UKTV to ‘reinvent Dave for the 21st Century’
UKTV plans to “shift up a gear” in its marketing for Dave after admitting the channel has lost some of the “irreverence” it had at launch.
The broadcaster has tasked its newly appointed creative agency Mother to create off air marketing campaigns that push the channel’s point of view and brand identity, rather than just its programming.
The amount of marketing activity UKTV produces is also likely to increase as it looks to generate more cut through among viewers.
UKTV marketing director Simon Michaelides told Marketing Week that it plans to move Dave into its “second phase of life” in order to keep the brand fresh and front of mind with viewers.
He added: “When Dave launched it broke all the rules and was seen as the irreverent child in broadcast. Now, because it’s so familiar, it’s lost some of that irreverence – it feels safe: the happy home for witty banter.
“We want to go back to our roots and capture the spirit of what it stands for and reinvent Dave for the 21st century.”
Dave was recently listed in the “top 100 cool brands”, which Michaelides says signals an opportunity for it to lend support to its other channels as a “stamp of quality” to signpost other programmes and drive growth across the network.
Viewers can expect to see a “shift in creativity” in the way it markets all its brands , according to Michaelides – particularly Dave, Watch and Alibi, which Mother has been assigned to.
Michaelides said: “TV compared with other industries is not as brand centric but we see there’s an opportunity to treat our channel brands with the same level of reverence that other industries treat their brands with and push them as hard as programme brands.”
Red Bee Media continues to handle trailers on UKTV’s own network and off air marketing for its other channels, such as Yesterday, Gold and Really.
