Creative Week: The Golden Age of TV & Advertising
A look back at Sky IQ’s roundtable event to explore TV's 'Golden Age' and what it means to brand advertisers.
This month saw the inaugural MBI Creative Week which brought together the industries of advertising, television and film for a series of seminars, presentations, round-tables and networking opportunities.
One of the highlights of the week was a Sky IQ/shots roundtable discussion which brought clients and agency representatives from Heineken, Axe/Lynx, Diageo and Tesco together to discuss TV advertising and how its creative application was working for them.
Between them the brands invited to the roundtable discussion spent almost £100m on TV advertising in the UK last year, so they pack some marketing muscle.
The question of TV’s new Golden Age has been bubbling away for a while now on the back of blockbuster and binge-tastic shows such as Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones and Mad Men.
Last summer Hollywood A-lister Kevin Spacey told the Edinburgh International TV Festival that it was television – not cinema – that was now where some of the most creative screen work could be seen – and the likes House of Cards, True Detective and Girls have continued to prove.
Even with their more modest budgets and ambitions, British TV has also been punching above its weight dramas such as Broadchurch, The Fall, and Peaky Blinders moving big stars and big stories to the smaller screen.
But where does that all leave the advertiser – particularly in a subscriptions world where these shows run without any commercials or with very few? Is it a Golden Age of advertising to go along with award-winning TV shows?
We assembled this panel of heavy-hitters and thought leaders (see box for full list) to hear what they had to say about whether it’s a golden era for those spending money on TV.
shots: So, is this a Golden Age for TV advertisers and if so why?
Dominic Redfearn (Diageo): “It’s a golden age for people who work in TV because there are so many more creative conversations that can take place without a traditional media agency. The opportunities for different ways of telling stories – often with TV playing a key role – are much greater now – but so is the challenge in making your message and content stand out”.
Sandrine Huijen (Heineken): “We don’t approach any campaign now with an idea that it’s a “TV campaign” per se, we instead see it as a golden age of story-telling and stories and content with different opportunities. A good example is a campaign we did recently for Heineken called The Odyssey. There was a big blockbuster TV ad but we put a longer form of that online and I think the more interesting thing is that when we responded to comments about it through an online PR film, some markets then put that on TV. I think that extension of TV is the most interesting thing for us – it’s not just about doing TV ads, it’s about what’s around it.”
Lindsey Clay (Thinkbox): “I also think there’s a question of what TV is today. It’s no longer the box in the corner. We always define it as the professionally made, immersive, entertaining content regardless of what platform delivers it or what device it’s watched on. Often people get confused between television – the brilliant stuff that we all watch and the TV set – so you have to separate that, so it is clear what is being discussed”.
Angela Porter (Tesco): “I think TV’s changed so dramatically, especially in the past five years with new technologies and new platforms, for me we’re starting to use TV more as a window into other content; it’s not the be all and end all, we don’t expect people to have seen a TV ad and then react to it instantly. We would use TV in a way, especially for brand advertising, to open a window into other content and drive them somewhere like to social to create conversations. Using basic things like hashtags and taking the conversation to a deeper level and having someone monitor that engagement.
But Tesco also realises the power that TV brings to the table and Porter points to initiatives such as the Tesco Finest sponsorship of ITV’s Downton Abbey as evidence of how association with strong TV brands can work.
James Breannan (Axe/Lynx): “All of our campaigns are trying to create a world - and you try to take people through that world, starting with awareness then through to engagement and we see TV as the most effecting way for creating awareness.
shots: What role does data and research play in the creative process?
James Breannan: “If the research helps you understand your consumer then it’s valuable. It makes it so much easier to be brave and turn your back on the traditional if you know your consumer inside-out and with the support of a good agency, it’s quite easy to be brave”.
Sandrine Huijen: “I’m a firm believer that if you start doing your homework really well, then you won’t have to keep on doing it (researching ads as you go along). Four years ago we thought that we had to break out of the 30-second beer jokes because they weren’t doing anything for the brand anymore and based on that we started the Legends campaign. Research was done around the brief, but then once the creative process was underway it was a case of trusting in the strength of the story.”
Nick Docherty (W+K Amsterdam): “We have an informal approach at Wieden+Kennedy. Research early, research late, but do not mess with the middle. The problem with data is that it’s always subjective.”
Stuart Carnegie: Sky IQ: : “We are working on the strength of the data from 500,000 Sky set top boxes which does deliver real insight into who is watching what on their TV set and offers an opportunity for targeting and insight.
“Sky IQ monitors how content is consumed through information from 500,000 connected SkyPlus customer. We’re not saying that data is the answer - we’re saying it can help you get to a better position and more informed. It has a part to play. The main area we’ve seen it used in is around spot placement and we are working closely with a number of advertisers to better understand how their advertising works and how messages can be targeted.”
James Breannan: But you lose the magic if you start getting too scientific. For me it comes back to the consumer journey of the campaign. For me you’ve got to deliver the relevant content with the relevant creative assets for the relevant moment on that channel.”
Dominic Redfearn: The minute you are driving everything through the data and analysis, you forget about the creativity and story-telling”.
shots: How important is it to embrace the various platforms on which traditional TV content can now be watched?
James Breannan: “With our recent Axe Apollo campaign we went from a traditional TV campaign to this really deep engagement [online films, experiential executions, a TV documentary] which generated extraordinary PR stories because you’re sending the first Turkish guy to space, the first female Malaysian to space, the first black African to space… that in itself became the story that travelled organically.
But it was really important to get the mass awareness through TV. It makes it so much easier to be brave and turn your back on the traditional if you know your consumer inside out and with the support of a good agency it’s quite easy to be brave.
We need to create stories that people want to see. We didn’t have any branding in the Apollo documentary apart from what the winners brought with them. We didn’t pay for any media on TV. You’re not branded but there’s enough in the story in a campaign like this.”
shots: What makes TV – be it online or traditional broadcast - such a powerful medium?
James Breannan: “It can create magic. Look at The Epic Split for Volvo Trucks; it’s a very functional story but in a way that you don’t need to care whether you like trucks or the fact that they drive smoothly. It’s such a brilliant story to bring people in and even the behind-the-scenes stuff where they go into immense detail about the engine etc.; suddenly they’ve tricked you into understanding a lot about Swedish trucks and they’ve done it by building this story that you can’t avoid. That, for me is the definition of magic.”
And what of the future, where will TV be in five-years’ time?
Lyndsy Clay: I think you will find that TV – in the form of high quality, professionally produced video content – will remain at the heart of marketing campaigns – people are watching more TV now, not less. Of course there will be changes and we are seeing it every day, with different ways to connect and interact, but TV is still the only way to get the scale and awareness that brands need. I think listening to the advertisers here today, you can see that remains the case.”
Peter Christiansen: Managing Director, Precious Media: “We are an agency which has worked with many of the brands around the table, including Tesco, Diageo and Unilver.
Our experience, certainly in the UK, is that broadcasters are still reluctant to open the door for Advertiser Funded Programmes– regardless of its quality. That is a dangerous position because it is putting people off talking to UK broadcasters and money will move to Europe and other markets that take a more progressive view."
John Nolan, managing director Apollo20: “We specialise in Advertiser Funded Programming and for us it is absolutely about telling stories and the strength of the ideas. The brands we work for want to produce the highest quality content that really engages with their own audiences, and I think this area will grow in importance over the next few years. That is exactly the same as the idea of a Golden Age of TV where only the very best stands out. The same applies to all content”.
James Breannan: “I think we’ll continue to talk about video instead of TV. Video will continue to be vital for brands to tell stories that connect with their customers. There will continue to be magic in video – but we need to remember that we still need to sell products”.
Panel chaired by Conor Dignam, chief executive, MBI:
James Breannan - Global Brand Manager Axe/Lynx
Sandrine Huijen - Global Communication Manager, Heineken
Dominic Redfearn - Global Media and Content Director, Diageo
Angela Porter - Head of Brand Advertising, Tesco
Nick Docherty - W+K Amsterdam Planner
John Nolan - Managing Director, Apollo20
Peter Christiansen - Managing Director, Precious Media
Lindsey Clay – Chief Executive, Thinkbox
Stuart Carnegie, Strategy and Propositions Director, Sky IQ
Jake Niarchos, Director of Alliances, Sky IQ.
