Annual Review
A Year in TV 2012
CONTENTS 01
Contents 01 02 03 04 05 06 07
Game of Thrones Sky Atlantic
Who we are Foreword by Tess Alps, Executive Chair
02 04
TV in numbers TV viewing The value of TV advertising investment
06 08 12
Trends & innovation Spot the difference: TV ad innovations Chat, play, discover and buy: connected viewing 2012 – a busy year of TV technology innovations
14 16 18 22
TV’s peerless effectiveness Advertising effectiveness: the long and short of it IPA Effectiveness Awards 2012 – sponsored by Thinkbox
24 26 30
Gold medal TV Programmed for success Celebrating advertising creativity Smart TV: the TV Planning Awards 2012
32 34 36 38
Fresh perspectives TV: doing good What's next for BARB?
40 42 46
How can we help?
48
02 ANNUAL REVIEW 2012
Who we are Thinkbox is the marketing body for commercial TV in the UK, in all its forms – broadcast, on-demand and interactive.
WHO WE ARE 03
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Thinkbox’s shareholders are Channel 4, ITV, Sky Media, Turner Media Innovations and UKTV, who together represent over 90% of commercial TV advertising revenue through their owned and partner TV channels. RTL Group and Virgin Media are associate members and Discovery Channel UK, UTV and STV also give direct financial support. 06
Thinkbox works with the marketing community with a single ambition: to help advertisers get the best out of today’s TV. TV today has more to offer advertisers than ever before, not least because this growing and now entirely digital medium remains at the heart of popular culture and advertising effectiveness. From understanding how audiences engage with TV advertising, uncovering what the latest technological developments mean, explaining innovative and affordable solutions, and encouraging creativity to providing the rigorous proof of effectiveness that advertisers need, Thinkbox is here to help customers meet their marketing objectives.
www.thinkbox.tv @Thinkboxtv thinkboxblog.brandrepublic.com
01 Two and a Half Men Comedy Central 02 Formula 1 Sky Sports F1 HD 03 Hell on Wheels TCM 04 The Scapegoat ITV 05 Hotel GB Channel 4 06 Derren Brown: Apocalypse Channel 4 07 Alcatraz Watch 08 The Xtra Factor ITV2 09 Scott & Bailey ITV
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04 ANNUAL REVIEW 2012
FOREWORD 05
Foreword
03
by Tess Alps, Executive Chair 04
2012 was TV’s year. From incredible content like the Olympics bringing people together to emerging trends like multi-screening making TV advertising even more effective, TV is in a very good place. This review is called ‘A year in TV’, but 2012 really was TV’s year. TV broadcasting in the UK became entirely digital when the analogue signal was switched off in October. Fresh evidence of TV advertising’s unrivalled effectiveness emerged. Viewers became increasingly connected and more services launched to help us watch even more TV at home or on the move. And more and more technology companies created new ways to help us chat, play, discover and shop via accompanying screens as we watch TV. It was also the year the London Olympics dominated our summer viewing. Having the greatest show on earth at home underlined how TV remains the beating heart at the centre of our cultural life. It is where we go to be entertained, informed and to share wonderful experiences. We didn’t need the Olympics to prove this, but it’s very welcome that it did. Inevitably, however, the Olympics were not great news for commercial TV. Broadcast on the BBC, they were always going to cast a summer shade over commercial TV as the nation sat enthralled. The consequence was lower TV audiences on non-BBC channels and hence less ad revenue over the summer.
But it was a one-off and, as much as the Olympics cast a financial shadow over commercial TV, they were also a halo above TV in general, demonstrating its vibrancy and health. 2012’s big events, from the Jubilee to Euro 2012, could only be experienced through telly. The sun soon popped out again for commercial TV when Channel 4 broadcast the Paralympics. A couple of newspapers tried to whip up outrage that there were advertising breaks in their coverage but the British viewer was much more sanguine, clearly understanding the relationship between TV advertising and quality TV content. And even if sport or royalty were not your thing, glorious TV content was on offer all across 2012. A few of my personal highlights spanned quality dramas like: Scott & Bailey, Endeavour, Black Mirror, Homeland, Game of Thrones, The Last Weekend, A Young Doctor’s Notebook and The Scapegoat; new comedy series: Friday Night Dinner, Hunderby, Red Dwarf X and Moone Boy; provoking documentaries: 56 Up, Drugs Live and The Plane Crash; diverse entertainment like 4Rooms, Derren Brown: Apocalypse, and Dara O Briain: School of Hard Sums. My Christmas treats included The Snowman and the
01
05
02
01 The Plane Crash Channel 4 02 Red Dwarf Dave 03 The Last Weekend ITV 04 Moone Boy Sky1 05 T he Snowman and the Snowdog Channel 4
TV remains the beating heart at the centre of our cultural life. It is where we go to be entertained, informed and to share wonderful experiences.
Snowdog and the appearance of Keith Lemon up for a date on Celebrity Take Me Out. TV advertising revenue reached a new high in 2012, totalling £4.48bn (see p12). This figure represents all the money invested by advertisers in British commercial TV: linear spot and sponsorship, VOD, product placement and other formats. This is the first year that Thinkbox has published a platform-neutral figure for TV advertising revenue in the UK. Linear revenue was broadly stable and very dominant, but on-demand TV revenue grew amazingly. Catch-up and on-demand TV services became more widely available on TV screens – where viewers want to watch them – in 2012, via new services like Sky+HD and YouView, as well as via existing set-top boxes like Freesat, Freeview, Virgin’s TiVo and games consoles. It is therefore only right that the ad revenue from high-quality broadcaster VOD is brought back to its TV home, rather than living in a box alongside search or social media advertising. I’m sure TV’s customers will appreciate this move. And with the publication of the IPA’s ‘Advertising effectiveness: the long and short of it’ joining the mountain of evidence of the crucial role TV plays in effective ad campaigns and in creating profit (see p26), we would hope that TV revenue can make further steps towards matching its peerless ROI effect in 2013 and beyond. One prevailing TV theme in 2012 was something that is helping TV become even more effective: multi-screening. It seemed that every conference and
blog about TV – or indeed about social media – was trying to get to grips with what multi-screening means for viewers and for advertisers. Our own contribution was an innovative research study called ‘Screen Life: the view from the sofa’ (see p20). We’re very proud that it won awards from both the Market Research Society (including their Grand Prix) and the Media Research Group and we look forward to building on it in 2013 to understand how technology is helping TV grow. In 2012, after years of record growth which Thinkbox has repeatedly predicted to end only to be proven wrong, the UK appears to have found a level of linear TV viewing – around 4 hours a day – that it is comfortable with. To be precise, the average viewer watched 4 hours, 1 minute a day of linear TV in 2012, down just one minute from 2011. This is unlikely to increase further and we would expect our everincreasing appetite for broadcaster VOD to displace some linear viewing in future years as more and more households connect their TVs in some way (see p9). But the important point for advertisers, in a world where TV is becoming truly platform-neutral, is that overall we’ll be watching more TV. 2013 has begun with TV and TV advertising in a very good place – as well as available in almost every place. TV is expanding, more effective than ever and as bound up in our cultural and social lives as ever it has been. If you are an advertiser yet to experience the effect TV can have on your brand, and with TV prices cheaper than they have ever been in real terms, there’s never been a better time to find out how it can transform your business.
TESS ALPS Executive Chair
06 ANNUAL REVIEW 2012
TV in numbers
I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here ITV
TV IN NUMBERS 07
08 ANNUAL REVIEW 2012
TV VIEWING 09
TV viewing
Commercial TV channels accounted for 66% of total linear viewing, with the average viewer watching some 2 hours, 35 minutes a day.
TV in the UK became 100% digital in 2012 when the analogue signal was switched off. Whatever screen you watch your TV on now it is digital TV you are watching.
People playback promptly: 80%+ within 2 days Source: BARB Jan-Dec 2012 – All recorded viewing in digital homes only, individuals
% Playback
50%
47%
45% 40% 35% 30%
25%
25% 20% 15%
LINEAR TV
Commercial TV viewing on TV sets over time by demographics
0%
Source: BARB 2002-2012
3
Adults
ABC1 Adults
16-34
This is welcome news to advertisers, with average viewers watching 47 ads at normal speed a day – 44% more than 10 years ago. One contributing reason to this is the increase in multiscreening, which is encouraging people to watch more TV and remain in the room during ad breaks (see p10).
Kids 2hr 44mins 2hr 08mins
2
2hr 05mins 1hr 41mins
1
5%
3%
3%
+3 days
+4 days
+5 days
+6 days
1% Viewing On +1 days Same Day As Live
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
0
Time-shifted viewing stable in Digital Television Recorder (DTR) homes Source: Sky – 10 Years of Sky Plus (Q2 2006-Q3 2010) and BARB Establishment Survey (Q4 2010 onwards). Time-shifted viewing is from BARB live data.
60
60
50
50
40
40
30
30
20
20
10
10
0 Q2-Q4 2006
Q1-Q4 2007
DTR penetration
Q1-Q4 2008
Q1-Q4 2009
Q1-Q4 2010
Q1-Q4 2011
% time-shifted viewing DTR homes % total time-shifted viewing (All homes)
Q1-Q4 2012
0
BARB’s measurement system also captures any on-demand TV watched on a TV set in this period within 7 days of broadcast. This is a very small figure and BARB does not currently publish it separately, but it is predicted to grow exponentially over the next few years.
Platforms Android BT Vision Freesat
iOS PS3 Smart TVs Sky HD Virgin Media Wii
53% of households now own a DTR, like Sky+, Freeview+ or TiVo. On average 89.9% of linear TV was watched live (i.e. as broadcast) in 2012 and, in those households that own a DTR, 84.4% of linear TV was still watched live. The level of timeshifting in homes that own DTRs has been stable since the first DTRs were released over a decade ago. And of the 15.6% that is time-shifted in DTR homes, nearly half is played back on the same day it was recorded and 81% was watched within a week. The important reassurance for advertisers is that any ad viewed at anything other than normal speed is
+2 days
+7 days
On demand services by platform
Freeview HD
%DTR penetration
Linear TV viewing in the UK, whether live or recorded on a DTR and played back within 7 days, has been breaking records in recent years. In 2012 the average viewer watched 4 hours, 1 minute a day, according to figures from the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (BARB). The third consecutive year that this has been above the 4 hour mark.
6%
5%
Number of hours of TV viewed per day
There are two main ways to watch TV: on linear channels or on demand (broadcaster VOD). The two complement each other and fulfil different viewer needs: we watch linear to share the live experience with others, and to have channels that discover, create and curate the very best content on our behalf. We watch on demand to fit all our TV into our busy lives and to catch-up when we’ve missed things. Linear is convivial, VOD is controllable, both are convenient and together they are increasing the amount of TV people are watching.
10%
10%
% of all viewing
WATCHING TV: CONVIVIAL, CONTROLLABLE AND CONVENIENT
Windows Xbox YouView
BBC iPlayer ITV Player
• • • • • • • • • • • • •
4OD
Sky Go
• • • • • • • • •
• •
•
•
• • •
•
• • •
not counted by BARB and is hence free, despite that fact that there is genuine value in them. BARB’s figures suggest that the growth in the amount of TV that is recorded and played back is slowing down. In 2010, 7.6% was time-shifted; in 2011 9.4% was time-shifted; and in 2012 10.1% was time-shifted. Once all households have the ability to digitally record TV programmes,
Dave On Demand
Demand 5
Now TV
•
• •
•
• •
•
•
•
• • •
• •
• • •
• • •
•
Thinkbox expects the average level of recorded and playback TV viewing to settle at around 15% of total linear viewing, as it has in those households that do currently own DTRs. However on-demand TV will increase as a proportion of the overall TV total.
10 ANNUAL REVIEW 2012
TV VIEWING 11
TV viewed on other devices is a small part of total viewing
01
Source: BARB Jan-Dec 2012, individuals
TV (streamed & on demand) viewed on other devices
4.50 3 mins
4.00 3.50
Commercial linear TV Non-commercial linear TV
3.00 2.50
2hr 35mins
2.00 1.50 1.00
1hr 26mins
0.50 0.00
BROADCASTER VOD VOD (video on demand) is a term that refers to the sort of online video content that you have to select to watch. This can range from watching a UGC clip on YouTube to a paid download of a film via iTunes. But the premium advertising opportunities are in broadcaster VOD (or TVOD). It is important to distinguish broadcaster VOD – that is, TV-quality content available on-demand – from the rest of the online video market. Viewers and advertisers certainly do. An autoplay video banner is not the same form of advertising as a 30” spot in the middle of watching Homeland on 4OD, Downton Abbey on ITV Player, or A League of Their Own on Sky Go; it should not be valued the same way.
There is going to be an awful lot of video around delivered by various online and mobile technologies so it’s extremely important that the industry makes proper distinctions between the nature of the content and the context in which it’s viewed. There are many ways to watch broadcaster VOD. Until recently, it was watched mainly on PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphones. But in the home people want to watch TV programmes on the best screen if they can. With more and more households having connected TVs – either via a Smart TV set, established or new; free or pay-TV set top boxes (e.g. Sky, Virgin, Freeview, Freesat and YouView); or via connected device such as a games console or a connected laptop – this is bringing more on-demand and/or catch-up TV to the main set.
PENETRATION OF DEVICES ON THE INCREASE
In 2012 viewers in the UK watched an average of 3 minutes a day of TV on devices other than the TV set.
19% 02
58% 75%
03
Source: Ofcom communications report – December 2012 update. Adult penetration figures
01 Britain’s Got Talent ITV 02 Homeland Channel 4 03 Barclays Premier League Sky Sports
2012
Measuring all the new ways TV can be watched is one of the biggest challenges facing the TV industry. BARB’s figures do not yet include TV viewed on devices other than TV sets. However, according to figures supplied by UK broadcasters to Thinkbox, in 2012 viewers in the UK watched an average of 3 minutes a day of TV on non-TV set devices via established services such as ITV Player, Sky Go, 4OD and BBC iPlayer and newer services such as Dave On Demand – mostly VOD but some live streams. This is the first time the average amount of TV watched via devices such as tablets, smartphones and laptops has been quantified. It amounts to an average of three 30-minute TV episodes a month per viewer (90 minutes). This represents an additional 1.2% of TV viewing, which is in line with BARB estimates. On page p46, Justin Sampson, BARB’s chief executive, outlines how BARB is meeting the challenge of measuring TV wherever and on whatever it is watched. With the spread of internet-connected TV sets, Thinkbox expects that some on-demand viewing, which currently takes place off the TV set, will move
to the TV set, as that is the screen people prefer to watch TV on. Because it is relatively new and growing at an eye-watering pace, VOD gets a lot of attention. This is natural and proper, as long as we don’t lose sight of the fact that, despite the ready availability of VOD, we still watch TV in much the same way we always have: we generally prefer to be in our living rooms with friends or family watching programmes on the main TV set broadcast on ‘live’ TV channels. This is unlikely to change. In fact TV channels themselves are the most basic form of on demand viewing; you know where to get the sort of TV you want from a particular channel brand if you don’t have a particular programme in mind. Broadcaster VOD helps people watch more of the TV they love. Ever since the first video recorder, people have wanted more control over TV and VOD has refined this, offering viewers more choice and convenience, an excellent way to catch-up, to act instantly on a recommendation, or to explore the rich TV archives – and all of this at a time that suits them and, increasingly, on the best screen in the home.
12 ANNUAL REVIEW 2012
THE VALUE OF TV ADVERTISING INVESTMENT 13
The value of TV advertising investment TV advertising revenue in 2012 totalled a record £4.48bn, up 1.4% on the equivalent figure in 2011.
01
Never more TV bang for your buck Source: AAWARC revenue figures. 2012 revenue is based on data supplied by UK broadcasters, constant 2012 prices
ABC1 Adults
Adults
16-34s
30
02
That TV advertising is expanding is important. Advertising makes an important contribution to the UK economy. The recent study by Deloitte on behalf of the Advertising Association showed that for every £1 spent on advertising, the economy grows by £6. Overall, this amounts to a £100bn effect on total GDP and TV advertising plays a significant part in this. At the end of 2011, Ebiquity analysed over 3,000 ad campaigns across 5 years and found that every £1 spent on TV delivers £1.70 of incremental profit, the highest of any medium. The strength of TV ad investment reflects commercial TV’s expanding viewing and the further acknowledgement of the evidence of its unrivalled ability to create business profit.
20 15 10
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
0
1994
5
1993
This figure represents all the money invested by advertisers in commercial TV: linear spot and sponsorship, TVOD, and product placement. This is the first year that Thinkbox has published a platform-neutral figure for TV advertising revenue in the UK. Linear revenue dipped slightly after its record year in 2011 and remains dominant, but on-demand TV revenue is continuing to grow dramatically.
Million Impacts
25
Year NB Based on £100k TV spend
With the increasing complexity in the media landscape it is getting harder to source reliable spend data by brand, but the following numbers from Nielsen are the best currently accepted source. There were 771 new or returning advertisers to TV last year (returning after no TV advertising for at least five years). Notable new investors were Netflix (£15m), eBay (£12.5m) and YouView (£6.7m). Together, new or returning advertisers accounted for 2.6% of total TV ad revenues, according to Nielsen. Retail remained the top spending TV advertising category in 2012, although this sector’s investment fell by 8.4% on 2011. This was followed by Entertainment and Leisure, which increased spend by 4.4%, and Finance, which increased spend by 11.4%. There were dramatic increases in TV ad spend in Government, Social and Political advertising (up 30.4%), Electronics and Household Appliances (up 22.7%) and Online Retail (up 31%).
03
In terms of TV spend by holding company, Procter & Gamble and Unilever remained the biggest spending holding companies on TV, although both decreased investment compared to 2011. There were major increases in spending by Sony Corporation (up 23.14%), BT Group (up 17.83%) and the Government (up 144.27%). DFS remained the highest spending individual brand on TV, increasing its investment by 13.79% in 2012 compared to 2011. Some of the other significant increases reflect the battle of price comparison websites with Gocompare.com up 251.3%, Moneysupermarket.com up 272.9%, and Confused.com up 56.79%. The profit payback is the true way to evaluate any marketing investment but for those just as interested in cost as well as value, TV prices in 2012 were the cheapest in real terms on record, some 38% cheaper than 20 years ago. Fill your boots.
TOP 20 HOLDING COMPANY SPEND Rank
Brand
Linear TV expenditure
% YOY Difference
1
Procter & Gamble
123,227,434
-8.14
2
Unilever
94,054,711
-18.04
3
L’Oreal UK
92,113,449
-8.67
4
Royal Bank of Scotland Group
72,764,925
-11.19
5
British Sky Broadcasting Group
70,227,838
1.13
6
Reckitt Benckiser
69,745,012
-11.65
7
BT Group
62,572,742
17.83
8
Mars Incorporated
58,264,876
-7.59
9
Home Retail Group
50,059,293
-5.97
10
Tesco
44,640,339
-17.91
11
Wal-mart stores
39,250,963
2.61
12
Nestle
37,677,513
-2.19
13
DFS Furniture Holdings
37,030,026
12.25
14
News Corporation
34,920,230
7.93
15
McDonald’s Corporation
34,720,528
1.11
16
Admiral Group
33,673,043
4.31
17
Lloyds Banking Group
33,394,044
-0.84
18
Kellogg Company
33,302,721
-20.24
19
Government Communication Network
33,091,059
144.27
20
Sony Corporation
32,603,508
23.14
Source: Nielsen Ad Dynamix Jan-Dec 2012
TOP 20 BRAND / PRODUCT SPEND
01 Homebase Containers 02 Compare the Market Juggling 03 McDonald’s We all make the games
Rank
Brand
Linear TV expenditure
1
DFS
36,987,927
13.79
2
McDonald’s
28,742,377
-10.34
3
Confused.com – Motor insurance
21,564,182
56.79
4
Currys/PC World
20,429,533
-14.29
5
Argos
20,169,058
-0.50
6
KFC Kentucky Fried Chicken
20,068,478
-2.21
7
Asda
17,510,119
-8.39
8
Comparethemarket.com
15,131,118
0.00
9
Netflix
15,029,085
0.00
10
Direct Line – Motor insurance
13,734,052
-27.45
11
Wonga.com
13,453,924
72.50
12
Homebase
12,859,530
21.86
13
eBay
12,501,753
0.00
14
Gocompare.com
12,363,365
251.32
15
Sainsbury’s
12,247,677
20.41
16
The Sun
12,134,939
24.99
17
Moneysupermarket.com
11,780,855
272.86
18
LV – Motor insurance
11,578,226
67.30
19
BT – Infinity broadband
11,294,157
42.79
20
Health Lottery
10,758,482
46.20
Source: Nielsen Ad Dynamix Jan-Dec 2012
% YOY Difference
14 ANNUAL REVIEW 2012
Trends & innovation
Tom & Jerry Cartoon Network
TRENDS & INNOVATION 15
16 ANNUAL REVIEW 2012
SPOT THE DIFFERENCE 17
Spot the difference: TV ad innovations
1. THE BIGGER BREAK Including ad launch break events, prepromoted breaks, themed breaks, live ads, contextual ads and advertorials.
2. CLOSER TO CONTENT Including sponsorship, advertiserfunded programmes, product placement, licensing, and televised live events.
It’s not just how we watch TV that is constantly innovating, so is TV advertising. There is an expanding palette of commercial opportunities for brands. Some of these innovations are driven by changes to regulation (e.g. product placement) and many more by technology. But perhaps the biggest driver of innovation is a cultural change within broadcaster commercial teams. All are now promoting collaborative partnerships to bring advertisers’ ambitions to life. The 30 second TV spot remains the bedrock of TV advertising and there is no sign we are about to stop watching, talking about, and sharing them with others. It’s no coincidence that they remain at the heart of most IPA Effectiveness Award-winning campaigns (see p.30). However, there is a host of other commercial innovations on TV that work with and alongside spot advertising, offering advertisers new and inventive ways to create TV campaigns. These can be split into three broad trends:
01
3. INTERACTION, PARTICIPATION AND GAMIFICATION This was a huge trend in 2012 with the launch of apps such as Shazam and Zeebox that made instant response to a TV commercial simple and rewarding. But you didn’t need an app to encourage interaction; simple invitations in TV spots to comment on websites /social media, to enter a competition, to vote and even to shape the subsequent advertising narrative abounded.
02
In broadcaster VOD, where clickability is a key feature, there are a host of interaction possibilities on offer in pre-roll advertising. If you can think of it, broadcasters can probably deliver it.
EXAMPLES OF INNOVATION Here are just a few examples of the innovation at large in 2012 in our biggest digital medium. In several cases, you can see how some brands have interwoven all of the above trends:
03
American Express Created ‘Hidden Talent’, a six-part, branded-content series on Channel 4 which explored the hidden talents of ordinary people. Andrex Washlets Created a series of documentary-style advertorials on Channel 4 in which Dawn Porter entertainingly encouraged the UK to sample the product. British Heart Foundation Ran contextual adverts for its helpline around a storyline in Coronation Street about Audrey suffering a heart attack.
BT & Sainsbury’s BT and Sainsbury’s, as sponsors of the Paralympics, employed a mixture of in-event branding, TV sponsorships (linear and VOD), and licensing for use in TV ad breaks with Channel 4. Find My Past Created an eponymous TV series on Yesterday in which members of the public found out how their ancestors played a role in some of history’s key moments. The series, very naturally, featured the website in action – so product placement as well. Mercedes-Benz Ran a series of three TV ads in which viewers were invited to choose what the characters should do next by voting on Twitter with the hashtag #YOUDRIVE. Surf D’Reem Surf sponsors ITV2’s The Only Way is Essex and created a product variant using TOWIE licensing in the form of a limited-edition liquid detergent called Surf D’Reem. Tetley Tea Tetley Tea ran ads encouraging viewers to “Make time. Make Tetley” in 4OD’s lifestyle programming. The ads appeared whenever a programme was paused.
LOOKING AHEAD: ADDRESSABLE ADVERTISING IN LINEAR TV The pace of change is unlikely to slow in 2013 for TV and one development in particular is getting us excited. We’ve been talking about addressable advertising in linear TV for quite a while but it does genuinely look likely to launch in 2013. Addressable advertising allows brands to tailor their messages to households, based on volunteered, publicly available or advertisers’ own information. It also offers airtime management capabilities such as frequency capping or sequential narration. There is clear potential for TV to benefit from marketing budgets currently spent
on other addressable media, such as direct mail or email marketing, in addition to their normal mass reach brand campaigns. Sky’s AdSmart service will be running live tests with brand partners in 2013 and Virgin Media is also set to launch addressable ads.
CASE STUDY: XBOX KINECT SPORTS 2 The key to selling Kinect is demonstration and trial. Media agency UM had embraced all forms of TV – ads, advertorials, sponsorship – to inspire families to have a go. UM’s challenge was to make Kinect Sports 2 the biggest-selling game in a market declining by 9.5%. They formed a close association with Sky1’s A League of Their Own, perfect for active families’ shared viewing. In addition to sponsorship, a Kinect challenge was built into the show with celebrity comedians actively using the product, the most integrated and strategic use of product placement achieved in the UK to date. Kinect Sports 2 was the best-selling Kinect game of the year and helped the franchise grow 47%. Winner of Best use of TV innovation category in the Thinkbox TV Planning Awards 2012 Title: ‘In a League of its Own’ Agency: UM London
01 Chris Hollins Find My Past Yesterday 02 Mercedes Benz You Drive 03 British Heart Foundation Hard & Fast
18 ANNUAL REVIEW 2012
CONNECTED VIEWING 19
Chat, play, discover and buy: connected viewing
01
TV – whether watching, finding, controlling, recording, or sharing it – is always one of the most exciting things in technology and much of the recent excitement has focused on TV and its viewers becoming connected and the benefits for advertisers. TVs are getting connected, either to the Internet directly or via a set top box or games console. The obvious benefit of a connected TV is that viewers can reach into the Internet and access even more on-demand TV on their beautiful big screens with minimal fuss. In tech circles this excitement is reaching fever pitch with anticipation that Apple is developing a connected TV. If it is, it will be entering one of the most competitive spaces around. Whether it does or not, one of the main benefits of connected TVs to advertisers and their customers is the return path they offer and the potential for activities like shopping via the TV set. It could lead to an additional economic model for commercial TV based more on the transactional model found in e-commerce.
However, the more we research this topic the more we are inclined to believe that people treasure their TV screen for watching content (or output) whether linear or on-demand, but they prefer to input on a different personal device rather than on the shared screen. We are quite happy to be proved wrong and have no axe to grind either way. People buy TVs primarily to watch TV despite what else they can do on them (like use social media apps) and you don’t need a connected TV to respond to an ad. 2012 was the year when the advertising industry started seriously to get to grips with the effects of, and potential for, connected companion screens: the smartphones, tablets and laptops that we have with us when we watch TV on our TV sets (see details on dedicated TV apps overleaf).
People have always multi-tasked when watching TV; multi-screening, as it is known, is simply the latest accompaniment. But it is a very interesting one and, though still not a mainstream behaviour, it is on the increase. Thinkbox believes that connected viewers on companion screens represent the most interesting and likely commercial opportunity for advertisers. Our research in this area has shown that multi-screeners are even more open, welcoming and positive about advertising than single-screeners.
01 Girls Sky Atlantic 02 Coronation Street ITV
02
20 ANNUAL REVIEW 2012
Screen Life: the view from the sofa There were many research studies in 2012 dedicated to multi-screening and Thinkbox – with COG Research – was responsible for perhaps the one that went furthest under the skin of exactly what is now happening in our living rooms. Our study – ‘Screen Life: the view from the sofa’ – won the Grand Prix at the Media Research Group Awards and the award for Advertising and Media Research from the Market Research Society, so we’re not only sickeningly proud of it but, more
ZEEBOX TV APP zeebox is an interactive second screen app that enables viewers to discover, connect, share and interact with live TV as they watch. It enables them to see what friends are watching and invite them to watch together; chat, share and tweet around shows; get information on topics talked about on TV via zeetags; play along with shows; follow celebrities; get live stats for big sporting events; and buy products seen on screen.
SHAZAM TV APP Shazam uses innovative audio-recognition technology in TV ads to enable viewers to access extra content. Viewers who have Shazam installed on their smartphones, currently more than 10 million in the UK, can use the app to interact with enabled adverts to enter competitions, get additional information about a brand or product, view additional special content or download free content. In the UK, Shazam has partnered with ITV to offer advertisers the chance to have their spots Shazam-enabled.
CONNECTED VIEWING 21
importantly, the industry has seen value in its findings as well. What makes Screen Life special is the complicated combination of research techniques that made it happen. It involved: • Filming the living rooms of 20 multi-screening households in the UK. • Analysing over 600 hours of footage of TV viewing. • Psycho-physiological analysis to examine actual programme and ad break attention. • Self-reporting of online/mobile activity using COG’s award-winning ‘Digi-ethno’ technique. • Laboratory tests to examine ad recognition. • Online quant research among 2,000 people with TV and online access. Here are the key findings: Multi-screening keeps viewers present for ad breaks • People were more likely to stay in the room or not change the channel during the ad break if they were multiscreening. Multi-screening viewers stayed in the room for 81% of ad breaks; viewers not multi-screening stayed in the room for 72%. TV is a major catalyst of multi-screening • 31% (of those with access to TV and the Internet) have chatted about TV programmes on a second screen; this rises to 56% for 16-24s. • 22% use text to chat about TV; 18% use social media; 10% use mobile messenger services. Multi-screening encourages more TV viewing
• When two people were present, as expected, due to increased interaction the figures were lower. 41% of viewing sessions were for longer than 15 minutes when multi-screening compared to 35% when watching with no accompanying activity. Multi-screening does not affect ad recognition • In a laboratory test where participants were invited to watch TV and/or use a laptop without being made aware they were to be tested on TV ad recognition, there was no significant difference in the level of ad recognition between people when multi-screening or only watching TV. Multi-screening brings people closer to TV and its ads • Multi-screening – like other new TV technologies, such as digital recorders – makes people feel closer to TV as it enables them to research what they watch, share with online friends and participate. Multi-screening appears to encourage more shared and family TV viewing • Partners and children are more likely to keep a TV viewer company if they can multi-screen – whereas previously they might not have stayed in the room. Thinkbox will be doing more research under the ‘Screen Life’ banner and hopefully future studies will be as revealing. What this first study has shown is that connected viewers are nothing but good news for commercial TV. People can chat, play, discover and even buy things as they watch. With multiple screens come multiple opportunities.
• On average, when only one person was in the room and was multi-screening, 64% of their TV viewing sessions lasted for longer than 15 minutes. This compares to 47% when watching with no accompanying activity. Kidnap and Ransom ITV
22 ANNUAL REVIEW 2012
TECHNOLOGY INNOVATIONS 23
2012 – a busy year of TV technology innovations
zeebox introduces commercial partnerships with Showtime as well as zeetags to programmes
January
BT Vision 2 launches
ITV Player available on smart TV
Sky Go new on Android Apple iPad 3 is unveiled
February
March
April
4seven launches on Channel 4
Sky On Demand becomes broadband neutral
Netflix UK launches
May
Sky introduces NOW TV
ITV trials Shazam-able ads
June
Launch of YouView with left-turning EPG
Sky 2TB DTR set top box introduced
July
Sky+ remote control integrates with zeebox
Sky launches catch-up TV on demand
August
ITV pay player launches
Freesat offers ondemand TV services
BBC iPlayer is downloadable to mobile devices
September
Apple iPad Mini is released
October
EE debuts 4G in the UK
Sky Deutschland films first 4k Ultra-HD football match
November
1st 4k Ultra HD TVs available in UK
December
24 ANNUAL REVIEW 2012
TV’S PEERLESS EFFECTIVENESS 25
TV’s peerless effectiveness A Young Doctor’s Notebook Sky Arts
26 ANNUAL REVIEW 2012
ADVERTISING EFFECTIVENESS 27
Advertising effectiveness: the long and short of it Every year there is a mountain of media and marketing research; too much to read it all and, sadly, too much which doesn’t bear scrutiny. But if there was ever a piece of research the industry could trust and that demanded attention, it was published in 2012 by the IPA. 01
JOHN STUDY: CASE LEWIS CASE JOHNSTUDY LEWIS It’s hard to imagine but John Lewis only used TV for the first time in 2009. MGOMD chose TV to create a powerful emotional connection but also to drive sales in-store and online. Since Christmas 2009 John Lewis has consistently out-performed the British Retail Consortium sales monitor, demonstrating strong growth in market share. This has translated into growth in like-for-like sales
and profit every year from 2009 to 2011. Econometric modelling has calculated that John Lewis’ TV advertising has produced a cumulative incremental revenue return of £488.5m and incremental profit of £150.1m. The brand has won countless marketing accolades as well as a place in the nation’s heart.
‘Advertising effectiveness: the long and short of it’ was researched and written for the IPA – in association with Thinkbox – by Les Binet, Head of Effectiveness at adam & eve DDB, and Marketing Consultant Peter Field. It was an update on their influential earlier work, ‘Marketing in the era of accountability’, which was published in 2007. The updated study examined the business effects of 1,000 advertising campaigns from over 30 years of IPA Effectiveness data and across 83 different categories. The findings provide evidence-based recommendations for businesses on how best to approach investment in advertising. The key findings and recommendations include:
Winner of Best ongoing use of TV category in the Thinkbox TV Planning Awards 2012 Title: ‘TV and Tears’ Agency: Manning Gottlieb OMD
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Reaching a mass audience is most effective • Tight audience targeting, whilst desirable for activation, does not help long-term success. Campaigns which reach a mass audience of existing and new customers are more efficient. • Brands which target the whole market achieve 3 times as many large business effects as those that focus on existing customers (effects include increased profit, sales, or market share, and a reduction in price sensitivity). • Attempting to build deep, loyal relationships with existing customers is less effective than investing in advertising that reaches as wide an audience as possible. Ad campaigns which target new customers report 60% more large sales effects in the first six months alone. • Because of its relationship with reach, share of voice and excess SOV, remains.
01 John Lewis The Long Wait 02 Yorkshire Tea The Story of Little Urn 03 Gü Give in to Gü
28 ANNUAL REVIEW 2012
ADVERTISING EFFECTIVENESS 29
TV gives the best business results
TV boosts efficiency
TV is becoming more efficient
Source: The Long and Short of it: IPA Databank
Source: The Long and Short of it: IPA Databank
Source: The Long and Short of it: IPA Databank
0.9
0.6
40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10%
Annualised excess share of voice efficiency
0.8 Annualised excess share of voice efficiency
Increase in number of business effects
45%
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
5% 0%
Full results and analysis of this report will be published in March by the IPA.
0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1
TV
Radio
Press
5 KEY FINDINGS FROM THE NEW IPA STUDY 1. Getting the right balance of short-term activation and long-term brand building can double efficiency. 2. R egularly reaching a mass audience is most effective, not chasing customer loyalty. 3. T V advertising creates the most business effects and is crucial to long-term profit. 4. B rands that advertise for the long-term generate double the profit. 5. A t least 60% of ad budgets should go into long-term brand building.
01 P&G Mums 02 EE Mobile Gaming
Posters
Internet
Sponsors
0.0
PR
Balance activation and long-term brand building for greater profit • Advertisers need to ensure their campaigns strike the right balance between long-term investment in brand building using mass media, and short-term, direct methods that stimulate sales – which can include TV, of course, as TV works in both the short- and long-term. Campaigns that use both in harmony are more effective, more efficient and more profitable. • Long-term (3+ years) brand-building investment in advertising delivers double the profit of a short-term approach (less than 1 year), but investing in both delivers even higher returns. • The largest part of an advertising budget should be invested in media with a mass reach and long-term effects, such as TV. At least 60% should be invested in these brandbuilding media with the remainder spent on shorter-term activation channels to provide a response mechanism to capitalise on the effects of the brand-building activity. These figures change by market category.
• The report warned that although price promotions can maximise customer response rates and stimulate short-term sales, they can also increase price sensitivity and erode long-term profits. TV advertising is crucial to long-term profit • None of the 1,000 ad campaigns included in the study achieved substantial long-term profit growth without investing in TV advertising. • TV advertising remains the most effective way to build a brand and creates larger business effects than other forms of advertising. • TV advertising is becoming more effective due to growing synergies with online and increased viewing reducing the cost of reaching mass audiences with TV. • Including TV advertising in a campaign increases the campaign’s efficiency six-fold.
Used TV
Did not use TV
None of the 1,000 ad campaigns included in the study achieved substantial long-term profit growth without investing in TV advertising.
0.0
1980 – 2002 TV Cases
2004 – 2010 TV Cases 01
Creative advertising and scale are crucial • Stirring the audience’s emotions with advertising is more effective than using rational messages over all but the shortest of terms. Emotional advertising is twice as efficient as rational, and delivers twice the profit. • Highly creative advertising is the most effective of all, but even the best creative work will fail if it does not have sufficient scale.
For further evidence of advertising effectiveness, visit www.thinkbox.tv or download the Thinkbox app for iPad via the Apple App store.
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30 ANNUAL REVIEW 2012
IPA EFFECTIVENESS AWARDS 2012 31
IPA Effectiveness Awards 2012 – sponsored by Thinkbox
GOLD WINNERS Aldi McCann Manchester British Gas CHI & Partners Cadbury Dairy Milk Ogilvy & Mather Advertising India Dept for Transport Leo Burnett Digital UK DLKW Lowe, MediaCom Dove Ogilvy & Mather Shanghai
The IPA Effectiveness Awards recognise campaigns that have proved the commercial power of their ideas and demonstrated their payback in hard business results. That is what makes them, and their winners, so outstanding and why Thinkbox is proud to have been their sponsor for eight consecutive years. In 2012, 33 of the 35 winners used TV advertising, making it the most used form of communication among the award winners and a common denominator for the very best in effectiveness. Every one of the 14 Gold award winners used TV.
SILVER WINNERS
SPECIAL PRIZES
Art Fund
Effectiveness Agency of the Year Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO
Danone Activia IBM
Health Promotion Board Singapore Ogilvy & Mather Advertising Singapore
Magnum Gold
John Lewis adam&eve, Manning Gottlieb OMD
The National Lottery
McDonald’s Leo Burnett Metropolitan Police Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO Snickers Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO Virgin Atlantic RKCR/ Y&R, Gyro, OMD International, Hall & Partners Walkers Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO Which? Mike Colling & Co
Nikon Nissan VO5 Extreme Style Waitrose Yorkshire Tea
BRONZE WINNERS Audi Boots BT Dove Hair Gordons Gü LV = Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts Ta Chong Bank Velvet Virgin Trains
Grand Prix John Lewis Best Channel Planning Digital UK Best International Snickers Best Demonstration of Consumer Participation Metropolitan Police Best Use of Insight Cadbury Dairy Milk Best Dedication to Effectiveness Waitrose Best New Learning Metropolitan Police
32 ANNUAL REVIEW 2012
Gold medal TV
Baileys Pour Spectacular
GOLD MEDAL TV 33
34 ANNUAL REVIEW 2012
PROGRAMMED FOR SUCCESS 35
Programmed for success People take TV for granted. They expect to turn on the TV and find something to watch – if they don’t already know what they want. TV is both part of the fabric of daily life and a crucial part of the creative economy which contributes 8% to UK GDP. We are lucky to be home to worldclass television and we are damn good at making it; Britain exports more TV formats than any other market, including the US. There is something for everyone. With over 400 channels to choose from, anyone who suggests ‘there’s nothing on’ can’t be looking. Longrunning dramas, the best foreign imports, reality shows, ‘structured’ reality shows, comedy, gameshows, kids’ shows, factual series, sports, animations, news, regular current affairs series, one-off documentaries, music for all tastes…UK programmes provide the effective environments that give viewers enjoyment and deliver TV advertising success.
Viewers enjoy such bounty because of the huge investments made by the UK broadcasters. More than £5bn was invested in TV content by the UK’s commercial broadcasters in 2012 and a large part of this vital investment came from advertising revenue (see p12). And this advertiser investment helped lead to a raft of award-wining commercial TV programmes in 2012. The winners opposite – from BAFTA, The Royal Television Society, The National Television Awards, Golden Globes, International Emmy Awards and British Comedy Awards – underline UK commercial broadcasters’ ongoing commitment to produce the finest content for us all to enjoy.
04
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05
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BAFTAS
NATIONAL TELEVISION AWARDS
Leading Actor Dominic West, Appropriate Adult (ITV)
Serial Drama Coronation Street (ITV)
Leading Actress Emily Watson, Appropriate Adult (ITV)
Drama Downton Abbey (ITV)
Supporting Actress Monica Dolan, Appropriate Adult (ITV)
Comedy Panel Show Celebrity Juice (ITV2)
Male Performance in a Comedy Programme Darren Boyd, Spy (Sky One)
Entertainment Presenter Ant & Dec (ITV)
Single Drama Random (Channel 4) Mini Series This is England ’88 (Channel 4)
Reality Programme I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! (ITV)
Soap & Continuing Drama Coronation Street (ITV)
Talent Show The X Factor (ITV)
Specialist Factual Mummifying Alan: Egypt’s Last Secret (Channel 4)
Serial Drama Performance Katherine Kelly – Coronation Street
News Coverage Channel 4 News: Japan Earthquake (Channel 4) Entertainment Programme Derren Brown: The Experiments (Channel 4) YouTube Audience Award Celebrity Juice (ITV2)
03
01 X Factor ITV 02 Alan Carr: Chatty Man Channel 4 03 Spy Sky1 04 This Morning ITV 05 24 Hours in A&E Channel 4 06 Hunderby Sky Atlantic
Factual Programme This Morning (ITV)
ROYAL TELEVISION AWARDS Entertainment Derren Brown: The Experiments (Channel 4)
Talk Show Alan Carr: Chatty Man (Channel 4)
BRITISH COMEDY AWARDS Best Comedy Entertainment Programme Harry Hill’s TV Burp (ITV) Best Sketch Show Cardinal Burns (Channel 4) Best Sitcom Hunderby (Sky Atlantic) Best New Comedy Programme Hunderby (Sky Atlantic)
Arts Graffiti Wars (Channel 4)
GOLDEN GLOBES
Documentary Series 24 Hours in A&E (Channel 4)
Best Mini-Series or Movie Downton Abbey (Masterpiece) (PBS/ITV1)
History Dambusters: Building the Bouncing Bomb (Channel 4) Science and Natural History Mummifying Alan: Egypt’s Last Secret (Channel 4) Soap and Continuing Drama Coronation Street (ITV)
INTERNATIONAL EMMY AWARDS TV Movie/Mini-Series Black Mirror (Zeppotron/Channel 4)
36 ANNUAL REVIEW 2012
CELEBRATING ADVERTISING CREATIVITY 37
01
04
Celebrating advertising creativity The importance of creativity in advertising is beyond question. It has always been acknowledged anecdotally, but thankfully recent research fusing creatively awarded campaigns with IPA Effectiveness Award winners has proven it with hard numbers. Creatively awarded campaigns are 10 times more efficient at building market share.
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TV is the home of advertising creativity and 2012 was another vintage year. Thinkbox does its bit in honouring creativity with The Thinkboxes, our bi-monthly creative awards scheme celebrating the best of TV advertising in all its forms. Held in association with Haymarket Brand Media, The Thinkboxes’ shortlist of the best five ads across two months is selected by Haymarket and Thinkbox, and then the Thinkbox Creative Academy, a body made up of over 250 advertising luminaries, votes for their top three. Craig Inglis, Marketing Director of John Lewis, and Nick Gill, Executive Creative Director of BBH, are the joint Academy Presidents. This joint presidency symbolises the partnership between advertiser and creative teams required to bring the best ideas to fruition. Alongside The Thinkboxes, 2012 saw the launch of a series of short films – also in association with Haymarket – featuring the cream of adland’s creative talent at their magnanimous best: ‘3 great ads I had nothing to do with’. So far it has featured Craig Inglis, Marketing Director, John Lewis; Nick Gill, Executive Creative Director, BBH; Justin Tindall, Group Executive Creative Director, Leo Burnett London and Leon Jaume, Executive Creative Director, WCRS. You can watch all the films on brandrepublic.com, on Thinkbox.tv, or on the Thinkbox App for iPad.
01 The Guardian The Three Little Pigs
04 Adidas Take The Stage
02 Audi The Swan
05 IKEA Playin’ with My Friends
03 Volkswagen Dad
06 John Lewis The Journey
TV is the home of advertising creativity and 2012 was another vintage year.
THE 2012 THINKBOXES WERE AWARDED TO: January / February: The Guardian Ad: The Three Little Pigs Client: David Pemsel, Richard Furness, Anna Hayman Agency: BBH Director: Ringan Ledwidge
July / August: Adidas Ad: Take The Stage Client: Nick Craggs, Barry Moore Agency: Sid Lee (Amsterdam) Director: Isaiah Seret
Shortlist: Cadbury Dairy Milk Bubbly – Joyville, Durex – In Sync, T-Mobile – What Britain Loves, Virgin Media Broadband – Keep Up
Shortlist: EDF – Heroes, McDonald’s – We All Make The Games, Nike – Find Your Greatness, Trainline.com – Be Sensible
March / April: Audi Ad: The Swan Clients: Dominic Chambers Agency: BBH Director: Joachim Back
September / October: IKEA Ad: Playin’ With My Friends Client: Peter Wright Agency: Mother Director: Dougal Wilson
Shortlist: The National Lottery – Hero’s Return, Procter & Gamble – Best Job In The World, Visa Europe – Bolt Versus London, Weetabix – Dad’s Day Out May / June: Volkswagen Ad: Dad Client: Kirsten Stagg Agency: DDB London Director: Will Lovelace, Dylan Southern Shortlist: British Airways – Home Advantage, Halfords – The Trip, Honda – The More We Look, The More We Learn, Hovis – Farmer’s Lad
Shortlist: Baileys – Pour Spectacular, Cravendale – Catnapped, St John’s Ambulance – Helpless, TalkTalk – Model Britain November / December: John Lewis Ad: The Journey Client: Craig Inglis Agency: adam&eve/DDB Director: Dougal Wilson Shortlist: Acer Aspire S7 – VoxFox, Department of Health – Mutation, EE – Mobile Gaming, Morrisons – The Truth
38 ANNUAL REVIEW 2012
SMART TV: THE TV PLANNING AWARDS 39
Smart TV:
the TV Planning Awards 2012
CASE STUDY: VIRGIN MEDIA Virgin Media was struggling against very high-spending, ‘alwayson’ competitors and declining perceptions of its technology. Fifty6 changed previous short-term product bursts to a sustained multimedia campaign. TV led the emotional task, supported by outdoor and tactical press. Highly detailed and sensitive advertising combined with PR via
01 Save the Children
the endorsement of technology influencers encouraged people to go online and find out more. Once online, 1 in 4 customers upgraded to TiVo and 1 in 5 prospects clicked ‘buy now’. The sale of one TiVo box every minute in Q3 off-set declines in other areas and helped Virgin Media increase their sales to £1bn, their best ever ROI.
02 Virgin TiVo
In total, there were a record 73 entries to the Awards in 2012. We appreciate the effort that goes into compiling the evidence and writing it up for submission and would like to thank all entrants for helping add to the sum of knowledge about the effectiveness of TV advertising.
THE JUDGES
03 John Lewis
04 Ann Summers
• Vicky Fox, Head of Planning, Thinkbox • Mark Jarvis, Partner, the7stars • Jeremy Lee, Associate Editor, Haymarket • Jo Massey, Advertising Manager, Waitrose
• Tony Regan, Head of Planning & Insight, Initiative Media • Jason Spencer, Regional Sales Director, ITV • Jeremy Tester, Director of Brand Strategy and Communications, Sky Media • Charlie Varley, Planning Director, Carat Manchester • Simon Wilden, Planning Partner, Good Stuff • David Wilding, Head of Planning, PHD
Best ongoing use of TV Manning Gottlieb OMD John Lewis ‘TV and Tears’ Best newcomer to TV & best low budget use of TV Goodstuff Ann Summers ‘The Only Way is Essex takeover’
• Jonathan Allan, Sales Director, Channel 4
• Lindsay Pattison, CEO, Maxus
THE WINNERS
Best use of TV in an integrated campaign Fifty6 TiVo ‘TiVo: one sold every minute’
The Thinkbox TV Planning Awards jury was chaired by Tess Alps, Executive Chair of Thinkbox, and made up of a host of eminent industry figures. They were:
• Craig Mawdsley, Joint Planning Director, AMV BBDO
Title: ‘TiVo: one sold every minute’ Agency: Fifty6
Grand Prix adam&eve Save the Children ‘Born to Shine’
From spots and sponsorship to the latest broadcaster VOD opportunities, smart media planning is the foundation for advertising success and the Thinkbox TV Planning Awards celebrate and recognise inspired and effective uses of TV.
2012 was the fifth year that Thinkbox has held the TV Planning Awards. They celebrate and recognise inspired and effective uses of TV advertising, from spots and sponsorship to the latest emerging interactive and TVOD opportunities. A TV planner’s palette has never been so colourful. This year’s Grand Prix winner, adam&eve’s ‘Born to Shine’ campaign for Save the Children, was emblematic of the smart, innovative thinking that underpins the best TV advertising (see case study on p45).
Winner of best use of TV in an integrated campaign
05 Xbox
06 Hotwire.com
Best use of sponsorship or content adam&eve Save the Children ‘Born to Shine’ Best use of TV innovation UM London Xbox ‘Product Placement in a League of its Own’ Best use of TV for response Total Media Hotwire.com ‘Hotting up response through TV’
40 ANNUAL REVIEW 2012
FRESH PERSPECTIVES 41
Fresh perspectives
Meet the Superhumans Channel 4
42 ANNUAL REVIEW 2012
TV: DOING GOOD 43
TV: doing good Thinkbox’s annual review unsurprisingly focuses on the commercial side of TV. But there’s another side of TV that isn’t celebrated as much: how TV and TV advertising make the world a better place. Alongside the indubitable power of televisual entertainment to bring joy to people, TV also has the ability to encourage us to lead healthier, better, more socially-minded lives. TV gets unfairly blamed for social ills, from celebrity culture to promiscuity to poor manners – and of course for poor health because watching TV usually encourages people to sit down and not, say, jog. Sedentary lifestyles certainly affect health but watching TV is just one of the things you can choose to do when you’re not jogging, along with reading War and Peace, playing Scrabble and tweeting. Even Mo Farah has to sit down and relax sometimes. It is perfectly possible to fit the average 4 hours of TV a day within an active lifestyle. And then there’s TV advertising, which gets blamed for making us fat, thin, drunk and, above all, acquisitive. Without doubt TV is a supremely powerful force but its power to do good is mostly ignored. Imagine if people defined ‘the Internet’ solely as an aid to paedophile grooming or identity theft. TV has huge power to do positive things for society. Many brands already use TV to educate and motivate people to change their behaviour positively and to make better brand choices if they care about their own lives, other people’s lives and the lives of future generations. The magical combination of entertainment, education and information has shaped TV from its earliest days, and is enshrined in a public service ethos that is both protected by regulation for many commercial channels but also protected by cultural tastes and conscience in the rest. Here’s an overview of how TV does good:
TV INFORMS US One of TV’s core Reithian roles is to keep people informed, and to do this in a trusted, reliable and impartial way. Regular news programmes, whole news channels, and current affairs programmes underpin our democratic life and bring the world to us, properly explained and contextualised. TV is the main way Britons get their daily news: in Ofcom’s 2012 study, 76% of people stated that their main source of news about the UK and the world is TV. The next nearest medium was newspapers at 8%. You might hear about some news via a comment online first, but you’d be wise not to believe it until you’ve checked it with a reputable news source. TV reporters – and print and radio too – do the heavy lifting in journalism: frontline reporting, years of investigation. Online platforms invest in very little of that but are an excellent way to re-distribute that news. But it’s not just about breaking instant news. TV documentaries take dedicated, relentless investigation, over years sometimes, to expose outrages in all parts of the world. Channel 4’s harrowing Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields
is just one example and led to a change in policy at the United Nations. On a more local level, ITV’s Exposure featuring Jimmy Savile’s victims began a process to right the wrongs of the past. And Channel 4’s Drugs Live contributed to the debate on this topic. And TV has other ways to bring big issues to people. Comedy and drama tackle important topics in a different way and reach audiences who might be less willing to watch a current affairs programme. Homeland explored the threat of terrorism, its complex origins and motivations, and its relationship with the intelligence services. The shocking exposé of the Leeds paedophile ring was an issue confronted in Scott & Bailey with great sensitivity, helping us better appreciate how easily power can be exerted over young people. Not many laughs there. But humour actually can be a great way to deal with politics and current affairs; there’s a long list of satirical shows which highlight topical issues in an approachable way, and often spark debate among younger viewers, for instance 10 O’Clock Live, Argumental, and Mock the Week.
TV MAKES US HAPPY If, as the American Declaration of Independence stated, the pursuit of human happiness is a fundamental right, alongside life and liberty, then TV, at its simplest, makes a significant contribution to human wellbeing. Whether that’s laughing at Harry Hill, Peep Show or 30Rock, playing along with the contestants on The Chase or Million Pound Drop, singing along with Jinsy, working out how Dynamo does his tricks, or feeling all warm and fuzzy when Sean finally kisses Stella, giving people joyful TV entertainment is a noble ambition.
TV BRINGS US TOGETHER Lots of TV is shared: 50% overall and 70% during peak-time in multi-person households. Watching TV together is one of the main ways we spend time being a couple or a family. TV is what we love to talk about with our friends and family, on the sofa or with our virtual friends online. Corrie, Hollyoaks, Big Fat Gypsy Weddings, I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here, MasterChef, Primeval, The Simpsons… whatever you want to talk about, TV glues families and the nation together like nothing else. It gives us common cultural reference points without which it would be almost impossible to tell a joke.
Sky News Sky News HD
44 ANNUAL REVIEW 2012
TV: DOING GOOD 45
TV EDUCATES US TV’s contribution to the broad education of the UK is considerable. Whole channels are dedicated to teaching us about history (the History Channel), science (Discovery Channel), the arts (Sky Arts), or nature (National Geographic). Storytelling and humour can be used to help people understand even the most daunting of subjects. UKTV tackled maths by using a friendly face to present it in Dara O’Briain: School of Hard Sums. TV has a very particular contribution to make to children’s education and development. With all sorts of programmes made especially for particular age groups of children, TV offers every sort of stimulation and support. Children learn about their emotions and about society; they learn about things like families, kindness, and bullying; how to be a good friend or deal with loss. They start to develop empathy by seeing the lives of different sorts of people in different parts of the world, through stories made just for them. TV also supports more academic learning with many kids’ programmes reflecting the national curriculum.
TV HELPS US UNDERSTAND OURSELVES Children aren’t the only people who need to be reminded constantly of what it means to be human. Whatever our age, TV is where we learn about ourselves, our emotions and aspirations, and it helps shape our values. Many new students would have taken some comfort from the storyline in Fresh Meat about virginity. Seeing our personal dilemmas and relationships reflected in TV drama helps us to understand ourselves better: loneliness, heroism, cowardice, generosity, loyalty. Seeing real people tackle their challenges in documentaries can profoundly change our attitudes; who could forget the life journeys in the epic 56 UP, or not feel empathy for The Compulsive Hoarder or The Undateables?
TV INSPIRES US But TV doesn’t just tell people things; it inspires them to get out and do things too. Ice rinks fill up when Dancing on Ice is on air; people rush to buy books featured on TV; ingredients featured on cookery shows sell out; people are inspired to redesign their gardens and homes.
TV even influences subjects studied at university and careers. Professor Brian Cox has reportedly caused a surge in applications to read astrophysics. The Guardian reported a 17% increase in applications to study midwifery, boosted by TV series like One Born Every Minute. One of the most repeated lines from the London 2012 manifesto was ‘Inspiring a generation’ and parents know that all big sporting events, watched overwhelmingly via TV, will get kids on their bikes, down the pool, running – and maybe the parents too. Broadcasters use TV’s ability to inspire action to launch their own appeals and campaigns. Change for Life, ITV’s Soccer Aid, Hugh’s Fish Fight on Channel 4, and Sky’s Rainforest Rescue appeal are just a handful of the many positive initiatives that broadcasters have undertaken, either alone or in partnership with charities and government. All the programmes mentioned above are found on commercial TV channels and so are funded to a great extent by advertising. If you agree that commercial TV achieves positive things, advertising should be recognised for its contribution to our lives.
CASE STUDY: SAVE THE CHILDREN
Drugs Live Channel 4
With record levels of child deaths from preventable illnesses and an increasingly populated sector of charities demanding public support, Save the Children was looking for a game-changing 2011.
A year of content-led activities followed – included advertising, celebrity mini-documentaries, a spectrum of broadcast, print and online, and multiple, fund-raising platforms.
content, sponsorship, reality TV and a telethon all rolled into one. In its own right it raised over £2m for the charity and contributed to a hugely successful year.
adam&eve created a powerful new rallying position, ‘No child born to die’, based on the irrefutable fact that every child deserves the chance to achieve their potential.
The culmination was a partnership with ITV1 to produce a 6 week series ‘Born to Shine’ where children shared their skills with celebrities; it featured explicit calls to action. This was branded
Winner of the Grand Prix in the Thinkbox TV Planning Awards 2012 Title: ‘Born to Shine’ Agency: adam&eve
46 ANNUAL REVIEW 2012
WHAT'S NEXT FOR BARB? 47
What’s next for BARB? Justin Sampson, BARB’s chief executive, explains how BARB is tackling the challenge of measuring TV viewing as it expands, and how it will remain the gold-standard in audience measurement. Television broadcasters have a long heritage of using new technologies to enhance viewers’ enjoyment of their favourite programmes. This story of continuous progress has embraced improvements to picture quality, delivery of a greater choice of channels and making it more convenient for viewers to watch programmes at a time that suits them. In parallel, BARB has pursued the progressive development of its audience measurement system. Our strategy has been unwavering. Put simply, it is to track and report all television viewing that takes place in the home. The Internet revolution of the last 20 years has been the source of many innovations that influence the way in which people can watch television today. Information delivery through a telephone line, touchscreen interactivity and intuitive content apps are three examples that UK broadcasters have built on in compelling ways. Engaging TV Player apps and Electronic Programming Guides (EPGs) that allow viewers to go both back and forward in time are prominent developments in this area. BARB’s priority is to identify the best way to measure these new forms of viewing. At the same time, we need
to recognise the enduring importance of established patterns of viewing behaviour. The distribution of television is now completely digital, however people continue to display the viewing habits that were formed in analogue times. So our challenge is to embrace new ways of measurement and reporting in a way that allows them to work in tandem with tried and trusted techniques. Equally, we need to keep a focus on ensuring that the quality of our reporting meets the industry’s expectations of the gold standard that we provide. In this context, BARB’s first priority is to go beyond the television screen. While the TV set continues to dominate the nation’s viewing, the use of computer screens has been on the rise. Initially this was through a desktop or laptop, although increasingly it’s likely to be on a more mobile device such as a tablet or smartphone. In the last year, BARB has started to measure computer viewing using a web-TV meter that has been developed by Kantar Media Audiences. Installing these meters on desktop and laptop computers in our panel homes will deliver new insight into how viewing is taking place across different screens
in the home. Following an extensive programme of work from proof of concept onwards, BARB is committed to rolling the web-TV meters out to 600 of its panel homes. As the rollout continues, the industry is determining how the results will be best published, while we are also evaluating ways in which this capability can be extended to include viewing on tablets and smartphones.
Our strategy has been unwavering. Put simply, it is to track and report all television viewing that takes place in the home.
Proof of concept and pilot work has been completed to the satisfaction of BARB and our principal funders. The focus is now on establishing how the reports can be produced most effectively on a daily basis.
our established viewing panel. The objective is to make the most of the complementary strengths of the two sources of insight through an integration process that leads to unified audience reporting.
The third strategic priority that occupies our minds is the question of how to work with other data sources. Most of the new forms of television are characterised by their use of Internet protocols and come complete with embedded metadata that brings an opportunity for BARB. Collection of this information doesn’t reveal who is watching, but it does have the potential to accurately identify the volume and character of viewing sessions.
Distribution of content through Internet protocols may represent a relatively small proportion of television viewing now, but we have to recognise the changes in data delivery speeds through both broadband and mobile networks. This is likely to make these types of viewing experience more attractive and more common.
Project Dovetail is being launched by BARB with the objective of bringing this site-centric data together with the viewing data that comes from
So it is in this context that Project Dovetail is an important project in the long-term development of television audience measurement. It is also the means by which BARB will continue to be an authoritative and comprehensive gold standard.
Our second strategic priority stems from the way in which digital technology has made it easier for viewers to catchup with their favourite programmes on occasions that they weren’t able to watch them live. For many years, BARB has been a global pioneer in reporting viewing that takes place after the original time of transmission. Seven day consolidated ratings are seen to be the gold standard definition of audience levels to programmes and commercials. We are now in the final stages of determining how to report on viewing that takes place up to four weeks after the original transmission.
Downton Abbey ITV
48 ANNUAL REVIEW 2012
HOW CAN WE HELP? 49
How can we help?
THINKBOX.TV Our website brings together every aspect of the world of TV advertising. It is home to a wide variety of brilliant content designed to inspire and inform agencies and advertisers. We also produce a bi-monthly e-newsletter, “Thinkbox in your Inbox”, which keeps our registered website users up-to-date with the latest news from TV, including new case studies, TV ad galleries, Speedy Facts, Handy Charts and the best research into how and why TV advertising is so effective. The app is available to download for free via the Apple App store.
Thinkbox is dedicated to proving TV advertising’s effectiveness, and our mission is to provide robust advice and inspiration to help advertisers get the best out of television. As much as is feasible with a very small team, we aim to visit agencies and advertisers to present the latest about TV. Give us a brief or look through our menu and we’ll do our best to deliver – all for free. But here are some other ways we can help:
THE THINKBOX APP
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Thinkbox recently launched its first-ever app for iPad, featuring the essential facts, figures and thinking in TV advertising. It is designed for anyone involved or interested in TV advertising – from advertisers, media planners and buyers, to creative agencies, auditors and journalists – and includes the latest consolidated TV viewing data from BARB, inspiring advertising case studies, TV ad galleries and the best research into how and why TV advertising is so effective. The app is available to download for free via the Apple App store.
EVENTS Thinkbox hosts a rolling programme of free inspirational events, all designed to help people understand how to get the best out of TV. These feature well-known industry figures and focus on specific areas of interest to advertisers – often showcasing the latest Thinkbox research. Last year we explored a wide range of TV topics, including: • ‘ Advertising Effectiveness: the long and short of it’ – see p26 for a summary of the research. • ‘ Closer to Content 2012’ – the latest on content-led commercial TV advertising formats.
• ‘ TV: doing good’ – a look at how TV advertising can make people’s lives better. • ‘ Screen Life: the view from the sofa’ – see p20 and visit our website for a summary of the research. • ‘ Fads, Fashion and Effectiveness: how brands really grow’ – Professor Byron Sharp was joined by other big thinkers to give their view of what’s really working for brands. • ‘ New to TV 2012: A guide to successful TV advertising’ – an event designed for advertisers considering TV for the first time. Visit the Events and Training section on the website to see what’s coming up, and to view past events on-demand, and to download presentations.
TRAINING One of Thinkbox’s top priorities is to ensure that the industry is kept up to speed with the rapid changes happening to TV. It is important that people are equipped with the knowledge and necessary skills to take advantage of all that TV has to offer.
All training workshops are free to people working at a UK advertiser, a media or advertising agency, or at one of Thinkbox’s shareholders or their partner companies. To attend a workshop, simply fill out the registration form in the Events and Training section of our website. We’re also very happy to arrange bespoke presentations. Just let us know what you’re interested in and we can arrange a tailored session which can be held either at our offices or yours if more convenient.
THE PLANNING ‘HELPDESK’ Thinkbox also provides help and assistance with planning enquiries. From data requests to questions about targeting, time-lengths, campaign weights or shapes, and programming, we are here to help make sure you have the latest information and insight to plan the best TV campaigns. Just contact us via info@thinkbox.tv
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There are three regular training workshops: 1. An Introduction to Television This workshop is specifically designed for new starters in the TV industry – whether advertisers, agency or sales people. 03
2. An Introduction to TV Technology This workshop gives an insight into the latest TV technologies and what they mean for advertisers. 3. Advanced TV Training Workshop Aimed at people who have been in the media industry for several years, this workshop explores more sophisticated approaches to planning TV campaigns. 01 EDF Heroes 02 Dara O Briain: School of Hard Sums Dave 03 Battle Castles with Dan Snow Channel 4
If you’d like to discuss any of our work further, then please do contact us. Tess Alps Executive Chair PA Alanna Ormonde
Lindsey Clay Managing Director PA Alex Riozzi
020 7630 2320
020 7630 2360
tess.alps@thinkbox.tv
lindsey.clay@thinkbox.tv
Neil Mortensen Director of Research & Planning PA Alanna Ormonde
Andrew MacGillivray Marketing Director PA Alex Riozzi
020 7630 2320
neil.mortensen@thinkbox.tv
020 7630 2360
andrew.macgillivray@thinkbox.tv
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