UKTV uses Facebook Messenger chatbot as it launches first campaign for ‘disruptive’ on-demand TV brand

The broadcaster’s ‘Love Your Thing’ campaign recognises the passion that exists around particular TV programming such as comedy, crime or period drama, and dubs this people’s ‘thing’. Whatever a viewer’s ‘thing’ is, the campaign for UKTV Play aims to celebrate it and reject “the homogenised on-demand TV world”.

UKTV Play is the company’s fastest growing brand and has hit a million downloads, which is why the campaign seeks to now raise awareness of the service among the British public. The success of the campaign will be judged on awareness and usage metrics, as well as qualitative viewer feedback.

The integrated campaign will consist of on-air advertising, social, and outdoor location-based advertising, which is influenced by localised weather conditions, traffic and time. The outdoor ads will react and update when triggered, dependent on location, environment and when specific conditions are met.

The campaign will also include a social TV recommendation engine, run via a Facebook Messenger chatbot, which is due to be rolled out later this month.

“Being presented with thousands of shows on an on-demand service can be time consuming at a moment when you just want to relax and be entertained. So the idea behind the Facebook Messenger chatbot is to create an accessible and guiding expert for viewers looking for something that will be great to watch,” UKTV’s chief marketing and communications officer, Zoë Clapp, told Marketing Week.

“[Facebook Messenger] is an app our users already use many times a day. It’s designed to be a convenient way to help viewers find something new to watch, through a personalised, curated and individual experience.”