C5 offers direct marketing option

Channel 5 is to offer advertisers through-the-line campaigns following its appointment of a direct marketing expert to exploit a database of 14 million homes.

The database and a call-handling centre is a side effect of C5’s 150m retuning programme.

Kevin Coyne, former commercial director of consumer finance company GE Capital, is joining as head of customer services for the new channel. He will control an operation within the marketing department that will handle direct viewer relationships.

But he will also work with the channel’s advertising sales team to give on-screen advertisers access to the database and a call response mechanism. C5 marketing director David Brook says C5 will be the first terrestrial channel to offer the service.

“I don’t know many marketing people who aren’t thinking about how they can integrate direct marketing with on-air brand marketing,” he says. “And this opens up some interesting opportunities down the line. We have the biggest database in the country because of our investment for retuning.”

C5 also plans to use its call-handling centre to add interactivity to some of its programming and to boost merchandising activity.

C5 will have retuned 7 million homes by the end of January. It plans to announce its programming plans on February 18.