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Thinkbox LIVE!
Watch our live web-stream of ‘TV Nation’ on Wednesday 22 May 2013 from 9.30am to 1pm
A year after the Jubilee and the Olympics seems a good time to explore what Britain is really like today, what it means to be British and particularly what TV can tell us about what the nation is like. At this event, we’ve gathered together some big industry brains to help us on this journey, including: Simeon Adams from Goodstuff; Simon Atkinson from Ipsos Mori; Nikki Crumpton from McCann London; Tracy De Groose from Carat; David Hackworthy from Fallon; Richard Huntington from Saatchi & Saatchi; and Jane Rogerson from UKTV. We’ll also update you with the latest wave of our TV Nation research.
If you weren’t able to grab yourself a ticket to this event then you may want to join us online via our live web stream at some point during the morning and watch a session or two. It’s the next best thing to being there. Click 
here to put a reminder in your diary, or click here to find out more.
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What's New
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On Tuesday 11th June, the IPA will be launching the latest thought leader publication, ‘The Long and the Short of it: Balancing Short and Long-term Marketing Strategies’. This publication examines the impact of timescales of effect, exploring the tension between long- and short-term strategies for brands and businesses, as well as providing evidence-based recommendations on how best to approach investment in advertising. At this afternoon event, you’ll be hearing from the authors, Les Binet from adam&eveDDB and Marketing Consultant Peter Field, as well as other key industry experts. Click through to find out more information and how to book your ticket. -
BLOG: There wasn’t a great deal of fuss made last week when the Advertising Association revealed the official UK ad revenue figures for 2012. It was quite a quiet revolution. But I think there should have been more fuss made. So here’s some I should have made earlier. Firstly, the industry should congratulate the Advertising Association for listening to it – no mean feat when there are so many parties keen to... -
Congratulations to all 2013’s BAFTA winners – and especially to those winners from commercial TV. Their brilliance helps maintain British TV’s world-beating reputation and ensures that commercial TV remains the most effective environment for advertisers. Congratulations to all! -
PRESS RELEASE: Thinkbox has commissioned Flamingo, the global insight and brand consultancy, and Tapestry, the quantitative research specialists, to undertake the second in its series of ‘Screen Life’ research studies, with results expected this summer. The new study will focus on how people are watching VOD and how that differs from and adds to linear viewing. The new study – ‘Screen Life: TV in demand’ – will use a combination of quantitative and qualitative techniques to examine how and why people are now watching TV, examining the reasons people choose to watch linear TV and VOD and their attitudes to new screens, such as tablets and smartphones. It is designed to help marketers understand different TV behaviours and the effects they have on how TV advertising works. -
The March/ April Thinkboxes awards sees marauding gnomes, a good dose of kitchen magic, rampaging hordes, some very modern apples and a dancing pony. IKEA ‘Time for change’ tells the story of a couple transforming their garden, despite the best efforts of an army of evil gnomes. The beautiful ‘Weave your magic’ creative for Lurpak is shot in a cinematic style with the unfolding drama enhanced by an epic voiceover. ‘Charge’ from Samsung features a cast of thousands storming across a beach towards a man sitting in his chair. All he has to do to stop the mayhem is raise his hand, neatly illustrating the smart TV’s capabilities. Somersby’s launch campaign sends up the tech-speak that surrounds electronic companies to illustrate the cider’s real apple credentials in a very funny way. Finally, 3 uses a Shetland pony dancing on a beach to ‘Everywhere’ by Fleetwood Mac to prove that ‘Silly stuff matters’. You can watch all the ads on this brilliantly varied shortlist right here. -
We know advertising pays back for individual advertisers, but to what extent does it actually boost the economy? ‘Advertising Pays’, a Deloitte report commissioned by the Advertising Association, sets out to quantify and qualify the economic effects of the £16bn spent on advertising in the UK every year. It finds that for every £1 spent on advertising, the economy grows by £6. This amounts to a £100bn effect on total GDP. Here you can find out how and why advertising will play a key role in revitalising our economy, along with insight and reaction from Cilla Snowball CBE, Nicola Mendelsohn, Gavin Patterson and The Rt. Hon. Maria Miller MP: essential reading. -
A year after the Jubilee and the Olympics seems a good time to explore what Britain is really like today, what it means to be British and particularly what TV can tell us about what the nation is like. At this event, we’ve gathered together some big industry brains to help us on this journey, including: Simeon Adams from Goodstuff; Simon Atkinson from Ipsos Mori; Nikki Crumpton from McCann London; Tracy De Groose from Carat; David Hackworthy from Fallon; Richard Huntington from Saatchi & Saatchi and Jane Rogerson from UKTV. We’ll also update you with the latest wave of our TV Nation research. Sign up for a free place here. -
Many congratulations to those who have been shortlisted for the TV Planning Awards 2013. The awards, in conjunction with Campaign and MediaWeek, are designed to recognise inspired and effective uses of today’s TV. This year’s awards have delivered a record 98 entries – a 20% increase on the record number of entries received last year. Our finalists include Manning Gottlieb OMD, The Red Brick Road, OMD, Initiative, PHD with Grey London and Drum, WCRS with Engine and Havas Media, UM London, MediaCom, Mindshare, Starcom MediaVest, Vizeum, M2M, adconnection and ZenithOptimedia. You’ll find the full list here. -
This month we hear from Jeremy Ellis, Marketing Director from TUI UK & Ireland, the man responsible for commissioning critically-acclaimed TV campaigns for Thomson and First Choice. In selecting 3 brilliant ads that have inspired him, Jeremy’s picked strong TV ads that touch the heart, not only by drawing out true life experiences and drawing us in to the action, but also by educating us in humorous ways. We hope you enjoy the film. -
CASE STUDY: John West was struggling: with volume sales down and margins being squeezed, they knew they had to do something different to stand out and turn the brand around. Tapping into the increasing desire of consumers to know where their food comes from, they created 'Can Tracker'. This innovative idea, combined with a funny and memorable TV ad, helped turn their fortunes around, propelling John West to brand leader position. Here you can find out how they did it.
Discover the power of TV advertising: how TV advertising works and why
There are all sorts of reasons why television advertising is so brilliant at creating success for brands and businesses both in the short-term and the long-term. |
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Here are the top ten:
For all the evidence click here. |
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Welcome
Thinkbox is the marketing body for commercial TV in the UK, in all its forms – broadcast, on-demand and interactive. Its 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 & STV also give direct financial support. Thinkbox works with the marketing community with a single ambition: to help advertisers get the best out of today’s TV.
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Have you seen this?
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Channel 4 and Lime Pictures have teamed up with O2 to create a series of ground-breaking contextual, narrative TV adverts to promote Load & Go, the cash card for young people from O2 Money. In between the Hollyoaks drama, viewers can catch up with the latest comings and goings at the Load & Go shop and watch the drama unfold daily with (Hollyoaks fan) Matt and Sam in their very own bite-size retail rom-com. This series of twenty TV ads has been tailored to complement the ongoing storylines from Hollyoaks; an excellent piece of spot innovation and a clever way to create a strong connection between the O2 brand and Hollyoaks fans. You can see how it looks in the break, and find out more, right here. -
Here you can download a PDF of ‘A year in TV 2012’, Thinkbox’s review of what was an incredible year for TV. From ‘TV in numbers’ to ‘trends and innovation’, it’s full of facts, figures and opinion on the past year, all of which we hope you find interesting and informative. Please feel free to pass it on, if you do. -
Over the past few years we've been out and about with cameras and lights, filming award-winning brand stories from the IPA Effectiveness Awards, the Thinkbox TV planning Awards and elsewhere. These bite-size documentaries are a rare chance to hear from some of the advertisers and agencies responsible for these inspiring and effective campaigns. Recent additions to our ‘case studies on film' gallery include Audi, PG Tips, Tesco, Orange and Tobacco Control. Here are some quick links for you; they’re well worth a look. -
This film looks at PG Tips marketing communications from its launch to the present day and features contributions from Paul Feldwick, Consultant; Nigel Jones, UK Group Chairman and Chief Executive, Publicis: Les Binet, European Director, DDB Matrix and Dylan Williams, Partner & Head of Strategy, Mother, amongst others. It explores DDB’s Grand Prix winning paper from the 1990 IPA Effectiveness Awards; which has been voted by past and present Convenors of Judges as one of the very best case studies in the IPA Databank. The brand’s enduring success story is bought up to date by Mother, who tell us about the thinking behind their current Al & Monkey campaign. If you want to find out more about added value; brand resilience; commanding a price premium; the value of consistency in both share of voice and creativity, then this film is well worth a look. And of course, it’s packed with classic ads too. -
This film tells the story of Audi's advertising from 1981 – when Audi became the first piece of business that BBH won – to 2007, a period in which an overhauled communications strategy delivered a payback of £7.50 for every £1 spent alongside creating the UK's fastest growing prestige car brand. Contributors on film include Peter Duffy, Head of Marketing, Audi UK, Sir John Hegarty, Worldwide Creative Director, BBH and Fiona Walford, Director, Mediacom. The original case study at the heart of this film has been voted by past conveners as one of the very best case studies from 30 years of the IPA Effectiveness Awards. If you work in the automotive sector, or would just like to explore the link between continuity, creativity and effectiveness, then this is well worth a look. "Vorsprung durch Technik", as they say in Germany. -
This research, commissioned by Thinkbox and the IPA, and undertaken by independent marketing consultant Peter Field, analysed the correlation between campaigns' performance across a wide range of the worlds' most respected creative awards determined by The Gunn Report, and their performance in hard business terms recorded in the IPA Effectiveness Awards Databank. Updated in 2011, the analysis now covers 435 campaigns over a sixteen year period between 1994 and 2010. It revealed a direct correlation between strong advertising creativity and business success, and that high levels of creativity make advertising campaigns some 12 times more efficient at increasing a brand’s market share. Here you can find out about the project’s background, read the management summary and download the IPA’s full report. -
Product placement has been on our screens for some years, appearing within acquired programming from overseas or as legitimate prop provision. Since February 2011, British films, TV series, entertainment shows and sports programmes made for UK audiences have also been able to contain product placement as long as they comply with Ofcom’s rules. Here you can find out more about this new TV opportunity, including an overview of what you can and can’t do with it. -
This section is a treasure trove of brilliant things said by brilliant people from our industry with lots of new material and an updated search function. You can jump to a category by using the drop down menu, select quotes from a particular industry legend, pop a key word into the search box or simply have a poke around at your leisure. -
The case studies section of the Thinkbox website is one of our most visited and valued online resources. There’s lots of good stuff there, but you can’t have too much of a good thing. So, if you’ve worked on an inspiring or effective campaign that you’d like to see featured, we’d love to hear from you. Here you can get the low down on the information you need to provide, how we would go about researching and writing up your case study, and also who to talk to about making it happen. -
Payback 3, an independent study commissioned from Ebiquity by Thinkbox, is an econometric analysis of 3,000 ad campaigns across nine advertising sectors between 2006 and 2011. It compared, on a like-for-like basis, the sales and profit impact during the last five years of five forms of advertising: TV, radio, press, online static display and outdoor. Amongst the findings, the research showed that TV advertising is 2.5 times more effective at creating sales uplift per equivalent exposure than the next best performing medium. Payback 3 joined a growing body of work proving the effectiveness of TV and you can read all about it here. -
A new study carried out for Thinkbox by COG Research and designed to help the advertising community understand the context of multi-screening (watching TV and simultaneously using an internet-connected device such as a laptop, smartphone or tablet). Using a combination of research techniques which examined over 700 hours of TV viewing gathered from filming the living rooms of 23 multi-screening households in the UK, psycho-physiological analysis, digital ethnography and online research among 2,000 people with TV and online access. Here you can read about the research context, the methodology and key findings from the report which reveals how TV and TV advertising benefits from second screens. -
The Thinkbox app, which has been specifically designed for the iPad, puts the world of TV advertising at your fingertips. It features all the facts, the figures, and the thinking in TV advertising, including the latest data, inspiring case studies, TV ad galleries and the best research into how and why TV advertising is so effective. The app is free and has been designed by leading digital and mobile specialists, ORM, and is for anyone involved or interested in TV advertising – from advertisers, media planners and buyers, to creative agencies, auditors and journalists. You can find out more here, watch a film about how it works and click through to the App Store to download it. -
Danepak used TV to reignite consumer interest and create a level of emotional engagement for a brand that hadn’t spoken to consumers beyond the supermarket shelves for many years. Through a highly targeted campaign in food programmes only, they reached the right people in the ideal environment. As a result, they achieved uplifts in awareness as well as sales. Read on to see how they did it. -
We’ve just unveiled a brand new econometric study – POETIC - by Data2Decisions that examined what creates Word of Mouth (WoM) and that also quantifies the relationship between paid, owned and earned media. If you weren’t able to come along to the launch event on Wednesday 20th March, you can catch up with all the action by watching the event on-demand, right here. The research examined over half a million data points for 36 brands, so you’ll be pleased to hear that we’ve distilled the key points into a snappy 20 slide deck for you to pinch. And finally, if words are your thing, rather than charts, then you’ll can also find the key facts in a downloadable, one sheet, Word document here. -
BLOG: ‘It’s good to talk’, Bob Hoskins used to say in TV ads for BT. Well, if it was good then, it’s bloody marvellous now. We have probably never ‘talked’ more in the widest sense of the word. As technology has expanded, so have our means to talk. So the chatter on pillows, at bars, and over watercoolers that we always did has been supplemented by the chatter we now commit to the internet or via the ‘phones that are rarely more than a thumb’s reach away. Our day-to-day tête-à-têtes and heart-to-hearts don’t have to be conducted eye-to-eye or face-to-face anymore (although at least 90% of brand conversations take place offline). Talking is unique to humans and there are many reasons we practise it... -
CASE STUDY: John West was struggling: with volume sales down and margins being squeezed, they knew they had to do something different to stand out and turn the brand around. Tapping into the increasing desire of consumers to know where their food comes from, they created 'Can Tracker'. This innovative idea, combined with a funny and memorable TV ad, helped turn their fortunes around, propelling John West to brand leader position. Here you can find out how they did it.
Highlights
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Here’s the top line of where to go and what you can find and do when you get there … -
Access all areas and sign up to get all the latest from the world of TV advertising. -
The completion of digital switchover in the UK last year should see linear TV viewing stabilise after years of record growth fuelled by the increased number of channels available. Due to a combination of great television and it being the coldest March in many years the latest BARB figures has seen a slight increase in viewing for March 2013. Commercial TV impacts in March 2013 were up by 8.1% on March 2012 and after years of record growth it is up 15.6% compared to five years ago, according to figures from the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board.