Example cross media advertising campaign: BBC ghosts.
Aims
The aim of the ghosts advertising campaign is to generate a fan base and revitalise them before a new season, so that the show will have a larger viewership when a new season premieres, as well as getting them invested enough to continue watching through the season.
Objectives
The main objective of this campaign is to increase the viewership and ratings of the show, so that it is more likely to receive more seasons.
Target audience
Demographic: Tries to aim itself towards a younger audience, as using the cast of the TV show horrible histories creates nostalgia for these groups.
Geographic: The characters in the media mostly come from the north of England and the setting of the Manor House create a much more northern aesthetic, showing the creators want to cultivate a more north focused audience.
Psychographic:
In order to continue to appeal to people who enjoyed horrible histories, and so have an interest in history in general, the characters focused on in the marketing are all themed around different historical periods, so as to appeal to the interests of the fan base that they already have.
Slogan: The most common slogan for this campaign is “From the creators of Horrible Histories and Yonderland” which again is trying to create an idea of nostalgia by linking this product to a famous and already established property, whilst also promising the same level of quality as these earlier works.
Key Messages
The value proposition of this advertising campaign is the promise to be entertaining, as it focuses on the uses and gratification need for escapism, with most of the trailers focusing on jokes, advertising it’s comedy and entertainment value above all of the shows other aspects.
Approach
In order to advertise the show, the cast has made numerous appearances on other shows and done theatre tours, as the stars already existing fame makes them a draw which may cause people to want to come even if they don’t know anything about the show. This makes the whole cast something of a celebrity endorsement, as they are all already a group with a wildly devoted fan base who want to consume the products that they appear in.
Call to action
Through all of ghosts marketing campaigns there are a few distinct calls to action given to the viewers. Through the advertisements for the newest season, viewers are called to watch the season when it comes out, and to watch every episode in order to see where the story goes, whereas DVD advertisements or features from previous seasons such as blooper reels call the viewer to buy dvd copies or stream the older seasons in order to catch up to the present or rewatch the older episodes, renewing interest in the brand and certain seasons past their release.
Representation
In the show multiple groups are recognised, with multiple black and gay characters in the main cast, but the show never stoops to using stereotypes, with them instead being as complex and multifaceted as all of the other parts of the main ensemble.
Campaign Logistics
The campaign is very season and bursting base, with the amount of advertising peaking whenever ghosts has a new season.
Choice of media
Most of the advertising media is in modern sectors such as television and the internet, again picking out the younger parts of their fan base as they know that they are the ones who are most attached to the personalities attached to the show.
Relevant legal and ethical issues
When creating these advertisements the producers would have to take care to make sure that they followed the CAP and BCAP codes by not using anyone else’s data, making sure that the advertisements are allowed to be seen on television, that they don’t use anyone’s personal data, that they don’t plagiarise any other advertising etc.
Regulatory bodies
This advertising campaign would be checked by both the ASA in general as well as the BBFC and OFCOM for the television adverts.
