NationStates Jolt Archive


First live advert in UK history

Dundee-Fienn
30-05-2008, 07:43
A small step for man - a big jump for TV commercials: C4 launches live adverts

The programmes that surround them might habitually rely on cliffhangers to maintain attention, but advert breaks are not normally known for their sense of jeopardy. That could all change tonight when Channel 4 and Honda stage the first ever live advert on British television, featuring a team of skydivers leaping out of a plane over Madrid.

During the first ad break of the reality show Come Dine With Me at 8.10pm, the 19 skydivers will have three minutes and 20 seconds to spell out the word Honda, inspired by the car manufacturer's new advertising strapline: "Difficult is worth doing".

Organisers were yesterday hoping the weather in Spain would hold as the team practised. "There will be no time delay and no CGI [computer-generated imagery]. If it works, people will know who it's for. If it doesn't, they won't," said Ian Armstrong, Honda's manager of customer communications.

The stunt is a means of gaining publicity for Honda's new multi-million pound ad campaign, which features 45 skydivers promoting the Honda Accord by creating a series of shapes over the Mojave desert to reflect new features on the car.

But it is also part of a wider drive by broadcasters to maintain the relevance of TV advertising in the era of fast-forward. Advertising agencies have been forced to raise their game in recent years, to get viewers' attention. Increased choice and viewer fragmentation, driven by the explosion in digital channels, have made advertising breaks easier than ever to avoid. "Time shifted" viewing via personal video recorders like Freeview Plus and Sky Plus has also made advertisers and their agencies work ever harder to prevent viewers skipping their commercials.

"More people are watching television than ever before. But things are becoming more complicated. People have to want to watch something, you can't force them. People will navigate towards the good stuff and ignore the bad stuff," said Armstrong.

The results can be seen in the spate of award winning "event" campaigns of recent years, including Sony Bravia's "balls" and "paint" adverts, Cadbury's Dairy Milk gorilla and Honda's "cog" campaign, which featured an intricate study in perpetual motion. "We always want to find clever ways of engaging with people and reaching people," said Honda's marketing and communications manager, Harry Cooklin, explaining how Channel 4's idea won out over 19 others.

Channel 4's sales director, Andy Barnes, who like other broadcast executives is battling a looming advertising downturn, said the advert, which required special dispensation from the advertising watchdog, broke "the boundaries of the perceived confines of TV advertising".

"We wanted to create something unmissable and what better way to produce something 'must see' than to stage the first live ad event on TV," he added. "It's about creating talkability on a big scale, managing the risk and being seen as pioneers for it."

Channel 4's internal department dedicated to developing innovative ways of using the medium for advertisers has already been responsible for initiatives such as a "themed break" during Grand Designs Live for products known for their design, a "retro break" featuring new and old adverts during the channel's 25th birthday programming last year, and green themed breaks around the environmental season Dumped.

Others claimed to have produced live ads, but Channel 4 said that all previous examples were broadcast "as live" rather than going out as they happened. In 2006, the online dating site Match.com booked a series of ad breaks during ITV's Celebrity Love Island. Members who won a competition to appear were filmed in ITV studios in front of a live audience making a plea for love to the watching millions. But the inserts went out on air 15 minutes later.

Earlier that year, Ford ran a campaign featuring a "live" competition. Viewers were asked a question about the commercial and invited to enter a competition via the internet, telephone or text. Later in the evening, the advert ran again with a graphic announcing the winner.

Television historians, of course, might argue that the first live adverts were on US television in the 1950s. All TV was live, and the camera would pan from game show contestants to the host, who would endorse a brand of soap powder or coffee that had helped fund the program


This is the advert in question (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIUChm7fJjs)

So which is your favourite advert? I have to admit I was more excited to see this advert than the actual programmes surrounding it so the marketing team for Honda have definitely succeeded. There is an american version currently being filmed over the Mojave desert as well and it's showing on the 1st of June.
Philosopy
30-05-2008, 11:17
Well, I didn't hear about it, so it was something of a waste of money in relation to me. :p

In all seriousness, I think companies need to be careful about these spectacular ads, as it is possible for people to separate the brand into two - the ads, and the actual products. As a result, they may spend more and more money on more and more impressive and critically acclaimed ads, but never actually see any increases in sales. Think Guinness.
Dundee-Fienn
30-05-2008, 11:21
Well, I didn't hear about it, so it was something of a waste of money in relation to me. :p

In all seriousness, I think companies need to be careful about these spectacular ads, as it is possible for people to separate the brand into two - the ads, and the actual products. As a result, they may spend more and more money on more and more impressive and critically acclaimed ads, but never actually see any increases in sales. Think Guinness.

I am a bit of a soft target for this kind of advert since skydiving forum boards have been talking about it for a while now. However, even if they don't manage to get a lot of viewers for the ad itself, the media attention for trying such an advert makes this kind of thing pretty cost effective.
Philosopy
30-05-2008, 11:25
I am a bit of a soft target for this kind of advert since skydiving forum boards have been talking about it for a while now. However, even if they don't manage to get a lot of viewers for the ad itself, the media attention for trying such an advert makes this kind of thing pretty cost effective.

Oh, definitely - the fact that I had no idea about it but we're talking about it here makes it effective.

But, and this is the main question, does it make you want to go out and buy a Honda? Because I think that these brand name adverts are getting so detached from the product that while they are still going to have the wow factor, they don't give you any reason to actually buy the things they are selling.
Dundee-Fienn
30-05-2008, 11:37
Oh, definitely - the fact that I had no idea about it but we're talking about it here makes it effective.

But, and this is the main question, does it make you want to go out and buy a Honda? Because I think that these brand name adverts are getting so detached from the product that while they are still going to have the wow factor, they don't give you any reason to actually buy the things they are selling.

Another result I suppose is that it's really more of a hook to lure people to the honda website though with a promise of a good quality version of the advert to watch over and over again. This goal might be diluted by the use of other sites like youtube, etc, but the preceeding 'teaser' ads can reduce this by making people curious enough about the project to check it out online at the only site with information on what is going on.

Edit: And the news reporter from ITN is an idiot. Her report talked about the 'Hello Mum' part of the jump being from a jumper still in the plane. How obvious does it have to be that there's no plane around him
Londim
30-05-2008, 12:29
I personally think it was amazing. I look forward to seeing more of this kind of ad.
Curious Inquiry
30-05-2008, 12:57
This is not new (although possibly new in the UK). When television began broadcasting, everything was live. Prerecorded shows and commercials were once a dream. So, now it has come full circle, is all.

eta: it says that at the end of the article quoted, so they already knew they were lying. Typical. (also tl;dr :p)
Dundee-Fienn
30-05-2008, 13:01
This is not new (although possibly new in the UK). When television began broadcasting, everything was live. Prerecorded shows and commercials were once a dream. So, now it has come full circle, is all.

eta: it says that at the end of the article quoted, so they already knew they were lying. Typical. (also tl;dr :p)

They never said it was the first live ad in the world. It says it is the first live ad in the UK. No lying
G3N13
30-05-2008, 13:29
I thought every televised sports event was a live ad?

Guess I was wrong....I still have to wonder why every player is named Nike?
Insert Quip Here
30-05-2008, 15:30
They never said it was the first live ad in the world. It says it is the first live ad in the UK. No lying

There was no TV in the UK 'til it could be on tape delay? /boggle!
Dundee-Fienn
30-05-2008, 15:32
There was no TV in the UK 'til it could be on tape delay? /boggle!

My knowledge of UK TV history is pretty much non-existant so I can only assume it's because the BBC didn't have adverts at all
Yootopia
30-05-2008, 15:38
There was no TV in the UK 'til it could be on tape delay? /boggle!
... aye, on the other hand we introduced tape delay pretty quickly. Didn't have adverts on the telly until after the war, too, I believe.
Nadkor
30-05-2008, 22:58
There was no TV in the UK 'til it could be on tape delay? /boggle!

Commercial TV wasn't introduced until 1955, before that there was just the BBC, which doesn't carry adverts.
Dundee-Fienn
31-05-2008, 00:29
And here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmePHwX_2-k) is the ad made in the US. It's not quite as exciting but still very skillful and difficult to pull off