In a world with never-ending technological advances, a forever-changing media landscape, social applications on the brain, phones at our fingertips and endless streams of adverts and information available 24/7 – where does TV actually fit in any more?
As humans living in the 21st century, we have adapted and evolved to take on a bunch of information all at once, from multiple outlets. Being a creative agency, we see first hand how easy it is to retain the spiel of an infomercial, read the Guardians’ latest blog and post your breakfast on Instagram – all whilst simultaneously humming the Go Compare jingle you heard years ago on the radio.
It’s a constant downpour of information, and we all know social media has a long way to go to combat fake news and misleading information being posted across all platforms. It’s no wonder it can be hard to differentiate who’s telling the truth and who’s telling porkies online…
But that’s why TV broadcasts are still such a powerful way to send an authentic message.
Take oil suppliers Mitchell & Webber, for instance. They may have been in the business for over 120 years, but they’ve also just recently become the first in the country to trial fossil-free liquid fuel made from vegetable fats, called Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO). It’s pretty amazing stuff so, quite rightly, Mitchell & Webber wanted to share this news with the world – opting to do so via TV broadcast.
Now, they could have gone straight to social media, but what many people don’t know about TV adverts is that they have to be thoroughly scrutinised with a fine-tooth fact checking comb for clearance. The same can’t be said for the likes of Instagram or Facebook which have limited integrated moderation processes; heck, anyone can say what they like on the internet and it’s your job to decipher what’s fact and what’s fiction.
In comparison, Mitchel and Webber’s TV adverts took three weeks to go through intensive scrutiny by an external and impartial non-governmental organisation called Clearcast, before being given the thumbs up – meaning that when it hits your TV and eyes for the first time, you know that the information you’re watching is 100% authentic, honest and true.
This project is a big deal for Mitchell & Webber. Not only is it an awesome step forward for Planet Earth, but also for their reputation as a leading oil distributor making forward-thinking strides – so they needed to make sure there were zero doubts around their advertising claims validity.
Some of you may be thinking, ‘but why waste all that time waiting around for some TV ad to be cleared when Mitchell & Webber know the facts and could tell the world right off the bat?’
Simple – because those TV ads will not only be seen by millions, but they will hold the integrity and honesty that Mitchell and Webber have spent the last 120 plus years providing their customers with.
Social media of course, comes with masses of benefits and is uniquely adept at reaching prospective community and customers quickly. It is however, no match to the certainty and confidence that can be built with broadcast media.