Freeview launches ads ahead of switchover

Freeview is launching a marketing campaign focusing on converting customers to its services as part of the digital switchover.

The campaign is part of a push to attract customers still confused over their digital options. The ads will bear the slogan “why pay to view when you can Freeview”.

Freeview’s conversion marketing activity will include on-the-ground initiatives to drive awareness, and promotions with retailers selling Freeview boxes. There will also be regional above-the-line advertising campaigns, including specially shot TV ads.

The campaign will break in the ITV West Country region this week, ahead of the switchover beginning there next week. Beattie McGuiness Bungay has created the campaign for Freeview.

Freeview marketing communications director Rob Farmer says: “As the switchover gathers pace, we will be cranking up our marketing efforts to get more customers onto the Freeview platform. It’s important that we highlight the quality TV offering consumers can get from us, with 99 of the top 100 programmes available for them to view for no charge.”

The campaign follows on from Freeview’s TV ads for Freeview Plus, which ran from November 2008 to January 2009 and starred celebrities such as comedian Alan Carr and chef Gordon Ramsay, and helped the company sell 1.2 million boxes, a 12.2% uplift on the company’s projections for the pre and post Christmas period.

Meanwhile, Freesat, the rival free-to-air satellite TV service will launch its first TV ad campaign today (Wednesday). The campaign, produced by Farm, comprises two ads, each featuring a main character in their living room left captivated by Freesat and its “no bills, no strings” service.

The campaign will launch on ITV1 during coverage of the England vs Ukraine world cup qualifier match.

TV feature, page 20

Recommended

FMCG worries add to mixed ad spend outlook for 2009

Marketing Week

FMCG brands – the biggest spending global advertisers – remain the hardest to attract to digital, despite the IAB this week announcing online ad spend in 2008 rose 17.1% to £3.3bn. The report from the IAB, in partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers and the World Advertising Research Centre, found that online had increased its share of total […]

Twycross launches TV campaign

Marketing Week

Twycross Zoo is to launch a new television campaign created by advertising agency Golley Slater. The agency recently won the business in a five-way pitch. The Zoo houses the most comprehensive collection of primate species and subspecies in the w…