Business-to-business brands have historically been conspicuous by their absence on conventional commercial TV (i.e. broadcast by an aerial, cable or satellite, rather than the Internet). Companies’ reluctance to invest in this enormously powerful media has been due to a number of compelling reasons; chiefly the high cost of production and media buying, and latterly the fragmentation of media that has resulted in plummeting audience figures and a general crisis for the largest commercial broadcaster, ITV.
Meanwhile, TV has also been suffering from fierce competition from digital media, which offer more accurate targeting and better measurement. Although new niche web TV operations have sprung up in various business sectors in recent years serving highly specified information requirements, the barriers preventing B2B brands from accessing the conventional form of the media appeared to be insurmountable.
However, a number of recent developments suggest that this long-standing situation may be changing. Late last year saw the launch of The Business Channel (see B2BM Jan 07 p7) on Sky (channel 547), which claims to be the first channel in the UK with content focusing entirely on business, but not from a news or financial news perspective (unlike CNN or CNBC). Various B2B brands are currently trialling it for advertising.
This followed hard on the heels of Vodafone’s ‘Big idea’, on Sky One, which takes the concept of BBC2’s ‘Dragon’s Den’ show for entrepreneurs, gives it a commercial twist, and features a former contestant from ‘The Apprentice’ (also from BBC2). The audience consisted of entrepreneurs, but the programme’s key differentiator is that it is pitched as entertainment and is therefore applicable and of interest to a broader audience.
These most recent launches are significant, but are in many ways just the latest incarnation of a creeping penetration of business issues into the TV schedules, with programmes such as BBC’s ‘Working Lunch’ and Channel 4’s ‘Risking it all’ (sponsored by Brother) now well integrated into the schedules.
So does this signify the beginning of a reappraisal of TV by B2B brands? If so, what kind of opportunities does this present, for what kind of brands? Or are these simply isolated incidents meaning that the barriers to this medium are as insurmountable as ever?
Enter the dragon
To understand the future, it’s useful to look at the genesis of this new breed of business programming. The Business Channel was the brainchild of Martin Everard. “I spotted a distinct gap in the business TV space; there was no channel fundamentally dedicated to continuous business programming,” he comments. “Business issues presented in reality formats that are considered entertaining – for example the ‘Dragon’s Den’ – appeal to a business and financial audience, but also have a wider appeal for people not directly associated with business. This type of programming is a way of making business entertaining.”
Everard believes this new format of ‘business entertainment’ programme is the main catalyst for the increase in popularity of business-focused TV content.
“Other broadcasters are looking at alternatives to ‘Dragon’s Den’-style shows, in order to get on the bandwagon. Sky One has launched the ‘Big Idea’ and similar programmes are being devised. However, in essence the messages can be sent through drama, feature films and in all sorts of different ways,” he comments.
As well as generally raising the profile of business content through entertaining programming, this kind of TV show has also been used by organisations to reach specific target audiences.
The ‘Big Idea’ was conceptualised by Vodafone as a way of reaching small businesses. David Perry, brand, comms & planning manager for enterprise at Vodafone, explains, “We wanted to improve our brand appeal to small businesses, which is why we created the programme. Our research showed that smaller companies viewed us as a big corporate: a brand perception we wanted to dispel.”
He continues, “TV has a lot of worth for targeting smaller businesses because there are a lot of them and they are disparate. Using mass broadcast media therefore has worth in terms of capturing the breadth of a business. Because they are related closely to consumers, TV is good for capturing smaller organisations and getting them to recognise themselves as businesses, because many don’t view themselves in traditional business terms.”
Sponsorship of similar programmes is also an option for brands looking to target specific audiences through mass marketing. B2B brand Brother undertook such sponsorship, with its support of the Channel 4 series ‘Risking it All’ in 2005.
Chris Hinds, head of marketing at Brother, comments, “We sponsored ‘Risking it All’ as we had identified small businesses as being one of our key markets and our research showed us that we have a large market-share in that arena. TV was therefore a good way to reach these small businesses.”
Getting the measure of TV
Although there are significant opportunities for B2B brands on TV, the disadvantages and obstacles relating to the medium have not disappeared.
Most significant amongst these, arguably, is measurement: techniques for measuring TV audiences to specific programmes and/or specific channels at any given time are controversial and are notoriously unreliable.
TV audience figures are generally collected through sampling a proportional representation of viewers who fill out questionnaires either online or through interactive TV. The results are then collated and audience figures calculated, based on identified trends. Qualitative data collection methods such as this have representation and accuracy problems, due to their very nature.
It is also arguable that traditional means of measuring TV audiences are designed for, and effective at, measuring the viewing of business people, as much of this may be done outside the home environment – for example, in the gym, in hotels, at airports, etc. Yet according to Vincent Letang, senior TV analyst at media research organisation Screen Digest, the vaguaries of these techniques are driving an increasing number of advertisers toward digital media.
“The Internet is more accountable than TV; this is obviously why ads have moved from TV to online,” he comments.
Likewise, Nick Mawditt, head of research at business news channel CNBC Europe – also president of the International TV Research Group – comments, “Measurement is always an imprecise science; the more information you can gather the better, as relying on one source is dangerous as you don’t obtain the full picture. People have different ways of engaging with brands, so brands have to be more clever about the way in which they reach customers. Because people have different ways of communicating with a brand, it is difficult to quantify what the result of any media success is.”
The measure of it all
Perry at Vodafone, however, says the critique that TV is dramatically less measurable than other media is a myth. “TV has had bad press and people have put the boot in over audience figures. Online is different to most other mediums as it is trackable as a direct sales media; however, it is still not used massively as a brand-building tool. Click-through rates aren’t representative of brand-building.”
He continues, “Other media, for example the press, also rely on panels of people for figures, so they are in the same boat; whether you believe TV viewing figures are representative or not is the same as whether you believe radio panels are effective.”
Although there is undoubtedly some truth in this argument, Letang at Screen Digest maintains that the dynamics of TV massively undermine the case for using it in B2B. “It is still largely uneconomic to conduct B2B marketing through broadcast methods as it’s too expensive,” he comments. “B2B marketing is target-specific and businesspeople are more likely to be captured on the Internet. It makes more sense now, than 10 years ago, to go online as the technological costs have gone down dramatically.”
He continues, “Even if you are a big brand and you want to do B2B marketing through entertainment in video form, it is a better option to go online rather than going through a broadcast platform.”
Digital revolution
Given the costs involved, is TV only viable as a sponsorship or advertising medium for top-tier brands, such as Vodafone?
Hinds at Brother certainly thinks so. “Using TV as a medium does the job for bigger brands; this is where companies offering niche products and services will struggle as larger organisations have bigger marketing budgets,” he comments.
Mawditt at CNBC Europe agrees that bigger brands are more likely to use the medium. “CNBC tends to attract global or international B2B brands – such as IBM, Cisco and Zurich – as they are in the forefront of people’s minds. We give them the opportunity to reach key businesspeople across Europe and the world.”
Yet Perry at Vodafone believes that opportunities will emerge for non-premier league B2B brands on TV. “Sponsoring high-profile programmes by nature is expensive, so initially it will stay in the remit of large businesses. However, opportunities remain on smaller and regionally-based channels; ITV, for example, offers entry roads for smaller businesses. For me, TV is the best way to grow a brand and change brand perception.”
This is largely the result of the proliferation in channels, which in turn is a consequence of the TV digital revolution instigated by Sky and reinforced by the Freeview digital terrestrial service. More channels equals more choice, which in turn equals smaller and smaller audiences, which are less and less appealing to consumer brands for advertising. This is known as ‘media fragmentation’, is best illustrated by Cadbury’s cancelling its sponsorship of Coronation Street and is the driving force behind ITV’s recent fall from grace.
But the mass market channel’s problem is the niche broadcaster’s opportunity. Everard at The Business Channel comments, “Due to the proliferation of channels, ad costs have come down, which will benefit organisations offering niche products and services.”
Channel surfing
It would seem, therefore, that the future is bright for B2B on TV as viewers become more interested in business issues and fragmentation creates opportunities for niche channels.
The broadcasters themselves are predictably enthusiastic. Mawditt at CNBC Europe, enthuses, “TV is definitely growing as a B2B marketing channel. The fact that strong media brands have been targeting a general B2B audience has ensured its success. TV is evolving generally through technological advancement, but also through the strong media brands that are in the marketplace. The whole B2B sector is exploding and evolving, so more opportunities for niche sectors will arise.”
Everard at The Business Channel concurs. “Business-related content is on the rise; organisations will see that you can involve business subject matter within an entertaining programme. Advertisers will leap on this.”
The Business Channel itself is likely to prove a key barometer in the demand for TV as a business marketing medium. If it fails, the opportunities will take a significant knock, but if it succeeds, we can expect to see more and more business brands investigating this highly potent route to market; many for the first time, many in new and innovative ways, such as sponsoring programmes.
However, to really succeed, and achieve mainstream acceptance and uptake, it must reach out to brands that sit outside the global elite. In reality, TV is never likely to be as all pervading as DM, email or let alone the web, but it does look likely to come onto the radar and into the reach of more and more brands. For marketers, this can only be a good thing.
