Around the table in trendy 'meejah' watering hole The Hospital, it was only a five-a-side match. Nonetheless, it was a remarkable occasion, not least because the meeting was taking place at all. Before long, further wonders began to unfold. The really incredible bit was that both sides appeared to be prepared to listen to one another for quite a lot of the time. At long last, the lion was lying down with the lamb.
Yet the primary hopes of senior marketers such as Oliver Cleaver of Kimberly-Clark and Jeremy Found of the COI could not, of course, be met. What they wanted most was a far more flexible trading market for TV advertising - something more akin to a commodity trading market - than deals that tie them up in knots over long periods.
There were too many relics from the past, they argued, surviving simply because that was the way things have always been. What was the role of station average price, for instance, in an era of instant computer communication? Here, however, the marketers ran into one of the most obvious limits to what Thinkbox, which represents all the main commercial broadcasters, can achieve.
It was almost as if a very dark force had entered the assembly at the very mention of the word 'trading', requiring Thinkbox board member Graham Duff to take out his cloves of garlic and his crucifix.
There can be no talk of trading issues here. A minor medium such as radio can get away with it, but the lawyers have clearly threatened Thinkbox to within an inch of its life. There can be absolutely no collusion between ITV, Channel 4, Five and BSkyB on such basic matters. So, although the Thinkbox team was able to listen to and, one hopes, digest, pleas for greater flexibility, not a word could be uttered, and eyebrows stayed horizontal.
Suggestions by Thinkbox that marketers should be more open about their needs so the telly people could help more met a decidedly frosty reception. For some reason, the marketers thought that if they were entirely open with the commercial broadcasters, they would end up getting screwed. How they reached such a conclusion is difficult to imagine.
For some equally unaccountable reason, neither were the marketers keen to reveal too much about their future marketing strategies in front of commercial rivals.
Thinkbox may now have to arrange a large number of one-to-one meetings, in conditions of some secrecy, if it is to get beyond the pleasantries and the platitudes.
However, there was some decidedly good news for the Thinkbox board at its inaugural meeting with advertisers, and it came from a surprising source.
Neil Ducray, the hard-hearted marketing director of Nestle Rowntree, who has destroyed millions of childhood memories by altering the Smarties tube, is greatly in favour of TV advertising.
He has just come to the UK from Asia and is au fait with all the latest communication gadgets. Yet despite looking high and low for an adequate substitute for network television advertising, he has failed to find it.
In fact, despite falling viewing figures, Ducray is not opposed to spending more on TV, particularly if the television industry made it work a bit harder for him.
Now surely that is something for Thinkbox, the virtual promotional organisation, to get very concrete about. At the very least, the talking could continue, given the first meeting passed off without fists flying.
30 SECONDS ON... THINKBOX.
- Thinkbox is a marketing body led by the heads of eight broadcasters' sales houses: Channel 4, Five, GMTV, IDS, ITV, Sky Media, Viacom Brand Solutions and Turner.
- It was launched on 21 February with a first-year budget of 拢1.5m. In a pre-launch release, ThinkBox said: 'We have not spent enough time marketing (TV's) fantastic potential. Our task is to show how TV is innovative, straightforward, targeted, account-able, growing and how it can work for every brand and budget.'
- Commercial broadcasters are working together to market the medium of TV by sharing research and holding 'idea-generating workshops' with agency planners and buyers.
- Inside the Box - a showcase event for ThinkBox - will be held at London Olympia on 28 June for 500 guests. The activity will include live demos, workshops and debates.