TV chiefs hit the road to drum up business
Granada Enterprises chief executive Mick Desmond and Carlton Media chief executive Martin Bowley are touring the top 30 creative agencies in the UK, in a bid to make them more aware of the range of creative opportunities available to brands on television.
The roadshow is designed to let creative directors know about up-and-coming programming on ITV and the sponsorship opportunities that relate to them.
Advertiser funded programming is one of the areas being covered in the discussions between the ITV sales houses and creative agencies.
Bowley says: “We are finding that media planning is divorced from the creative process. The agencies are surprised at the breadth of programme-related opportunities we can offer them.
“We are talking to them about sponsorship, what programmes are coming up and advertiser funded programming.”
The roadshow is also likely to be used to outline ITV’s strategy of appointment-to-view programming which includes series such as Popstars and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
Carlton has just taken a series of bids for sponsorship of the forthcoming psychological adventure game show, Survivor.
ITV, along with the rest of the television industry, is having a tough time and is expected to see ad revenues drop by between 15 and 20 per cent in April compared with the same month last year (MW March 8).
