BSkyB marketing spend down as focus shifts

BSkyB cut marketing outlay by 11% in the third quarter as the media company shifts from pushing its pay-TV service to cross selling its products to existing customers.

Sky

A drop in above the line advertising spend and increase in direct sales though its websites drove marketing costs down to £270m in the three months to 30 September, from £302m a year earlier. The close of its “Sky” customer magazine also reduced costs, the company adds.

The drop in marketing costs – which also includes money spent on loyalty, PR and research and innovation – comes as the company reports a 16% increase in quarterly operating profit to £255m. Income was lifted by a 9% increase in revenue.

The company wants to expand its broadband and telecoms customer base beyond pay-TV and increase the number of “triple play” customers.

Customers for all its products grew to 683,000 in the quarter despite slower growth for its pay-TV service of 26,000.

The percentage of customers taking each of TV, broadband and phone products grew to 28% of its 10.4 million total base in the quarter.

Jeremy Darroch, chief executive of BSkyB, says that its move to more “broadly based growth” and multiple products is “serving it well” in “tough market conditions”.

Read about Sky’s digital innovations and online performance on nma.co.uk

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