Unilever aims to kick butt on the airwaves

By Paul McIntyre

April 6, 2006 - TheSidneyMorningHerald

TWO weeks ago one of the more ambitious advertiser-funded TV concepts launched during prime time on ITV in the UK.

The show, underwritten by consumer goods giant Unilever, is now going to air in Germany and Russia. It will soon appear in other European and Latin American markets in the countdown to the Football World Cup, to be held in June and July in Germany.

The first two weeks on TV in the UK have rated well for the Rexona Fans United program, a documentary on the passion of football fans around the globe.

Unilever and its media agency co-developed a brief for the format. MindShare and a production company then co-produced 13 30-minute segments for prime time.

Here's what Unilever's global media director, Alan Rutherford, says about the approach: "TV is still a very important medium for Unilever but we have to be much smarter about how we use it. This new development from Rexona is a great example of the sort of approach we want to develop more and more. It's all about using material that is relevant for consumers as part of a 360 degree campaign."

And it's precisely the reason media agencies such as MindShare, Mediacom, Universal McCann and OMD are all developing their branded content expertise. Big advertisers are looking for new options.

"Major clients like Unilever are pushing us very hard to deliver quality service in this space," says Mike Rich, Asia-Pacific regional director for MindShare's sports and content division, Performance. "We've got eight or nine fully funded projects at the moment in eight different markets in the region."

Interestingly, Rich flags an intriguing shift in the way major advertisers and media buyers plan to use their advertising clout with media owners. TV stations, in particular, appear to be in for a boxing session or two.
Instead of traditional discussions between media buyers and media owners about advertising volumes, rates and few "value adds" which might include sponsor billboards or the odd product mention or brand exposure in a TV show, advertisers want to trade their ad budgets for airtime in which they can actually produce their own editorial content.

"We want to use that [advertising] leverage to persuade media owners to offer … editorial time as opposed to advertising time," says Rich. "Clients are starting to shift their thinking on media expenditure. So rather than allocating 100 per cent to traditional communications, we're reallocating a percentage to media in branded content."

That should trigger a few warning bells for media companies, particularly when it is the big spenders that are making these sorts of noises. TV networks are not going to like a huge market shift like this but it might just do one intriguing thing: advertisers might have to produce content the punters want to watch as opposed to much of the current advertising drivel they throw on the airwaves now, which is usually justified by sub-standard research techniques.

If indeed this brave new advertiser-funded content world does come about, advertisers will live and die by the ratings, just like the broadcasters do now. That means taking risks and, hopefully, producing stuff that is at least one rung up from advertising as we know it today. It could also spawn a whole new pastime for the masses: spotting the commercial fibs and furphies.