Archive for the ‘television’ Category
Vauxhall’s Ad With The X Factor
As an adman, I have to say I love the new Vauxhall commercial, the one for the lifetime warranty. I can see how it’s spot on brief, catching the zeitgeist, truly the first of a new generation of advertising with a different type of offer. It’s designed for these just coming out of recession, hovering on the edge of double dip times. It’s great.
It achieves excellence by obeying the good, old fashioned rules of good old fashioned writing. It attracts your attention, inspires your interest, builds desire for the payoff and creates action at the end. Old fashioned principles with leading edge delivery. That’s advertising at its very best.
I’ll give you an example of the opposite. The X Factor is becoming like Fox News, utterly carried away on its own hype and insensitive to its audience. It knows how to pull my heartstrings and invoke my tear ducts almost at will but as it goes into its own advertising and promotion between the commercial breaks, it loses me. I wander. I write or I go into the other room. When I come back it’s telling me what’s coming up “after the break”. This is insane. I feel cheated, used and abused. I feel that I’m being toyed with and exploited.
In another echo of so many over-inflated advertising egos of the past, I laughed out loud when I saw the double page spread in The Times for Christine and Adrian’s new breakfast show “Daybreak”. This is an utter waste of money. Double page spreads are the creative team’s favourites because there are their words and pictures up in lights, like a poster, unsullied by editorial or other content. They’re the account man’s favourite too because they make for an excellent presentation and impress the client easily. Watch how readers behave. The page gets turned in double quick time. And in The Times? What objective is being achieved for ITV’s marketing strategy? Are readers of The Times part of Daybreak’s target audience? If this is aimed at potential advertisers it is an extraordinarily expensive way of reaching them.
Countless millions are wasted based on the petty pretensions of marketing directors or their advertising agencies. Similar egotistical spendthrifts inhabit TV production. Occasionally though, particularly in Britain, you see beautifully crafted and intelligently written masterpieces of communication. The new Vauxhall ad is one of these.
Cannabis Is Medicine
It seems to be coming of age. This is the first ever TV commercial for medicinal cannabis. This ad first ran on FOX 40 in Sacramento, California in August. Times are changing. The truth will out!
Tony Blair With Andrew Marr
Showdown
I have to admit I was impressed.
I do not begrudge it all. It was fantastic, riveting television – if you’re a politics junkie like me. I know there will be vociferous opinion against but I thought he was marvellous, quite inspiring and utterly convincing.
He always was the best possible successor to Margaret Thatcher and that shone through in the interview. He’s explicitly not a socialist, so why he persists in the Labour Party I don’t know. I can see why he supports the coalition. In fact, he’d make the perfect coalition PM with Dave and Nick as his deputies! Now there’s a thought!
I never voted for him but always rather liked him. I confess I allowed myself to be swayed by the Bliar and anti-Blair brigade but yes, even I am susceptible to propaganda. Recently, I have given serious attention to his involvement in the Israel Palestine dispute. I have been deeply impressed at his even-handedness. It is a talent to remain so impartial in such a heated and emotional situation. It convinced me of his integrity.
That is the quality that shines through. It is the quality that matters to me most, that I think means most of all. He is a man of integrity. I do not agree with him on everything by any means but…
He is a great man.
A BBC Preservation Order
TAKE NOTICE
This noble institution should be preserved.
It is not perfect but it is better than any alternative.
It contributes enormously to the culture of the nation.
It is our BBC
This notice should be nailed to the door of Broadcasting House and all BBC premises. Damaging or cutting off parts or branches of the institution is not allowed. Adequate space must be given to the institution’s roots which must not be interfered with. Severe penalties will be applied to anyone who knowingly or recklessly damages the institution in any way.
Then David Cameron, Nick Clegg and a heavyweight team need to take Mark Thompson aside and give him a good talking to. We want to preserve the BBC and its unique qualities but we need a hard pruning of dead wood and unproductive growth. Preserving the roots and fundamental strength are the most important objectives. Cutbacks in the right places will stimulate stronger new growth elsewhere.
I agree that Sky should contribute towards those commercial channels that it broadcasts free-to-air. It ties viewers into its subscription packages because they are comprehensive. This is gives it an unfair advantage throughout the market, as does its coverage and bandwidth.
Sky is a parasite on traditional TV companies. Its unfair advantages have enabled it to develop the best user interface and experience in the market. Even so, it is expensive and has a reputation for appalling customer service. Its relationship with Newscorp means it is part of a monstrous media empire which requires much more regulation in the interests of consumers and the community at large. It should be required to invest more in original programming and production. If necessary, a new media tax should be introduced to enforce appropriate investment and safeguards.
The BBC’s biggest mistake is the level of executive pay. There is no justification at all for anyone in the BBC to earn more than the Prime Minister. It is public money. Anyone unhappy with this should resign today. No one is indispensable. The BBC has always been the best in its business at bringing on new talent.
The Licence Fee should remain unchanged. It is fantastic value for money and shows just how expensive Sky is. The BBC Trust should be strengthened in its primary role as regulator and it should enforce cost savings, efficiencies and executive pay. It should also ensure that the BBC becomes more responsive and closer to its audience. Its complaints and feedback system is fundamental to this. It needs to be brought back in house and given real priority. See here.
Britain adores its BBC. Let’s ensure we preserve it and allow it to flourish.
Was Tony Blair A Force For Good?
My Non-Appearance On Sunday Morning Live
Since Wednesday the BBC had been in touch every day. This morning they started calling me and testing my webcam and sound from 8.30am. They had me sitting at my desk from 9.45am, 15 minutes before the programme started. I was warned I could be in shot at anytime. I drank too much coffee. I did get a little nervous and jittery. I was desperate for a cigarette even though I gave up six months ago!
Who was that suave, debonair, good looking chap in the crisp white shirt on the background screens? Yours truly of course, waiting patiently for my big moment, trying not to sneer or laugh too raucously at the ridiculous first discussion on animals.
I had my notes blu-tacked to the window frame right behind my webcam, adjusted so that viewers would never lose deep, seductive eye contact with me.
“We’re coming to you now Peter”
“Stand by”
I fancy I can see Susanna Reid flushing slightly in anticipation of introducing me…
“Uh, sorry Peter, we’re not going to be able to come to you. Out of time I’m afraid.”
Such are the trials and tribulations of my life! Suddenly the programme was over.
You'll Get Your Chance, Gorgeous
Turning to far more important things, the dogs and I set off for the hills. My mobile rang and it was Anna from the BBC, apologising and promising me dinner and a hot night with Susanna all at the corporation’s expense. “No, sorry, I can’t be bought off. Call me tomorrow. I’m too busy now.”
On the panel in the studio had been Mary Whitehouse’s successor, frumpy Anne Atkins and the utter jerk, Francis Beckett. What a prat? Why would anyone want to listen to his obnoxious, ill considered views, delivered with all the grace of a blind, three legged rhino?
Was Tony Blair a force for good? This was the question I was supposed to be answering. The BBC had come to me as a result of this article. I had, of course, considered my response and this is what I intended to say.
Was Tony Blair A Force For Good?
I do not count myself as a Tony Blair supporter. I never voted for him. In fact, at all those elections I deliberately spoiled my ballot papers writing “no suitable candidate” across them. I am an admirer though.
I think you have to give him credit for a number of things. He rescued Labour from its madness and turned it into a credible and electable political party. That was good for democracy. He finished off the good work that Margaret Thatcher had done on the unions. He was her true successor. Now the only nutters that we have left are Tweedledum and Twitterdee from Unite and the mad and bad Bob Crowe from the railways.
You have to give him huge credit for Northern Ireland, for Kosovo and Sierra Leone. I think he was also responsible for a fundamental change in British politics in that he reconciled caring with competition. For the first time it was accepted that you could have a social conscience but still believe in business and the free market.
On Iraq, clearly it is a good thing that we got rid of Saddam Hussein although, personally, I think we should have assassinated him. If there was a moral justification for war, for shock and awe, then there was for assassination. Even if we had lost thousands of special forces that would have been better than hundreds of thousands of innocents. I do think that Blair became carried away with George Bush and that was a mistake. Bush will be forgotten long before Blair. He was not of the same calibre. All he had to offer was the might and power of America.
Fundamentally, what you have to ask is did Tony Blair act in good faith? I believe he did. I believe he is an honourable man. Look backwards from Blair to Thatcher and there’s noone else until Churchill and then Lloyd George. That is the company in which Tony Blair will be remembered. He is a great man.
I Was There For You Tone!
The one thing I really don’t understand in this man of vision and intelligence is his conversion to Catholicism. I can just about accept his Christianity although why a man with his intellect needs organised religion I don’t know. I really can’t understand why he wants to be allied to the institution that has been responsible for more evil over the last 2000 years than any other. I think it demeans him. He has far, far more to offer the world than that stupid old bigot the Pope, for instance. It seems to me the Catholic Church will benefit far more from him than he will from it. That’s his business though.
Compassion Fatigue
Let The Rest Of Them Drown
I did, I turned over this evening when the BBC News coverage of the Pakistan floods came on.
I didn’t want to see a child die on my television screen.
I can only care so much. For everyone, charity begins at home.
Like it or not, Pakistan doesn’t have the best reputation in the world. Of course, the individual tragedies are heart-breaking but there’s no great groundswell of public sympathy for a country that is the origin of so much evil in the world.
A religious zealot might suggest that the rains should fall on Pakistan and Israel for weeks on end so that the world might be cleansed of its infection.
It is less brutal than the story of Noah and his Ark.
Cooking Doesn’t Get Tougher Than This!
I's Da Boys!
It doesn’t get more entertaining either. Masterchef is back and, yet again, it’s better than ever.
The producers have made some little tweaks here and there. All of them are improvements. The individual skill test in front of Greig and John is wonderful, confrontational, dramatic, even excruciating at times!
It is extraordinary that even the very best restaurants will now let in Masterchef contestants as guinea pigs in their kitchens. That is the power of television.
The secret ingredient? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- it’s the music. That’s what makes it so compelling. It’s the relentless driving beat. I don’t know whether it’s house or trance or what but it’s addictive. It’s the one. I’m totally, utterly, obsessed, enslaved to it. I couldn’t dream of turning over!
The One Show Reborn
Gorgeous Gaby. Who's He?
Christine is long gone and now forgotten.
Gaby Logan was absolutely stunning tonight.
No one else will do.
ITV Cock-Up The World Cup. Immediately!
Unbelievable! I would never, ever, not in a million years choose to watch any sporting event (or anything else I can think of) on ITV.
Now I know why and I know I’m right!
ITV Hopeless Dorks
Less than five minutes into the game, at a completely inappropriate moment, at the merest pause in play, it cuts to an ad. I can’t even remember who it was only four minutes later, so it was a waste of time and money anyway. Then the screen goes black for perhaps 20 seconds. Then we get the pictures back – England have scored!
What absolute, unforgiveable INCOMPETENCE!
Only the BBC should be allowed to screen such important events. ITV is useless .
Sack somebody now!
Advertisers! Pull the plug on the jokers before we boycott you!
Peter Reynolds 
A Fundamental Problem At The BBC
with 3 comments
I am very close to being the BBC’s biggest fan. It is a remarkable and entirely unique institution. Somehow it occupies a place between the state and the people which I can find no comparison for. It would be easy to define it as some sort of socialist idea but it is genuinely independent from the state. I do, however, have some concerns about its accountability. I am very concerned about the way it handles complaints.
No Complaints Accepted Here
I have grown up with the BBC and I trust it. In fact, I think that it’s done a better job of maintaining Britishness and values of integrity, tolerance, fairness and justice than any UK government of any political complexion. That’s why the curmudgeons in all political parties turn against it. I think Jeremy Hunt’s recent attacks and comments were particularly poorly judged. He hasn’t a had a good start in government at all has he?
I made a complaint to the BBC recently and I am very, very unhappy about the way it has been handled. The subject is not relevant here. I shall write about it in future but for now it would distract from my point. I am horrified to discover that the BBC does not handle complaints itself. They are outsourced to Capita in Belfast which describes itself as “the UK’s leading outsourcing company…at the leading edge of redefining and transforming services to the public.” For me that needs a huge pinch of salt, a mountain in fact and even then I’m choking on it.
Handling complaints should be at the very heart of an organisation. It is the essence of your brand. There is no more important management function. Contracting them out is an abdication of responsibility. More than that, it is a complete failure of integrity, a massive mistake. If an organisation is truly committed to meeting its customers’ needs it must be as close to them as possible. This irresponsibility strikes at the very heart of everything I value about the BBC. I am deeply disillusioned.
If this disastrous decision had resulted in a well administered service then that might be some consolation but not a bit of it. It is dreadful. Every bit as bad as any horror story you’ve heard about British Gas, BT or yes, even a bank. This is the British consumer experience at its very worst.
Not What It Used To Be
In sharp contrast to the rest of the BBC’s websites, try making a complaint online. It’s like something from the very early days of the internet with clumsy, badly aligned fields and an archaic feel. I almost expect to hear a modem whistling away in the background. From a complainant’s point of view it’s quite useless. You don’t get any option to save a copy of your complaint or email it to yourself. You don’t even get an acknowledgement once you’ve completed it so you’re left with a completely unsatisfactory feeling of uncertainty. Did they get it or not? Will I get a reply? When?
It gets worse. Complaints are lost. They don’t get answered at all. They certainly don’t get answered within the 10 working days promised. One answer I received was just laughable in its anodyne, crass simplicity. It was nothing more than an patronising acknowledgement of what I was “unhappy about”.
Useless
I could go on even further but I won’t. It does get even worse and it becomes embarrassingly so when Capita start to trot out the oldest excuse of all about “system problems”. It is an excruciatingly bad, defining example of appalling customer service. I’d say it takes the biscuit.
All this is the inevitable result of outsourcing your complaints procedure. That aspect of business that should be one of your most important tools. What’s worse is that Capita are absolutely useless at doing the job.
It is no exaggeration to say that, for me, this rocks the very foundations of everything I believed about the BBC to the very core. It is not the organisation I thought it was. I feel betrayed. I am “disgusted of Tunbridge Wells”. In fact, I am very, very, very disgusted of Weymouth, Dorset.
Written by Peter Reynolds
August 12, 2010 at 2:37 pm
Posted in Business, Consumerism, Politics, technology, television, The Media
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