How BT’s new TV push is positioning it as a quad-play giant
With its “biggest” campaign for its TV services to date, BT is aiming to bring new customers into the paid-TV market through low price points, a ‘quad play’ offering and a focus on families.
In the last three years BT has transformed itself from contracting by 3% a year in 2013 to launching its biggest marketing campaign to promote its BT TV service.
The campaign, which aired on TV on Saturday (24 September), promotes BT’s “rapidly growing” TV service, with OutKast’s ‘Hey Ya’ track as its soundtrack. The TV ad shows programmes found on the company’s service, ranging from the Premier league on BT Sport, to drama Feed the Beast and children’s show Peppa Pig.
Dan Ramsay, consumer marketing director at BT, says that though the campaign follows on from a similar one in Spring, this multimillion-pound campaign is more about building on from the “success” of the original one. Ramsay says that success will be measured in a number of ways, including through sales, growth and awareness, and consideration among both existing and non BT TV customers.
The ad, which was created by AMV BBDO, is supported by an outdoor campaign, radio, digital and social media and aims to target people who haven’t heard of BT TV before.
“One of the great things about marketing TV is that is so visually rich, allowing us to push the campaign through different mediums,” says Ramsay.
BT’s push to be the go-to TV destination
Earlier in the year, BT’s CEO Gavin Patterson admitted that the TV element of BT has been an issue, with Sky holding 75% of the paid-TV market. He said that he believes BT can cover 50% more of the market with a multi-brand offering, something it has leaned towards with its ‘quad play’ push in broadband, TV, mobile and home phone.
“BT is already part of all four [telecoms] markets. The transition has already happened and we offer things that Sky doesn’t”
Dan Ramsay, consumer marketing director, BT
When asked whether BT’s campaign aims to steal Sky’s customers, Ramsay replies: “We are commercially sensitive, clearly there is a deliberate strategy in that but if you asked Sky the same question they would say yes too. We’d love to get in a position to achieve more than our current 1.5 million TV customers. But there are also many homes that don’t yet have Sky or Virgin TV,” he says.
Ramsay says that BT will compete with Sky and Virgin through its price points, which start lower than its competitors’. Sky’s basic TV package is priced at £20 per month, compared to BT’s £3 per month.
However, looking at YouGov’s brand index ratings over the last year, BT TV comes below Sky and Virgin in terms of reputation. It’s reputation rankings are scored at 2.4 as opposed to Sky’s 4.7 and Virgin Media’s 6.7.
Ramsay says that in terms of customer service the brand has made “a very public commitment about transforming the customer service we offer customers”.
BT’s focus on families
BT is also maintaining its focus on family to push the campaign and its other packages. This is notable with the TV clips chosen from the ad including family favourites, sports channels and drama, as BT is trying to grow its content portfolio.
He says that despite a diverse range of TV including movies and sport, families will remain at the heart of the company’s strategy.
“We haven’t necessarily been known for content and having more has given us more credibility. This has made us a more dynamic and exciting brand than five years ago. We want to be the first place to get exclusive content,” he says.
“We don’t have one single demographic we are targeting, but one market where we would really like to succeed in TV would be with families.”
