Trend: Brand TV-Channels

Brand TV-Channels try to capture the target-group with entertainment focused on the product and/or branding message.

Trend Description:
Companies are spending billions on traditional TV-advertising every year. According to TNS Media Intelligence, the industry spent in 2005 $22.4 billion on commercials on Network TV, $15.9 billion on Cable TV networks and $4.2 billion on syndicated TV stations. But since more and more consumers are using TiVo and other DVR devices to skip commercials, companies start to restructure their advertising budget. Since many companies are anyway already pretty top-notch content producers, one of the next big things are Brand TV-Channels, which allow the company to reach the consumer 24/7. But Brand TV-Channels are not just an alternative to traditional TV advertising. With an own entertainment channel brands are on their way to become an even bigger part of their consumers lifestyle. Some also dig into related trends like Consumer Generated Media (please read our blog-entry Consumer Generated Media, Consumer Generated TV, Viewer Created Content).

Cases:

Budtv.com
The “Whassup? Guy” takes it a step further! This month the U.S. brewer Anheuser-Busch launched it’s own Web entertainment network, Bud.TV. There are seven themed channels, featuring content not promotional videos: Comedy, Reality, Happy Hour (updates on news and unusual events, designed to give viewers something to chat about over a beer), Sports, Hollywood, TV and Bud Tube, featuring consumer-generated videos, including homemade ads for Bud or Bud Light. While the main goal is to reach consumers ages 21 to 27, Bud markets it’s TV-channel as a new entertainment channel, not as a fancy kind of commercial. The whole project is costing Bud $30 million to start with, but the company thinks, that this is money well spent. As Tony Ponturo, vice president of Anheuser Busch told iMedia connection: “We wanted to go into this sort of new world because of what we are seeing, and what our research suggests, that adults 21 to 27 are using the internet minimally six hours a week, and obviously that’s growing. So, we needed to continue to move more of our marketing, and specifically media resources, as we try to reach the consumer, into the digital space.”

Audi TV
Audi started it’s own Brand TV Channel in the UK at the end of last year. The Channel broadcasts 24 hours a day on the Sky Digital Channel 259, and supposedly reaches more than 7.6 million homes. The content of Audis TV channel is also available via iTunes and the Audi website. The TV Channel is meant to be an alternative to the traditional 30-second television spots, which ad-skipping consumers ignore anyway, using TiVo and other DVR devices. Audi TV features quiz shows, documentary style shows about car-design, celebrity interviews and travelogues, all featuring some kind of Audi road trip. One example is the day in the life of Audi-race-car engineer Howden Haynes. There are also plans to show some movies, like Luc Besson’s Transporter 2, which features Jason Statham in an Audi chase. So far Audi spent $3.5 million for its TV adventure, and about 35 percent of Audi owners in Britain indicate that they have watched the channel. Although Audi is not sure how the effort converts into sales, they are still pleased enough to consider to approach a similar concept in Germany.

Trend Impact:
Consumers do not use media the same they did just a couple of years ago. Due to Social Networking Sites, Consumer Generated Media Channels like YouTube and mobile entertainment Media consumption is on the verge of a complete change. On the one hand consumers are looking for entertaining shorts, interesting media-bits which can be downloaded to handhelds and mobile phones, on the other hand they are using DVR devices to skip commercials while they are watching TV at home. This ad skipping and on demand viewing could cost the TV industry $27 billion in lost ad revenue over the next five years, according to Accenture. A huge amount of this money will end up in some sort of Brand TV Channel, be it online or via satellite or cable. If the TV industry is lucky they can make money by franchising some of their content to these new, more innovative TV forms, which have more space to experiment.

Thanks to iMedia connection

Bud TV

Audi TV

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