark is an exercise in layered communications. The broadcasters’ own marketing demonstrates that the simple media solutions of the past are no longer enough: brands these days need integrated campaigns embracing a range of media channels in order to create visibility. It seems that the broadcasters can no longer rely on taking just their own medicine.
Even the Royal Family embraced modern communication strategy to help make the Jubilee celebrations a success. Their campaign used ambient media (gold liveried buses and taxis), PR to feed positive messages into media coverage, a big consumer promotion with a prize draw for free concert tickets, and secured a media partnership with the BBC through an exclusive broadcast rights deal. Nice work, ma’am.
Water cooler programmes do still exist, but just as advertisers’ brands struggle to cut through the clutter, achieving landmark status now demands a sophisticated approach to communications. The ‘buzz’ surrounding the programme (or brand) must be massaged, sustained and enhanced. If J.R. Ewing was shot today, you’d probably see bloodstained chalk outlines appearing on pavements, spoof police incident boards on street corners and a tabloid competition to vote for the most likely perpetrator.
Some might mourn the passing of a simpler age, but necessity is the mother of invention and the world of modern brand communications is more inventive than ever before. J.R., R.I.P.
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