Unless you are an unusually keen follower of the work of Davina McCall, it is unlikely that you took much notice of her appearance in a TV spot for shampoo last week. However, its scheduling was significant, heralding a change in regulation that could represent a rich opportunity for brands.
As of last Wednesday, advertisers can, for the first time, run ads that feature celebrities or performers in and around TV or radio programmes in which they also play a central role. This follows a relaxation of the 'artists separation rule' by the ASA. L'Oreal was one of the first brands to take advantage of this by running a spot featuring McCall during last Friday's Ultimate Big Brother eviction on Channel 4.
This might sound like an overdue correction - one that acknowledges that the British public are not as stupid as some may think, as well as correcting an inconsistency that allowed artists to feature in ads shown around films in which they also appear. It could also allow a greater collaboration between advertisers and talent. In this fragmented media age, brands have started to think of themselves as publishers of entertainment, as well as providers of goods and services, and this could create a rich new vein for exploitation.
While the use of celebrities in advertising is nothing new, the change in regulation - which excludes children's programming - requires marketers to be more sophisticated in how they deploy their big-name endorsements. It will no longer be good enough just to hire a star and make them the face of your brand in an ad. Instead, there is more value to be had by adding context to their appearance (providing, of course, the marketing is clearly distinguishable from the editorial context in which the celebrity also appears).
This should create an impetus for more in-depth partnerships between advertisers and broadcasters - which generally have access to the talent - and for brands themselves to take a greater role in programme-making.
So, while it will be simple enough to run a spot for Nintendo featuring Ant and Dec, for example, during one of their light-entertainment shows on Saturday night on ITV, advertisers could also adopt more sophisticated methods, such as scheduling targeted ad campaigns around celebrity guest appearances on TV and radio shows.
There is also an opportunity for advertisers to produce content that not only resonates with an audience, but also forms part of a wider marketing campaign, as opposed to a stand-alone production with a connection to the brand that is oblique at best.
The process will inevitably throw up questions, as some marketers pick their way around the blurred boundaries between what is editorial and what is marketing. Nonetheless, the opportunity to create synergies between a broadcast show and the advertising that helps to fund it should not be underestimated.
Indeed, it is only by testing the ASA rules that what is and what is not acceptable will become clear. The opportunities could be limitless.
In a rare 'win-win' moment, advertisers, broadcasters and those agencies that seize this and work on integrating editorial and advertising could all benefit. So, too, of course, could the hard-pressed performing talent, such as McCall, whose salaries face deflation due to unprecedented scrutiny, led by the market-distorting BBC. Perhaps that's part of the reason why so many of them have defected to the commercial broadcasters.
- Jeremy Lee is associate editor of Marketing. Read his blog at marketingmagazine.co.uk
30 SECONDS ON ... THE REVISED ADVERTISING CODES
- At the ASA's request, CAP and BCAP began a systematic review of the broadcast and non-broadcast advertising codes for which the two bodies are responsible. Following a lengthy process, including a 12-week public consultation, the revised codes came into force on 1 September.
- The codes have been subject to piecemeal change over the past few years, but this was the first comprehensive review since 2003. It was also the first time the broadcast and non-broadcast codes had been reviewed concurrently.
- The aim of the process was to ensure the regulations were clear and consistent, and reflected other developments.
- Key changes included enhanced protection for children such as restrictions on ads for age-restricted computer games, and rules preventing marketers from making exaggerated or misleading environmental and health claims about their products.
- There are plans to extend the online remit of the CAP code. At present this does not include marketing on brands' own websites.