The raison d'être of public-information marketing is to avoid the sort of headlines that were printed last week as the result of consumers' struggles to understand what was happening to their Freeview service.
From midday on Wednesday 30 September, Freeview customers were asked to retune their set-top boxes to ensure reception of Five and Discovery's new channel, Quest, as well as opening the door to future high-definition (HD) services.
What was not fully explained by Freeview's abrupt communications campaign, launched only 12 days earlier, is that nearly half a million viewers in rural areas will lose ITV3 and ITV4 as a result of retuning. To make things worse, the information website crashed due to the number of people trying to access it.
Damaging consequences
Rhys MacLachlan, head of broadcast implementation at media agency MediaCom, says the lack of clear marketing and advice from Freeview has caused the brand long-term damage. ‘Freeview has communicated the retune requirements and consequences poorly,' he says. ‘It's been an own-goal for the brand, and may alienate a lot of people who were content to keep ticking on [as Freeview customers].'
Tim Hunt, marketing director at Freeview, argues that the campaign struck a difficult balance, successfully boosting awareness while not irritating viewers. ‘We wanted to give people notice, but we were also conscious of annoying people when they couldn't do anything about it until 30 September,' he says. ‘We think we got it right.'
In many ways, the Freeview fallout echoes the launch of Five in 1997. Unlike Freeview's muted build up, Five (then Channel 5) was rolled out with a fanfare of promotion, through comprehensive TV, press and direct marketing activity explaining the procedure.
However, although Channel 5 had made clear that some regions would not be able to receive a signal, it had not prepared the public for the possibility of poor signal strength even in areas with coverage.
Mick Desmond, a former chief executive of ITV Broadcasting, says that despite a less fragmented media environment, Channel 5's bosses did not communicate their message well.
‘[The broadcaster] launched a mass campaign in a predominantly four-channel world, and the message it put out was fairly simple,' he says. ‘However, even after the launch, areas such as London suffered black spots. There was definitely a backlash against the brand.'
The media is not the only sector to have left consumers high and dry with inadequate communications. Public-sector campaigns are under heavy pressure to drive both awareness and understanding, and when either of these messages fail to come across, it can lead to chaos.
In 2006, the government announced plans to introduce controversial home information packs (HIPs) for home buyers and sellers. Leo Burnett was hired to drive awareness through marketing that targeted both stakeholders and consumers.
The straightforward drive, featuring the strapline ‘Better buying, simpler selling', informed the public of the need to put together a HIP when selling a property from 1 August 2007.
However, the message was lost when the government repeatedly changed the introduction date, as well the type of properties requiring a HIP. One source claims that because the government ‘kept changing the focus, and what information was needed' the marketing efforts were undermined.
Prior to this, at the turn of the century, the government devoted significant attention to the ‘Y2K bug', which it feared would cripple the country's infrastructure. A high-profile campaign by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, urged the UK population not to panic.
Given the damp squib of midnight passing and almost everything - other than Radio 1's website carrying the date 1 January 1900 - remaining unaffected, with hindsight, it was a wholly unnecessary message.
Events requiring public attention should be accompanied by information campaigns, but marketers must pay careful attention to scale, as well as ensuring that the message matches the requirements of the situation.