The revised world of TV advertising
Fernsehen Seit dem 1. April ist das neue RTVG «auf Sendung». Was hat sich für die privaten TV-Sender verändert. José Fernandes, der neue Leiter Marketing bei Star TV, analysiert die Möglichkeiten.
Television The new RTVA has been "on air" since April 1. What has changed for private TV broadcasters? José Fernandes, the new Head of Marketing at Star TV, analyzes the opportunities. WW: Private broadcasters were eagerly awaiting the revised RTVA. Has life become easier for Star TV, for example?
José Fernandes: There has been some liberalization, but less than the private sector had hoped for. However, customers have become more curious as a result of the debate. They are showing more courage for new implementations in the medium of TV. They want to explore the possibilities more consistently. The classic commercial will continue to have its place. But customers are increasingly planning their communication in networked disciplines. There is great potential in this for private broadcasters.
WW: What more can the private sector offer?
JF: Apart from the legal aspects, we are more flexible and faster than a big steamer. Apart from that, the revised RTVA offers private broadcasters the familiar possibilities such as split screen, virtual advertising and interstitial advertising. We will certainly offer such formats at Star TV and are already in talks with various advertising agencies to offer suitable concepts. Split-screen advertising, for example, is still unheard of in Switzerland, which is why we are all challenged to develop new ideas here.
WW: Are the creatives already involved?
JF: The RTVA came into force in April, but clients have not yet put any pressure on us because all campaigns naturally run on a long-term basis. As soon as the corresponding demand from clients is high enough, agencies will have to react and certainly offer creative approaches. After all, it is clear that clients want advertising to be positioned when the viewer is sitting in front of the screen and not during a beer break.
WW: What about alcohol advertising?
JF: That is still not allowed on a national channel like Star TV. Only local stations are allowed to advertise beer and wine. Here, advertising for non-alcoholic beer is also strictly controlled. A 30-second beer commercial that quickly says "alcohol-free" at the end is still not tolerated.
WW: Sponsorship is a booming element. Is that getting easier?
JF: I was brought on board for Star TV to promote the entire sponsorship sector. There is great acceptance among customers for this type of communication on television. Star TV has always been innovative in this area, quite simply due to economic constraints. The fun sports magazine "freestyle" has been around for several years. We can integrate customers into our programs in a very imaginative way. Of course, always in compliance with the Bakom guidelines.
WW: Examples?
JF: A key example is our collaboration with Nokia and Sunrise. Together with these customers, we created the music program "lautstark" two years ago. Both sponsors are satisfied and have committed to another annual season of 44 broadcasts.
WW: What's new?
JF: We were able to make deals for this summer with the festival organizers of the Openair St. Gallen and the Gurten Festival. These are the two biggest open-air festivals in Switzerland. Star TV is broadcasting the live concerts under the name "Star Festival Sommer 2007", replacing Swiss television as the host broadcaster. The platform thus created provides artists, sponsors and organizers with a much broader communication platform.
We produced one-hour previews of both St. Gallen and Gurten. Clips were used to whet people's appetite for visiting the festivals. Trailers were used daily to draw attention to the events and broadcasts. The broadcasts from St. Gallen can be seen next weekend. There will be another revival at Christmas. These are very nice platforms for the sponsors.
WW: Which sponsors showed interest?
JF: For St. Gallen and Gurten, we have landed four very large sponsors in Migros, Swisscom mobile, MyCoke Music and Star Ticket. They were interested because they are much closer to the program in this format than in a hinge advertisement in the classic area. We can also back this up with figures.
WW: What will follow? We will continue to work on existing formats and come up with new broadcasting concepts. Another new feature is "swiss made", where we report weekly on new developments in Swiss film as well as on Swiss commercial filmmakers.
Interview: Andreas Panzeri
José Fernandes: There has been some liberalization, but less than the private sector had hoped for. However, customers have become more curious as a result of the debate. They are showing more courage for new implementations in the medium of TV. They want to explore the possibilities more consistently. The classic commercial will continue to have its place. But customers are increasingly planning their communication in networked disciplines. There is great potential in this for private broadcasters.
WW: What more can the private sector offer?
JF: Apart from the legal aspects, we are more flexible and faster than a big steamer. Apart from that, the revised RTVA offers private broadcasters the familiar possibilities such as split screen, virtual advertising and interstitial advertising. We will certainly offer such formats at Star TV and are already in talks with various advertising agencies to offer suitable concepts. Split-screen advertising, for example, is still unheard of in Switzerland, which is why we are all challenged to develop new ideas here.
WW: Are the creatives already involved?
JF: The RTVA came into force in April, but clients have not yet put any pressure on us because all campaigns naturally run on a long-term basis. As soon as the corresponding demand from clients is high enough, agencies will have to react and certainly offer creative approaches. After all, it is clear that clients want advertising to be positioned when the viewer is sitting in front of the screen and not during a beer break.
WW: What about alcohol advertising?
JF: That is still not allowed on a national channel like Star TV. Only local stations are allowed to advertise beer and wine. Here, advertising for non-alcoholic beer is also strictly controlled. A 30-second beer commercial that quickly says "alcohol-free" at the end is still not tolerated.
WW: Sponsorship is a booming element. Is that getting easier?
JF: I was brought on board for Star TV to promote the entire sponsorship sector. There is great acceptance among customers for this type of communication on television. Star TV has always been innovative in this area, quite simply due to economic constraints. The fun sports magazine "freestyle" has been around for several years. We can integrate customers into our programs in a very imaginative way. Of course, always in compliance with the Bakom guidelines.
WW: Examples?
JF: A key example is our collaboration with Nokia and Sunrise. Together with these customers, we created the music program "lautstark" two years ago. Both sponsors are satisfied and have committed to another annual season of 44 broadcasts.
WW: What's new?
JF: We were able to make deals for this summer with the festival organizers of the Openair St. Gallen and the Gurten Festival. These are the two biggest open-air festivals in Switzerland. Star TV is broadcasting the live concerts under the name "Star Festival Sommer 2007", replacing Swiss television as the host broadcaster. The platform thus created provides artists, sponsors and organizers with a much broader communication platform.
We produced one-hour previews of both St. Gallen and Gurten. Clips were used to whet people's appetite for visiting the festivals. Trailers were used daily to draw attention to the events and broadcasts. The broadcasts from St. Gallen can be seen next weekend. There will be another revival at Christmas. These are very nice platforms for the sponsors.
WW: Which sponsors showed interest?
JF: For St. Gallen and Gurten, we have landed four very large sponsors in Migros, Swisscom mobile, MyCoke Music and Star Ticket. They were interested because they are much closer to the program in this format than in a hinge advertisement in the classic area. We can also back this up with figures.
WW: What will follow? We will continue to work on existing formats and come up with new broadcasting concepts. Another new feature is "swiss made", where we report weekly on new developments in Swiss film as well as on Swiss commercial filmmakers.
Interview: Andreas Panzeri
