The UK’s digital switchover campaign may be over, but the DTT platform Freeview still feels a need to advertise, rallying against the alternative pay-TV platforms.
A new marketing campaign has been designed to highlight what the PSB-backed platform says is the £199.32 spent each year on unwatched pay TV channels and that 95% of the most-watched programmes in the UK are found on free-to-air channels.
It should be noted that Freeview shareholder ITV has chosen Sky, another Freeview shareholder, for exclusive pay-TV carriage of HD versions for its ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4 channels.
The 30-second film, created by Leo Burnett, continues the balloon theme of previous campaigns that are used to represent the depth of programming available on Freeview including Masterchef and The Apprentice as well as Big Brother and The Cube. During the ad, the red balloons break off to symbolise the large proportion of the UK’s most watched programmes.
Guy North, Marketing Communications Director at Freeview, said: “As household budgets are increasingly stretched, we’re highlighting the alternative to pay TV. Our latest campaign encourages consumers to question whether an expensive subscription package is really right for them if most of the content they watch is free-to-air.
The campaign will be extended to digital and radio spots as well as retail point of sale literature. In-store product demonstrations in partnership with Toshiba will take place across 31 John Lewis and Curry’s stores.
