2. Introduction
Welcome to issue three of Fast Forward, ZenithOptimedia's marketing newsletter.
In this issue we discuss the alleged death of the 30 second spot, the traditional unit of
television advertising. We brought experts in sponsorship (from Sponsorship Intelligence),
product placement (Propaganda), production (Coast) and broadcasting
(Discovery Networks) to talk to us about the subject.
Among other topics, we discussed how effective the 30 second spot is now, how to
make better use of it and combine it with other forms of marketing, the reality of ad
avoidance and what can be done about it, and how to get brands into television pro-
grammes. This newsletter contains only the highlights of the wide-ranging conversation
we had.
Jonathan Barnard (ZenithOptimedia)
Mick Brown (Coast)
Jonathan Gladwin (Propaganda)
Andy Kowalczyk (Sponsorship Intelligence)
Nick Lawrie (Sponsorship Intelligence)
Rupert McPetrie (ZenithOptimedia)
Jules Robinson (Discovery Networks)
2
3. Contents
Is the 30 second spot dying? ...............................4
Making better use of the 30 second spot ..........5
Extending the 30 second spot .............................6
Ad avoidance, relevance and incentives .........7
Getting brands into programmes ........................8
3
4. Is the 30
second
spot dying?
Television is changing. Digital television Jonathan Barnard (ZenithOptimedia):
has greatly expanded the number of Jules Robinson And watching it live, as well.
television channels available to viewers; (Discovery):
technology like the Personal Video I think creativity is important. The 30 sec- Nick Lawrie
Recorder (PVR) has allowed viewers to ond spot is all about creativity and the (Sponsorship
take more control over their viewing message. Marketers are having to work Intelligence):
experience; and the internet has very harder now and be cleverer to gain Look at the Super Bowl, for instance. It's
quickly become a strong competitor for impact. The 30 second spot is not dying, the one event that can draw the whole
consumers' time. Several commentators but marketers have to think more about of America together, and advertisers
have suggested that these develop- how to use it, and how it works with pay millions for their 30 seconds.
ments have made the 30 second spot other forms of marketing.
much less effective, and may even be Jules Robinson (Discovery): It's the
killing it. It is too early to talk of the Andy Kowalczyk biggest live showcase of advertising,
death of the spot, which retains a lot of (Sponsorship possibly in the world. They are tradition-
its power, but agencies have to work Intelligence): al ads.
harder to get the most out of it. Sport plays an important role in mass TV
because it's one thing that people will Jonathan Barnard (ZenithOptimedia): In
Jonathan Barnard all converge to watch. It will help keep the Super Bowl the ads are an event in
(ZenithOptimedia): the 30 second spot powerful. When the themselves. The next day they'll be
So, do we think the 30 second spot is World Cup is on, people want to go to analysed in newspapers around the
dying? a trusted broadcaster and hear their world. It's a great example of how ads
favourite pundits, so you'll always get are still a form of entertainment.
big audiences watching that coverage.
Rupert McPetrie Jules Robinson (Discovery):
(ZenithOptimedia): When I do focus groups, everyone starts
Absolutely not. I think it's a great ques- “Marketers are having to work off saying, 'As soon as I see the ads I get
tion for us to address. The TV landscape harder now and be cleverer up and walk out'. Twenty minutes later,
is changing so much and the fact that to gain impact. they're saying, 'I love that ad', and they
we have such a diverse range of peo- relay it word for word. I think people like
ple in the room is testament to that. The 30 second spot is not dying, advertising more than they'll ever admit.
The challenge for us all is how to use TV but marketers have to think
effectively. The 30 second spot used to more about how to use it, and
be the only answer, but there are so how it works with other forms
many more opportunities. You can
argue that the effectiveness of the 30 of marketing.”
second spot in isolation has diminished,
but the 30 second spot still plays an Jules Robinson (Discovery)
important role as part of an
overall communications
plan in television.
In fact, as technology pro-
gresses and the areas in
which we can behave com-
mercially expand, the 30
second spot will probably
make the plan much more
effective.
4 0
5. Making Some people may record a
better use
match and watch it a week Rupert McPetrie
later, but it's old news by (ZenithOptimedia):
then. It's the same with reali- The onus is always on the
ty TV. You don't want to be buyer to get the most
a week behind when you're appropriate placement. The
of the
talking at the water-cooler. TV buyer will always look for
a creative buy; even if you
Jules Robinson (Discovery): have a fairly generic mass-
30 second
I think it's all about market ad, you can find res-
relevance. onance with programmes
that are relevant. Or you
Mick Brown (Coast): say, 'OK, we know there are
spot
You need to look at the 30 four things that are relevant
second spot through its rela- for the brand. Let's say,
coverage). Ads can tionship with the editorial, Formula 1, football, high-
also be tailored to the which is the reason why the quality drama and adven-
channel in which they consumer is there in the first ture programming. Let's get
appear, particularly if place. The challenge is to four bits of copy that work
T elevision advertising works
the channel serves a
special interest.
contextualise the message.
The media and the creative
better when it is relevant to with all those programmes.'
should come together to The media buyer would love
the viewer. Advertising can Rupert McPetrie reflect the particular inter-
be made relevant by forg- to have that at his disposal.
(ZenithOptimedia): ests of the consumer. You
ing a relationship between Agencies - both cre- want to get your message
the spot and the pro-
“The challenge is to
ative and media - to the consumer through an
gramme that surrounds it: have tried to make interest that you demon-
contextualise the
either a direct relationship the traditional spot strate you both share. message. The media
(such as a car ad in Formula that bit more effec- and the creative
1 coverage), or an indirect tive. They are looking But in mass TV, you don't should come together
one (such as a beer ad with to the future, but still normally make your ad to
a rugby theme in rugby using the foundation work around a particular
to reflect the
of the 30 second spot. programme, because you particular interests of
Think of interactive don't know where it's going the consumer. You
ads, which have been to go. The media buyer can want to get your
around for a while put it in the context of the
now. More recently, target audience, but not of
message to the
think of live ads - a the editorial, unless you consumer through an
beer ad in the Rugby have very specifically set interest that you
World Cup, for exam- out to make an ad that is demonstrate you both
ple, which showed around that programme.
the score at half time. That does happen, but it's
share.”
That to me is brilliant not common.
because, one, this is Mick Brown (Coast)
the right brand for the Jules Robinson (Discovery):
programme and, two, I think fundamentally peo- Jules Robinson (Discovery):
you're exploiting the ple are still making ads to We have lots of clients tak-
technology, making appeal to a specific audi- ing their 30 second ad,
the ad that much ence. You then have to find which is used across many
more relevant and the right environment. channels, and adding to
engaging. that a vignette piece that
Mick Brown (Coast): localises it to each channel.
If you have a time- You take the consumer They're using that 30 sec-
sensitive message you through a shared interest, onds for broad messaging
need to pick a pro- which is the hook, to a mes- and then adding on a bit
gramme that con- sage about your brand. that fits it into the
sumers will watch live. That way necessitates multi- environment.
ple creative executions. 5
6. Extending the
30 second spot
Rupert McPetrie (ZenithOptimedia): more about viewing and purchas- “...given the choice
I think that creativity comes in two ing behaviour in digital homes. It's
forms; there's the actual creative only once you have the proof of and power that view-
of the commercial, but there's also
the creative way in which we use
that relationship between expo-
sure and engagement that we
ers now have,
Agencies have to make better use
of the spot because viewers have media and all the means of can then really understand how how do we move from
reaching the target market. Part of well the 30 second spot works, and
more choice and power over what
the bigger question is, given the how it interacts with the surround-
just exposure, which a
they watch. However, the technol-
ogy that gives viewers this choice choice and power that viewers ing content and other points of 30 second prime-time
now have, how do we move from contact.
and power also allows agencies to
just exposure, which a 30 second
spot gives us,
understand more about viewers
and assess the effect of television prime-time spot gives us, to Jules Robinson (Discovery): to engagement?
engagement? We really need to Taking a step back, the heart of a
advertising more accurately. It
communicate, almost on a per- campaign is the client's creative, We really need to
allows agencies to extend cam-
paigns that are based on the 30 sonal basis, with the viewer. The the way they want to be present- communicate,
viewer can now choose to watch ed and the message they want to
second spot into other forms of
media and marketing. These work programmes through a TV, get across. We are asked how we almost on a personal
together with the spot to engage through a PC or on a mobile can take our shows and use them basis, with the
phone. There are so many differ- to make the creative more rele-
the viewer and forge a stronger
relationship between the viewer ent points for viewing the message vant. We can then create online viewer.”
and the brand. that our job as an agency has content and hold special events.
become that much more compli- For instance, we put together a
cated. But if we conduct research massive, global package for a Rupert McPetrie
and gain insight from media own- tourism office, where we used rele- (ZenithOptimedia)
Nick Lawrie
(Sponsorship Intelligence): ers, then the effectiveness can be vant shows and created vignettes,
Media owners are now offering that much greater. competitions and websites. We
much more diverse platforms, so a were involved in tourism events so
marketer can come in with cre- Andy Kowalczyk the client could communicate
ative ideas for a 30 second spot (Sponsorship Intelligence): with travel agents and not just the
but also link into all sorts of other It used to be very much a case of consumer. The media owner
media elements. push; you used to push these 30 became part of their marketing
second ads out to a mass of peo- department, working with their
ple, hoping that a certain number agency to produce a campaign
would pick up that ad, recall it on a global scale, in many lan-
and then go out and buy that guages.
product. Now it's a lot more about
pulling people toward you and We've had to develop part of our
your brand and your product, business to make it possible to fully
through TV, internet and all the dif-sponsor a proper multimedia plat-
ferent platforms. form, rather than just negotiating
an ad spot. For years TV has
Jules Robinson (Discovery): been about awareness; there's
We have a very media-savvy audi- no better medium for building
ence. People know when they're awareness and understand-
being sold to. This means we have ing of a product. Now TV
to be clever, and expand beyond can do more and that's
the 30 second spot, rather than exciting.
see the death of it. This would then
mean extending campaigns
online and introducing competi-
tions to increase exposure, as well
as putting them into context within
the programmes they air in.
Rupert McPetrie (ZenithOptimedia):
The good news about the way the
market is evolving is that everyone
has to think more, not just because
there's choice, but because new
technologies help us understand
6
7. Ad avoidance,
relevance and
incentives
PVRs and internet video make it Mick Brown (Coast): But don't people engage-
easier for viewers to avoid ads, still flick through the ads? ment? Can
we make
though by no means all those who
Rupert McPetrie (ZenithOptimedia): people
have the ability to avoid ads watch an
You're right that when people record
actually do. Still, the spread of programmes, a proportion of them do ad? Or do we incen-
ad-avoidance technology makes it fast forward the ads. But those who tivise them? The broadcaster can
important to ensure that ads are don't are more attentive to the advertis- let viewers earn reward points by
relevant to viewers, and to give ing, because they have selected that watching ads, for example.
viewers reasons to pay attention programme and taken the time to sit
to them. down and watch it. Andy Kowlaczyk (Sponsorship
Intelligence): You have to give people
Rupert McPetrie (ZenithOptimedia): The Andy Kowlaczyk (Sponsorship reasons to watch ads.
conventional wisdom is that traditional Intelligence): Internet penetration is
media is suffering as technology devel- high and broadband speeds are get- Mick Brown (Coast): Consumers are ask-
ops. To a degree that's true, but people ting to the level where we can actually ing why the advertiser is there.
actually watch more television when watch high-quality coverage on our Advertisers need to ask how they can
they have more choice. We have to be PCs. At that point you can avoid the be relevant.
a bit smarter about where we try to ads.
reach these people because the audi- Jules Robinson (Discovery): I think it's still
fundamentally about programmes, and
ence is more fragmented, but more “...broadband speeds entertaining people or informing people
choice does mean more viewing.
are getting to the level in the right way. You've got to be care-
ful about forcing someone to do some-
When you look at early audience data
from homes with PVRs, a lot of pro- where we can actually thing that then ruins their experience.
We shouldn't put more barri-
grammes were being recorded and a
lot of the playback was being fast for-
watch high-quality ers between viewers
and programmes,
warded through the ads. That gave us coverage on our PCs. because what the
a problem. But the people who bought
this equipment were the early adopters, At that point you can internet has done is
told consumers,
who don't have traditional viewing
habits anyway and have a high under- avoid the ads.” 'You can go
anywhere'.
standing of the kit. In fact, as the uni- Andy Kowlaczyk
verse of those who have PVRs increas-
(Sponsorship Intelligence)
es, the ad avoidance data suggests
that we're not missing all that much
commercial viewing. Ad avoidance is a Rupert McPetrie (ZenithOptimedia):
challenge and we'd be foolish not to There are ways of signposting the ads
think about how we can deal with that that are about to come on air. Look at
in the future, but there are already the listing pages in your newspaper on
some great examples of a more your way home; there will be some sign-
creative approach being posting for an ad that will be on later
used to try and negate tonight. You can signpost on air. We did
that effect. it for one of our clients; we got the
channel to say at the end of the pro-
gramme, 'Stay tuned to this
break to see this exciting devel-
opment about your credit card'.
Looking to the future, are there ways
that we can use this technology, which
we perceive as a threat, to force
7
8. Getting brands into
programmes
Even if viewers start important now, because all surrounded by brands Jules Robinson
avoiding ads in large you can't avoid them. every day. The day it (Discovery): We have
numbers, they won't be Break sponsorship is very becomes uncomfort- Jules Robinson interactive TV now, so
able to avoid brands good because it tells able is when viewers (Discovery): The main there is already a two-
that appear in the pro- viewers who are fast for- feels a brand has been point I've picked up way process in TV. Now
grammes they watch, warding the ads when shoehorned into a show from this is the question video creators and
hence the growing inter- the programme will start where it doesn't fit. of how to bring brands broadcasters are explor-
est in sponsorship and again. into programmes and ing this online.
product placement. Mick Brown (Coast): how to pull down the
Product placement rules The problem is when you walls, without affecting Jonathan Barnard
vary from country to Mick Brown want to make the prod- the credibility of the (ZenithOptimedia):
country; it is common in (Coast): uct the hero and you broadcaster. Going back to the 30
the Americas and Asia, Because it's a signpost. focus in too much on it; Fundamentally, I think second spot, we already
but banned (at least in nobody wants that. broadcasters need to have interactive ads,
most forms) in much of “We’ve got to make retain the responsibility but the scope of inter-
Europe. Even in coun- Jonathan Gladwin for the quality of their action is still quite limit-
sure the audience
tries where it is banned, (Propaganda): It's the programming. ed. As this sort of tech-
brands can often be
feels comfortable difference between the nology becomes more
placed in programmes with the brand being product being the hero Andy Kowalczyk
where their appearance there. And audi- and being just part and (Sponsorship “...people don't mind
is editorially justified, as ences expect to see parcel of the action. But Intelligence): There will sponsors being there
long as there is no edito- the brands in pro- you want it to be natu- be more options in the
ral; you don't want it to future. I saw Microsoft
any more, as long as
rial interference.
grammes.” jar. Leave the produc- give a presentation on they don't get too
Wherever it takes place, tion company to natu- new technology, using intrusive and the
Jonathan Gladwin
product placement (Propaganda)
ralise the products in the Friends as an example. sponsorship
needs to be conducted shows, then let the 30 You clicked on Rachel's is relevant.”
carefully, to avoid alien- second ad do all the jacket and the television
ating the viewer and sales pitch in that con- took you to a shop
Andy Kowlaczyk
ensure the broadcaster Jonathan trolled space. where you could actual- (Sponsorship Intelligence)
retains its credibility. Barnard ly buy that jacket. It
(ZenithOptimedia): Andy Kowlaczyk stopped the programme
In the future, technology Clearly, we have to be (Sponsorship coverage, allowed you common, it will allow us
is likely to make product very sensitive about how Intelligence): I don't to buy the jacket and, to do so much more
placement more power- we get brands into con- think brands have to be when you'd finished, with television ads: to
ful, by allowing viewers tent. too sensitive about carried on from where it take consumers directly
to find information about product placement, left off. from ad to website to
the products they see on Jonathan because people are purchase, for example,
screen, or even buy Gladwin savvy now; they under- Jonathan Gladwin or engage them with
them, with a touch of a (Propaganda): stand what's going on. (Propaganda): I think personalised content.
button or click of a It's about making sure They understand that that's the key, getting
mouse. This technology that the programmes these programmes need products into the con-
should also do the same we're working on fit with investment. We've done tent and allowing peo-
for the 30 second spot, the brand, and making a lot of research that ple to adapt to that. As
by helping advertisers that fit right and rele- shows people don't technology develops
interact and engage vant for the audience. mind sponsors being we will be able to go
with viewers more We've got to make sure there any more, as long from seeing a product in
closely. the audience feels com- as they don't get too a programme to buying
fortable with the brand intrusive and the spon- it, and to click on on-
Andy being there. And audi- sorship is relevant and in screen text to go to a
Kowalczyk ences expect to see the context. website.
(Sponsorship brands in programmes.
Intelligence): Product They don't expect to see
placement and sponsor- no brands in a pro-
ship - having brands gramme, because that
exposed within cover- doesn't feel right. We're
age - are becoming so
If you have any questions or would like to discuss anything you have read here,
please contact your local ZenithOptimedia office
8 or Jonathan Barnard, Head of Publications
(+44 20 7961 1192, Jonathan.Barnard@zenithoptimedia.com).
