The marketing mix I will be analysing is the advertisement campaign for the new, and first series of Big Brother on Channel 5, the fifth terrestrial television channel. Big Brother, Celebrity Big Brother and it's spin-offs (Big Brother's Bit on the Side) are produced by the UK franchise of Endemol, the international production company behind the formats of Deal or no Deal, 8 out of 10 Cats, Ready Steady Cook, Gala TV, Total Wipeout and 101 Ways to Leave a Gameshow. Big Brother is hosted by Brian Dowling, whilst it's spin-off is presented by Emma Willis, Alice Levine and Jamie East.Big Brother began on Channel 4 and remains one of it's most successful shows of all time and due to dwindling viewers, it was dropped, and Channel 5 picked it up in 2011. Channel 5 (owned by Richard Desmond's Northern and Shell) purchased the format for an estimated £200 million. Although viewers are smaller than what they were (averaging 2 million, as appose to the 7 million it once did), advertisers are still keen to invest in the program due to the young audience it brings in. Big Brother has been sponsored by "Freederm" for the past 2 years, a cosmetic and skin care company aimed at teenagers.
The marketing campaign could be considered a success as the show, with it's marketing, has pulled in high viewers for Channel 5, helping the channel to regularly beat shows in viewers on Channel 4, slowly overtaking it's prime time share.
Channel 5 wanted to establish their Big Brother, and make it different from the format that was used for ten years on Channel 4, and to do this, they launched the show with a widespread marketing campaign that involved;
- Channel 5 station idents
- Television Trailers (on C5 and other channels)
- Print Adverts (papers, magazines, posters etc.)
- Bill Boards
- Bus Adverts, Bus Station Adverts, Rotating Adverts at cinemas, etc.
The marketing mix also involved both direct and indirect advertising to gain viewers, advertisers and money.
Across the adverts, the new in-house style of the Big Brother was in place with some imported graphics and styles from Channel 5 to keep the style cohesive with the channel's on screen identity. This year's Big Brother's on screen identity was designed by Channel 5's team, "Hello Charlie", who designed the 'eye' logo to, where as previous years the design and identity was produced by Channel 4, Endemol and Daniel Eatock, who designed the 'eye' logo for Big Brother UK (and some international versions) since 2003.
On the right is one of the magazine adverts used to promote the 2011 launch of Big Brother, which began with a celebrity edition. This print advert is an example of how the styles from both Channel 5 and Big Brother have been blended to create the advert. The house-style is the same across the whole marketing campaign; videos, which can be seen above and below, and print.
The main colours of the promotional campaign are contrasting blue and pink, the colours used in the new 'eye' logo. The print adverts, and promotional trailers were usually based on a white background, apart from the promotional channel idents. These short clips of adverts had a dark blue background with an animated show logo. One of the idents that was used followed the style of the print adverts; images of presenter, colour scheme, etc. This ident was used previous to programs whilst a continuity announced spoke over it to introduce Big Brother and other prime time shows on the channel to pull in viewers.
Throughout the marketing mix, it seems that Channel 5 is obsessed with advertising itself to draw in viewers to other programs on the channel with it being the lowest rating terrestrial television channel. Channel 5 purchasing Big Brother could be seen as an advertising ploy to steal viewers and advertisers from Channel 4, the stations the show was previously on.
Freederm, a skin care company, sponsored Big Brother, Celebrity Big Brother and Big Brother's Bit on the Side for £2.5 million which is great for pulling in viewers of the show's target audience, teenagers and young adults. This merchandising, by being associated with a product that is widely used by younger products, it promotes the product, but allows the show to be promoted in it's products in a circle of advertising. The money that the channel gains from it's sponsor could also allow the channel to promote the program in other ways.
Channel 5 also advertised the new Big Brother on other television networks, for example, in Daybreak on ITV 1 which would be to draw in viewers and advertisers. By advertising on other networks, they'll draw away competition from other channels, but also reach out to audiences which wouldn't typically watch the show, and it seems to work as it has almost doubled Channel 5's viewers when Big Brother is on air.
The show has been given blanket advertising in Northern and Shell publications, owned by Richard Desmond, who also owns Channel 5. Northern and Shell publications include the "OK!" magazines and "The Daily Star". The print adverts usually cover a whole page of a publication to really grasp the reader's attention, with assistance from the colourful, explosive and futuristic house style.
Social media is used a lot to promote the show, and was used both before and during the series being aired. Before the show had launched, the official Big Brother Twitter and Facebook pages were updated with information about the upcoming series (hosts, narrators, house pictures, etc) and information on how people could be involved with the show (audience member applications, etc). The use of social networks helps to spark word of mouth and discussion of the show in a bid to win ratings and advertising shares. The buzz created through Twitter in terms of 'trending' aided the show to victory in terms of rating, gathering a huge average of 5 million viewers for Channel 5. The main users of social networks are young adults and teenagers, the target audience of Big Brother, therefore, the focus on social networks will work out great for this style of show.
Due to the infamous nature of the show, Big Brother is often on the receiving end of extensive, free, indirect promotion. Across the tabloids (The Sun, Mirror, Guardian), magazines (Hello, OK!, New), and websites (DigitalSpy, Unreality TV), it's often speculated far in advance as to who'll be entering the Big Brother house and how tired and boring the format of the programme has become which also gathers interest in the show.
The celebrity version of the show was advertised much more than the standard edition that followed immediately after, and this was reflected in the ratings of the show as the average of the standard edition fell to around 1.5 million viewers as appose to the 2/3 million it gathered for the celebrity version.
Celebrity Big Brother and the non-celebrity version of the format weren't promoted on commercial radio, although the host, Brian Dowling, did take part in interviews and guest stints for shows, such as the interview on Loose Women below. The indirect advertising also builds suspense for the show and starts discussions about the show.
I'd consider the marketing mix for this series of Big Brother a success as it has boosted Channel 5's ratings, advertising shares and revenue since the format launched on the television network. Whilst this series is the lowest rating Big Brother series to date, it has proven to be a hit on Channel 5 as the ratings for other shows, such as it's soaps (Home and Away, Neighbours), magazine shows (OK!TV, Big Brother's Bit on the Side) and seperate reality shows (The Batchelor), has also risen viewing figures, along with it's market and ratings shares.
Big Brother also has a licenced merchandise store called www.bigbrothershop.com, which allows the general public to purchase items such as mugs, t-shirts, jumpers and such items with the Big Brother 2011 logo on (these can be seen below). This generates revenue for Endemol and is subliminal advertising for Big Brother too. Signs and stickers are also supplied by the production company to attendees of eviction nights which adds to the whole value of merchandise. Merchandise is charged relatively cheap, with branded mugs at £5 and branded t-shirts at £15.
Social media is used a lot to promote the show, and was used both before and during the series being aired. Before the show had launched, the official Big Brother Twitter and Facebook pages were updated with information about the upcoming series (hosts, narrators, house pictures, etc) and information on how people could be involved with the show (audience member applications, etc). The use of social networks helps to spark word of mouth and discussion of the show in a bid to win ratings and advertising shares. The buzz created through Twitter in terms of 'trending' aided the show to victory in terms of rating, gathering a huge average of 5 million viewers for Channel 5. The main users of social networks are young adults and teenagers, the target audience of Big Brother, therefore, the focus on social networks will work out great for this style of show.
Due to the infamous nature of the show, Big Brother is often on the receiving end of extensive, free, indirect promotion. Across the tabloids (The Sun, Mirror, Guardian), magazines (Hello, OK!, New), and websites (DigitalSpy, Unreality TV), it's often speculated far in advance as to who'll be entering the Big Brother house and how tired and boring the format of the programme has become which also gathers interest in the show.
The celebrity version of the show was advertised much more than the standard edition that followed immediately after, and this was reflected in the ratings of the show as the average of the standard edition fell to around 1.5 million viewers as appose to the 2/3 million it gathered for the celebrity version.
Celebrity Big Brother and the non-celebrity version of the format weren't promoted on commercial radio, although the host, Brian Dowling, did take part in interviews and guest stints for shows, such as the interview on Loose Women below. The indirect advertising also builds suspense for the show and starts discussions about the show.
I'd consider the marketing mix for this series of Big Brother a success as it has boosted Channel 5's ratings, advertising shares and revenue since the format launched on the television network. Whilst this series is the lowest rating Big Brother series to date, it has proven to be a hit on Channel 5 as the ratings for other shows, such as it's soaps (Home and Away, Neighbours), magazine shows (OK!TV, Big Brother's Bit on the Side) and seperate reality shows (The Batchelor), has also risen viewing figures, along with it's market and ratings shares.
Big Brother also has a licenced merchandise store called www.bigbrothershop.com, which allows the general public to purchase items such as mugs, t-shirts, jumpers and such items with the Big Brother 2011 logo on (these can be seen below). This generates revenue for Endemol and is subliminal advertising for Big Brother too. Signs and stickers are also supplied by the production company to attendees of eviction nights which adds to the whole value of merchandise. Merchandise is charged relatively cheap, with branded mugs at £5 and branded t-shirts at £15.
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