markettiers4dc blog

The RAJARs are here

nospam@example.com (Jeremy Gibson) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:00:23 +0100

The quarterly RAJAR figures have been released for Q2 2008, and in the latest round of the ratings battle the BBC have taken a slight dip. Chris Moyles and breakfast godfather Wogan both lost listeners. BBC local stations also lost share in the last quarter with BBC Solent, Jersey, Three Counties and Kent amongst a long list of those reporting woes.

Conversely commercial radio stations achieved a great set of results. In London Neil Fox’s breakfast took the sought after top spot for Magic's breakfast show. Elsewhere Island FM and The Bee posted impressive share increases.

Overall the picture for radio is good, and digital continues to notch up total share of listenership, up a tiny 0.1% in the last quarter. The number of people listening on mobile phone is up by 3.3%, the biggest quarterly jump to date.

With the likes of Kiss 100 announcing content will be available on the new iPhone, this is set to continue. But I’m confused, surely listening to a show on a 3g mobile makes me an online listener?

Radio – Big on news, but keep it local.

nospam@example.com (Jeremy Gibson) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:58:21 +0100

In the forthcoming issue of our newsletter Onward (coming in the next few weeks, sign up here for a free copy) we feature an article about the power of research and how a local bias will help gain extensive radio coverage.

Our thinking is backed up by Radio Centre’s latest survey which has some pretty impressive statistics about the impact of radio news.

On average, local radio stations transmit 20 news bulletins of around 3 minutes each day. 69% of all radio news bulletins contain local news stories. What’s more 93% of stations are transmitting content live online.

To give you an idea of sheer scale of the opportunity the survey reminds us that 347 UK Commercial Radio stations attract a weekly audience of 31 million adults, who listen for over 424 million hours each week. That’s about half of the total UK population.

Download a pdf of the full survey here.

My on-off relationship with Auntie

nospam@example.com (Jeremy Gibson) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:18:52 +0100

When I heard the news that rather than reducing my licence fee the BBC was going to give some of its record overseas profits to the directors in the form of a £100,000 per year pay rise, I have to confess, I considered cancelling the direct debit and tearing the TV aerial from my roof.

Then, I read a release on the fully convergent, new iPlayer and I fell back in love with our eccentric aunt. I’ve always thought the BBC was pretty forward thinking in their broadcast convergence strategy, their use of video on bbc.co.uk/news site set a new standard.

Erik Huggers at the BBC says of the new iPlayer. "The next generation of BBC iPlayer allows UK licence fee payers to catch up on their favourite BBC TV and radio programmes in one place – a completely unique on-demand service.”

The iPlayer’s got it all, in addition to TV and radio in one place you can ‘pop it out’ and continue browsing other pages, it has a better screen resolution, and in a nod to web 2.0, it suggests other content you may like. It will also be available on hand-held devices such as the iPhone and even the Nintendo Wii.

The biggest development of all for me (and many a discussion board) is Virgin Media’s announcement that they are working on implementing a version of the iPlayer on its cable TV network. This means Virgin Media’s already impressive on-demand service has received a significant boost, and it’s another step towards the inevitable standardisation of on-demand platforms.

With the new iPlayer I don’t need an aerial and it looks like the licence fee is safe for now.

Did the internet kill the radio star?

nospam@example.com (Jeremy Gibson) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:08:43 +0100

No, absolutely not.

The second instalment of Rajar’s catchily named ‘Podcasting and Radio via The Internet’ survey was published this week and it makes for encouraging viewing. (Link above opens a pdf)

9.4 million people in the UK are now listening to radio online, be it live or listen again this figure is up by 1.3 million since the last survey in October last year, impressive stuff.

The survey also goes on to show that podcasting is on the up, with 3.7 million now regularly downloading podcasts. Also encouraging is the fact that podcasts are becoming a bigger part of the listening diet with the average respondent subscribing to 3.59 casts up from 3.16.

The best statistic that this report identifies proves our view that Radio is the most adaptable channel. Rather than diluting radio audiences the web is extending radio’s reach with 13% of respondents now listening to ‘more live radio’ as a result of listen again functionality.

As radio continues to grow and the media continues to change, the nature of its influence is evolving. Radio Centre’s latest paper shows that in spite of the illicit, and under threat, bit torrent generation, 56% of people are still hearing new music first on radio.

In short, radio just keeps on delivering.

ITV.com hitting the big time – thanks to a talent show

nospam@example.com (Jeremy Gibson) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:04:23 +0100

ITV.com bosses are rubbing their hands with glee after Britain’s Got Talent rocketed their video traffic figures to over 12 million views in May alone.

ITV credits a fresh site re-design and the growth of ITV local which has grown by 18% since the start of the year. ITV’s investment delivers a site where videos have their own tab in search results and their player puts video content at the heart of each page.

This is all great news for broadcast and shows how a commercial operator is successfully re-packaging content for an online audience, complete with in-line ads on most of its clips. In the light of warnings about reductions in online ad spend it will be interesting to see whether ITV continue to invest over the coming months.

Capitalising on online video viewing

nospam@example.com (Russell Goldsmith) — Thu, 29 May 2008 15:46:00 +0100

NMA had the pleasure of receiving a letter from me which they published in the magazine - here it is incase you missed it!

Jack Flanagan’s fascinating article (Analyst Speak NMA 17.04.08) highlighted the growing popularity of online video viewing, (now the third most popular online activity in the UK behind search and retail and just ahead of social networking); however he omitted to consider the impact of this ‘online video invasion’ upon online marketing.

As he pointed out online video is already attracting impressive levels of engagement compared to other types of online activity; in the UK alone 28.7m people watched over 3 bn videos online, averaging five and a half hours per viewer for the month.

Shouldn’t brands be capitalising on this voracious appetite for online video by providing their own high quality content? Some pioneers are already producing their own TV quality editorial content and placing it on sites where their target audience is likely to be.

That approach is innovative since it is not intrusive, and does not seem like advertising to the consumer, which means that they are more receptive to the presented content which entertains, informs and instructs.

What digital divide? It’s a class war.

nospam@example.com (Jeremy Gibson) — Fri, 23 May 2008 11:50:15 +0100

The much-feared gap between urban and rural broadband take up was finally laid to rest by Ofcom today. The BBC and Metro report that 59% of rural households are connected to broadband compared to 57% of their urban neighbours. Sunderland came out as the most connected town, while Glasgow came bottom. Interestingly, Ofcom suggested ‘Glasgow's position probably reflected low levels of household income and computer ownership’ which goes to show that broadband has still to be fully adopted by the C2s and Ds of society. You can see the full executive summary of the report on the ofcom site

What this article does suggest to me, is that convergent technologies are now becoming the norm, and while rapid adoption is still limited to younger, more economically mobile consumers society as a whole is starting catch up.

Ofcom now puts the figure of ‘Engaged (20%)’ and ‘Pragmatists (30%)’, that’s 50% of the UK population moving in the right direction, as the cost of entry falls, the rate of adoption can only increase.

Power of the personal touch

nospam@example.com (Howard Kosky) — Wed, 07 May 2008 10:21:40 +0100

In this week's PRWeek - 2/5/08 - I was asked to supply a few words for their Financial Essays supplement, so for those of you who haven't got round to opening your copy, or have already had it stolen off your desk, here's my contribution - enjoy . . .

Power of the personal touch

What is the defining image of the Northern Rock crisis? Is it of a chief executive in calm control, clearly articulating a recovery strategy to camera? Or is it rather one of long queues of twitchy customers, snaking out of branch doors and down high streets, united in fear and concern about their savings and investments?

Without question it is the latter. The clarity of these pictures in our collective memory speaks volumes for the power of television coverage. The broadcast media went to town on the story and in the absence of a compelling response from Northern Rock, confidence in the bank was undoubtedly eroded far faster and further than would otherwise have been the case as news broke of its emergency loan from the Bank of England and criticism swelled relating to its high-risk expansion.

In Northern Rock’s case, a more focused broadcast PR strategy would not have averted the crisis but it may well have limited the damage. Of course corporations still need to communicate business stories to traditional outlets such as the Financial Times but in our age of 24/7 rolling broadcast news coverage and online video, other channels are equally effective at reaching investors and other key stakeholders.

Yet despite the capacity to deliver succinct messages backed up by strong visuals, all too often a broadcast media strategy is overlooked. Some research commissioned by markettiers4dc in 2007 found that just 3.4 per cent of companies use television to publicise their interim and annual results.

That’s a shocking finding when you consider that TV and the web – with its capability for streaming video – play such a significant part in a typical person’s daily media consumption. Investor Relations is no longer just about a few key individuals. Organisations must now be aware of how broadcast material can impact upon public confidence.

While Northern Rock foundered, US toy giant Mattel last year provided an object lesson in how to handle a crisis adroitly. Confidence in the corporation might have plummeted following a series of product recalls after safety concerns were raised about toys from Chinese suppliers.

However, Mattel tackled the adverse publicity head-on and a key part of its response was a video message from chairman and CEO Bob Eckert, carried on its website. Eckert apologised for the recalls, set out lucidly how Mattel had immediately tightened up its safety procedures and empathised with worried parents by pointing out that he was himself the father of four children. Clips from the video appeared on mainstream TV news bulletins and were spread virally across the internet.

The crisis hit profits but Mattel’s approach allowed it to see out the year in reasonably good shape. Despite being saddled with charges of approximately US $110 million related to the product recalls, Mattel achieved a minor lift in operating income for its 2007 financial year and a worldwide 6 per cent rise in net sales against 2006.

Using video messages and TV interviews can contribute strongly to bolstering corporate reputation and propping up a company’s share price. But clearly live TV interviews are more perilous than pre-recorded statements and many corporate comms teams will advise their CEOs against participating in them for fear that they will make a mistake or appear flustered, thereby undermining confidence in a brand or organisation.

Yet it is those chief executives able to perform well in front of the camera and who understand the TV medium that will prosper. For example, Sir Richard Branson is known to one and all, thanks in part to his willingness to appear before the cameras – in both good times and crises. Few CEOs can match Branson’s appetite for self-promotion but those that are prepared to engage with the broadcast media will enhance the profile of their company and arguably their own personal job security.

One current example of a company adopting such a positive approach is National Grid. Chief Executive, Steve Holliday announced National Grid is to adopt carbon budgets and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 80%. Working alongside their retained corporate agency to drive awareness of National Grid’s pioneering stance on energy saving, markettiers4dc produced and released controlled audio and video news features of the Chief Executive to targeted broadcast media.

Of course, for the viewing public ‘live’ interviews are not necessarily watched in real time. As exemplified by technologies such as the BBC’s iPlayer, on demand viewing and listening is becoming more significant in media consumption. Rajar research earlier this year found that 4.3m people in the UK have downloaded a podcast, with 1.87m people listening to podcast once a week; while Motoral research last year found that 43 per cent of UK broadband users watch webTV.

Consequently, producing engaging video content that will work well on the web is assuming increasing importance. Video content can draw stakeholders onto corporate websites, allowing corporations to tell their side of the story eloquently. Moreover, it can provide influential input into wider debates raging across the blogosphere and social networking sites.

Businesses ignore such voices at their peril. HSBC, you may recall, was forced into a U-turn on its decision to scrap an interest free overdraft for graduates after nearly 5,000 graduates signed up to Facebook group Stop the Great HSBC Graduate Rip-Off. In this era of consumer power and investor activism, corporations cannot hope to flourish if they ignore effective communications channels and techniques.

Digital Business on FT

nospam@example.com (Russell Goldsmith) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 08:46:25 +0100

Here's an interesting Podcast that our Director of Media Output, Julian Fisher, passed my way, which I thought you may be interested in subscribing to - http://podcast.ft.com/feeds/digital_business_rss.xml

It's produced by the FT and the series is called 'Digital Business' which looks at the use and management of technology in business.

In the latest show - from April 16th - about nine and a half minutes in, FT Columnist Ade Mccormack talks about a 'new' concept called Hypermedia - where he describes the 'potential' to embed links into video for consumers to click through and purchase products.

Very interesting interview, but just to let you know Ade - markettiers4dc already offer this and you can see an example of how it works on HowTo.tv where their client, Screwfix, uses our Interactive Direct Sales Tool technology to drive sales by enabling viewers to click on products featured in their How To Choose and Fit a Shower show - roll your mouse over the video and try it out!

Power to the People - Onward #23 Extract

nospam@example.com (Russell Goldsmith) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:49:13 +0000

Many apologies for the silence on our blog recently, but we thought we'd kick start things with an extract from our most recent issue of Onward - dont forget, the digital version of Onward is now online at www.Onward.tv with new video content.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE - Onward front page story

As our media has become more segmented and likewise our consumption of it, the task in reaching our end audience has become even more challenging. One of the key reasons for this is that the power of advocacy and influencer groups is shifting away from perhaps the traditional media owner and journalist to the new wave of ‘citizen journalist’ within new media environments.

In a recent survey*, we looked into how important online influencer groups have become when it comes to trust before making a purchasing decision and 70% of respondents said that a positive feature on an independent review website would be the biggest influence on them, compared to just 14% who said that reading a positive feature in a newspaper article would be.

With the phenomenal rise in the popularity of social networking, gaining advocacy from key influencers within these groups has become one of the biggest challenges for the communications industry. After all, it appears that users certainly don’t want to be blatantly advertised to in these environments. Just consider the backlash that Facebook received after the launch of their advertising platform at the back end of last year when more than 50,000 of their own users came together online to complain about it, forcing an apology from the company.

The issue of commercialising and generating revenue from social networks is something that is an ongoing challenge for their owners. However, what is clear from the perspective of the PR and Communications industry is that we cannot ignore the fact that many of our audiences are spending a large percentage of their time interacting with each other within them.

Thankfully for those who have invested in these environments, the producers of some sites are starting to find ways to deliver a better experience for the user whilst monetising their content. Just look at the success of Bebo’s online video series ‘Kate Modern’ that stars Ralf Little from TV’s Royal Family. As reported on Guardian.co.uk, the first series drew an audience that watched an average of 1.5m videos per week, with Bebo successfully bringing on brand sponsors. The sponsors products appeared in the show proving a better way for brands to reach their audience through targeted broadcast quality content. However, if the evidence suggests audience engagement through video content is successful, why stop at sponsoring someone else’s show?

The lack of Ofcom regulations online allows brands to produce their own broadcast content, which can then be seeded into social networks encouraging users to join branded groups, interacting with them, as well as opting-in for more information. Being able to deliver engaging broadcast content that a brand has total control over, to an audience that has chosen to view, is a very powerful tool to possess. If you then give viewers the opportunity to click on the products featured in the video itself to either gain more information, or even be one click from adding them into an e-commerce shopping basket, then you will very quickly deliver a highly effective direct marketing campaign.

Controlling your brand’s assets using broadcast has historically relied on the media owners hosting your content. Now brands can become the media owner themselves. Add to this the huge appetite for watching video online and the fact that, according to Dynamic Logic, video increases the propensity to purchase by nearly 50% - and then consider that you have the ability to tap into the online networks in a controlled manner through content, and it’s very clear that there are huge opportunities opening up.

These same tactics are also proving to be very effective in other parts of the communications mix. Brands can use networks to build panels of very vocal customers, happy to share their opinions on all manner of topics. For example, in our survey, we discovered that 50% of people would like to provide their opinions for food & drink products as part of an online panel. Imagine being able to communicate with these panel members using video and audio when researching them, turning a potentially dull and tedious task, into an entertaining one.

It's for these reasons that we’ve expanded our own Digital and Technical Services division, helping support the work we are now producing for these environments.

If you would like to find out more, please do get in touch with me, whether by phone, fax, letter, email, or even finding my profile on Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook…!

russ@markettiers4dc.com

*survey carried out overnight 22/1/07 by Opinion Matters on Tickbox.net, 227 respondents

Missing the point?

nospam@example.com (Nik Harta) — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 14:58:00 +0000

Google has attributed a slow down in growth for the fourth quarter of 2007 to the difficulty of making advertising work on social networks. The search company has reported a 17% increase in profits, but says that it has seen a drop in the "paid clicks".

It has reported revenue of $4.83bn (£2.43bn) for the quarter to December 31, which is a 51% increase on the same quarter in 2006 and a 14% increase on the previous quarter.

Google says a revision in the company's formula for showing advertising clicks led to the reduction in revenue.

The search company's founder Sergey Brin says: "We had a challenge in Q4 with social networking inventory as a whole. I don't think we have the killer best way to advertise on social networks."

The company says it has been the reducing the clickable area around its ads to decrease the number of accidental clicks and increase effectiveness for marketers.

Google paid MySpace owner News Corp $900m (£452m) in 2006 for the right to deliver ads to the networking site's 70 million-plus users.

Surely Google have learnt that those people who use social networks don't want to be bombarded with adverts? Consumer backlash against instrusive advertising (think only of Facebook's Beacon) will not change so the approach of those seeking to commercialise has to, let alone those who allow advertising on their sites. Ultimately it's the marketers who need to take responsibility to find new ways to engage with their audience.

The Queen on YouTube

nospam@example.com (Nik Harta) — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 10:06:42 +0000

The Queen's decision to launch her own channel on YouTube has sparked all sorts of debate however while I am a traditionalist I am of the belief that it is demonstrating another positive step to make the monarchy relevant to a new generation without in any sense undermining the institution.

The Queen was swift to grasp the importance of television when her Christmas message was televised for the first time 50 years ago and once again she is embracing popular culture.

Today it is no longer quite the fixture it was - but Her Majesty has risen to the challenge. Last year, her Christmas message was, for the first time, issued as a podcast while this year it will be carried on the internet. The aim, says Buckingham Palace, is to make the message "more accessible to younger people and those in other countries".

With eight grandchildren ranging in age from 30 years to just one week, the Queen is no stranger to the ways of the young (she does, after all, text). What could be more natural than to decide, at the age of 81, to deliver your message through the medium they actually use?

Iceberg ship media team ‘learn lesson’ from crisis

nospam@example.com (Nik Harta) — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 08:14:38 +0000

The PR agency behind the Antarctic cruise ship sunk by an iceberg last month has warned PROs to ensure their clients are media trained for any crisis situation.

‘Even if you do not think you will have a crisis, make sure your most senior person in every country is media trained,’ warned Mulberry Marcoms CEO Chris Klopper.

Klopper said the Explorer accident had been a ‘lesson’ for him and the account team working for travel client G.A.P Adventures. He said he was relieved that UK sales and marketing director John Warner had been taught to deal with the media, after the ship’s disaster and passenger evacuation sparked a worldwide press frenzy over the weekend.

‘We put John on every TV and radio station, and he was able to calm and reassure,’ said Klopper.
The account team at Mulberry worked all Friday and throughout the weekend. It handled a 24-hour press office, dealing with international media and with foreign offices and embassies trying to track down passengers.

Klopper also told how he used a coincidence as positive PR leverage during the crisis. ‘A Danish guy proposed to his girlfriend in a lifeboat,’ he said. ‘This was like manna from heaven and, with the couple’s knowledge, we then majored on this to give a positive twist to the whole rescue management story.’

Mulberry will now work with G.A.P Adventures to ¬rebuild its reputation and prevent travellers who have booked trips from cancelling.

While the crisis was handled well there are a couple of additional lessons that should be taken from this episode. First is to ensure clients also have a plan of action in readiness of any potential crisis. Secondly it should have been highlighted that the travel company had commendably ensured that their website was also well managed with daily updates and contact points for press and friends and relatives of passengers. However, as part of the process to rebuild the company’s reputation it’s worth considering interviewing (video) the passengers who were involved to see them talk about their experiences and how G.A.P Adventures handled the whole incident.

Certainly a company living up to its name although this may not be one for the brochure!

Keeping Up Appearances

nospam@example.com (Russell Goldsmith) — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 11:05:11 +0000

As Official Podcasters to the IAB for their upcoming Engage 2007 conference this week, we were asked to submit a Digital Essay for the conference brochure. For those not going to the conference and therefore not taking away your own copy of the essay - here's a markettiers4dc blog exclusive. Enjoy!

With a large focus of this year’s conference centred on video, I wanted to use this opportunity to encourage brand owners to look inside their own organisations and question how well they have prepared for the onslaught of media convergence.

How many of the online plans of those brands represented in today’s audience include video? How many have thought about producing a podcast, or funding their own TV show for the web? When it comes to the communications teams’ delivery to the media, how many think to offer something more than a press release, realising they can talk directly to their audience themselves?

With almost everyone who accesses the web in the UK doing so via a broadband connection, the expectation of what we see online has been raised further than text and images, or a bit of Flash animation. Video is what we want now, and high production values with it.

An example of where this expectation to be able to see and hear from a brand direct is never more prevalent than in the area of crisis management. Take the two very different examples where online broadcast opportunities have been used well or handled poorly via the contrasting media positioning of Mattel and Northern Rock respectively.

In August, Mattel were forced to recall over 20m products globally due to safety concerns. As part of their communication strategy to avoid mass panic amongst their consumers they produced a video of their Chairman and CEO making an impassioned statement on behalf of the company. The video was available via their website to all territories globally and was picked up by news desks internationally. Their personalised approach was a success in reassuring people that all was in control and being handled with the customer’s best interests.

In comparison during the perceived collapse of Northern Rock there appeared to be little communication emanating from them aside from an interview on Radio 4 and a limited message posted on their website. Consequently their lack of information fuelled speculation and fears, leading to media hype and scenes of investors queuing to withdraw their money. There was no wide spread communication telling people not to panic, no human face, Northern Rock lost control of the situation, allowing the media to dictate the agenda. Questions pertaining to protecting investments and savings could have been pre-empted and the responses made accessible and available in various formats via their website, satisfying the requirements from the media and their customers. This is the age where people demand to have information when they want it, where they want it and through multiple devices.

Both these instances are examples of where consumers have gone to the Internet for assurances from the brands involved, and therefore it is those involved in the digital media space that have the opportunity to influence.

The IAB continue to show how budgets for online media increase year on year, but the key question is whether they are spent wisely? For example, do those teams who design pop-ups really think that by putting the close button far away on the other side of the webpage that we won’t go looking for it, cursing them as we do? Recent research by HowTo.tv revealed that not only are such online ads seen as intrusive, but they are also having a negative impact on brand perception.*

In the year since the last Engage conference, online advertising, whilst increasing in spend, has also come under fire due to some arguably lazy planning and buying strategies. The BBC’s Panorama programme earlier in the summer exposed a few guilty parties who didn’t stop to think where their run-of-site activity might appear on the likes of YouTube or Facebook, some of whom were allegedly made to pay the price by their clients by losing their accounts.

The findings of the research are quite concerning with 94% of web users saying they have experienced online advertising that is totally unrelated to the site they are visiting. Furthermore, 95% said they had had ads served on them that were not relevant to them or their interests and that 94% of people experience pop-up ads online that are of no interest to them. The research also pointed out the need for media owners to also be weary when chasing the increased online budgets as 50% of respondents said they had left a favourite website because of intrusive/annoying online ads and pop-ups.

Most important of all, however, is that online advertising that is involuntarily served on the viewer through pop-ups, moving screens, or non-existent segmentation through run-of-site purchasing irrelevant to content, has a negative impact on the brand. An incredible 95.2% of people said annoying and intrusive ads make them less likely to buy the brand and most significantly, 95% of people said that this type of online advertising makes them think unfavourably about a brand.

Online advertising has long been seen as the media to deliver highly-targeted results due to the ability to segment the audience and deliver less wastage. However, based on this research, planners and buyers need to take a long hard look at their digital strategies and remind themselves that ultimately; content is king in an online environment, and not the advert that appears over it. The marketing industry needs to change the way it approaches online and find better and more effective ways to engage with users, to their benefit, as opposed to taking a counter-productive shotgun approach by serving ads upon them.

This is where video driven content comes in to play, but not video content for the sake of it. For example, I am not suggesting we all simply move our adverting budgets into the pre-roll video advertising market. Goodness knows just how frustrating it is to see the same advert appear over and over before each news story on a video player on a national newspaper website, for example.

Those individuals at Engage 2007 who work in the digital media have the opportunity to help communicate brand character and contribute to enhancing and protecting brand reputation. As it is conclusively affecting the profit and loss of the brand it subsequently delivers a massive opportunity for them to have a higher presence in the Board Room and a greater slice of the budget for brand communications and online advertising.

The avalanche of new media, including user-generated content and convergence, with their exponential rate of growth, present constant opportunities to add value and enhance existing and new media communications techniques. Targeted messages are fully achievable as access to potential communities and audiences continue to grow.

With the fact that Ofcom regulations do not extend to the Internet, brands have the opportunity to relinquish editorial constraints enforced on them previously in other broadcast mediums, and the web is, after all, now a truly bona fide broadcast media. In this environment brands have a greater influence, with less reliance on the media owner, as long as they protect the editorial integrity of the medium. Furthermore as content, in the form of video, can now be repurposed and made available across multi platforms it can help to satisfy consumer’s on-demand culture - information and content when it is convenient to them, rather than forced on them.

* Opinion Matters, June 2007, sample 1,444 respondents

The power of using a WebTV interview

nospam@example.com (Howard Kosky) — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 11:36:37 +0100

The second announcement in a fortnight from Mattel for the recall of toys due to safety concerns has had to create global awareness of the problems instantly while trying to avoid mass panic amongst their consumers. In addition to taking out full page ads in the national press Mattel also took the opportunity to video their Chairman & CEO Bob Eckert making an impassioned statement on behalf of the company.

If anyone had any doubts about the increasing use and value of video through the Web than this is another fine example of how a brand can communicate to the media and its audience simultaneously. With an anticipated 18.5m products recalled globally (2m in the UK alone), the need for a swift response from Mattel has been essential to avoid long term damage to the company’s reputation. Showing the compassion of Eckert, a like-minded concerned parent, through the video shows an individual who is prepared to face up to errors and explain how they are overcoming them. The video personalises the issues and looks to build empathy and trust with the viewer. The footage from the Mattel website has subsequently been featured on traditional TV news bulletins such as the ITV news at 22.30. By their swift response and acknowledging the benefit of the Internet to deliver their message in a personal and timely fashion, Mattel may live to fight, or play, another day.