Sky Targets Digital Refuseniks With Cross-Media Campaign
The first phase of BSkyB’s brand relaunch gets underway tomorrow with an extensive cross-media campaign designed to promote the satellite broadcaster to the millions of viewers who still do not subscribe to it.
BSkyB chief executive James Murdoch is working to increase the number of BSkyB households from 7 million to 10 million by the end of the deacade but has admitted he needs to refresh the company’s image to appeal to these so-called digital refuseniks.
The ten-week television, cinema, outdoor and press campaign launches tomorrow in an attempt to showcase the breadth and diversity of Sky’s offering to those who still see the broadcaster as being largely synonymous with football and films.
A series of twelve different television commercials, designed by HHCL/Red Cell, will feature uncut clips of programmes from Sky One’s 24 and Disney Channel’s Finding Nemo to Sky Movies’ The Matrix: Revolutions and TCM’s Elvis, That’s The Way It Is.The press executions will follow the same theme but will focus mainly on addressing the reasons people have for not subscribing to Sky. Segmented groups of consumers will also be targeted with tailored messages designed to breakdown their misconceptions about the broadcaster.
Commenting on the campaign, Jon Florsheim, BSkyB’s managing director of sales, marketing and interactive, said: “With this campaign, Sky begins the steady transformation from utility to entertainment company. This multi-dimensional marketing drive marks the start of Sky’s long-term strategy to realise the untapped potential for pay-TV growth in the UK and Ireland.”
Sky’s subscriber growth has slowed recently following the runaway success of the BBC-back Freeview platform. Recent research suggests that Freeview will continue as the fastest growing multi-channel platform until the end of next year, but this will not be enough to knock Sky from the top-spot as the most dominant force in the market (see Sky On Track To Reach 8 Million Homes By 2005).
Earlier this week Sky was rocked by news that its head of advertising sales, Mark Chippendale, is stepping down after fourteen years to pursue other interests. News of the departure comes just months after former Five deputy chief executive, Nick Milligan, joined the company as managing director of Sky Media, a newly created position that gave him seniority over Chippendale (see BSkyB’s Head Of Advertising Sales To Step Down).
BSkyB: 0207 705 3000 www.sky.com
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