Damian Radcliffe's Blog

By Damian Radcliffe, Manager for the English Regions at Ofcom, Third Sector, 23 July 2008

The most controversial TV advert of the year so far must be Heinz's Deli Mayo ad, which received acres of press coverage after it caused more than 200 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority.

The commercial showed a typical family scene, with a wife distributing packed lunches to children and husband. The creative twist was that both husband and wife were played by men, and the advert ended with the working man giving his 'wife' a kiss goodbye. It was this kiss that provoked the ire of audiences and some newspapers, despite the fact that the whole thing was light-hearted. As a result of the complaints, Heinz withdrew the advert one week into its scheduled five-week run.

What lessons can charities learn from this? Oscar Wilde famously said that the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about - and this advert certainly got people talking. Whatever the merits or flaws of the advert itself, there's no doubt that it has taken the Heinz brand to a wider audience than TV alone could have.

This extra publicity was generated simply by being able to shock, or stir into action, a very small audience; something the NSPCC and Shelter have also managed to do successfully in recent years, thus taking their campaigns to a wider audience.

Of course, expensive, high-quality TV adverts are something that many charities can't afford. But the Heinz case has shown that you don't need to buy TV advertising space to reach a large audience. Online, the most watched version of the advert on video-sharing website YouTube has had 250,000 views, with many other versions having been seen more than 100,000 times each. None of this online distribution cost Heinz a penny - it wasn't even responsible for it.

Charities can also use the web to distribute creative content beyond - or even instead of - the broadcast. Leonard Cheshire Disability did this successfully with its Creature Discomforts advertising campaign, which featured a series of animated characters designed by the company behind Wallace & Gromit.

By using the web rather than expensive TV slots to reach audiences, charities can spend more of their budgets - whatever size they may be - on making the best possible ads, and a lot less money on getting them to eyeballs. It's a fairly new model, but it's one that we're only going to see more of.

Peckham Rye in the snow yesterday... by the evening it had all melted and it was as if it had never happened.

   

 

Today we (that is my employer, CSV) launched some research for one of the projects which I work on - Agents4Change.

You can see the full press release here, detailing the findings from Ipsos MORI.

It's proved to be suitably newsworthy across old and new media alike, and demonstrated that this tried and trusted marketing method can continue to yield good results.

Coverage includes:

Page two of The Sun (the UK's biggest paper in terms of circulation) a 'News in Brief' bit in the Daily Telegraph, page eight of the widely read Metro freesheet, as well as a pieces on Guardian Online and AOL with TV and commercial radio also getting in on the act.

I've been busy (though not as busy as I would have liked) writing music memories over the last couple of months for a fantastic new community website: Jamsbio.

The site has just gone live, and offers users a chance to write about the soundtrack of their lives,  as well as comment on others.

Do have a look, it's very American based at the moment, but I am sure that will change as the wider web community starts to use it.

In my instance, it has been, as Sly and the Family Stone said, a family affair, you can read recollections by me, my brother and my Mum.

Many thanks to Dina for getting me involved, and giving me a chance to do something creative away from the day job (for a change).

By Damian Radcliffe, Third Sector, 26 March 2008

When I joined the BBC's digital radio team in 1999, everyone expected it to be the next big thing. Nearly a decade on, however, DAB digital radio still feels like it's up and coming.

The technology offers better sound, more stations, ease of tuning and the opportunity to transmit text and other data, but it's also suffered from poor marketing, expensive kit, variable reception and strong unpredicted competition from both digital TV and the internet as a means for listening to audio.

DAB has always had admirers and detractors in equal measure, and the recent mixed headlines it has attracted should be viewed in this context.

On the one hand, you have the news that DAB now accounts for 10 per cent of the UK's radio listening. On the other comes the announcement that commercial radio company GCAP Media is closing two of its digital stations because, it says, DAB is not "economically viable".

What is the sector to make of this? I can't help but feel that it's a technology worth sticking with, and one that the sector should get more involved in.

For all the doomsayers calling DAB the new Betamax, there's the fact that there are now 6.5 million sets in the UK. A million have been bought in the past three months. Add to that the continued public commitment of both the BBC and Channel 4 to working in partnership with manufacturers to develop new ways of using the technology.

DAB broadcasts in the future could involve receivers displaying images, charity logos, phone numbers and key campaign facts, while the voice of your spokesperson comes out of the speakers at the same time.

Moreover, a report looking at the future of radio - and backed by commercial trade body the Radio Centre - commented that "as listeners migrate to digital platforms, new advertising revenue streams are opening up".

That's good news for commercial companies and for us, because it recognises that DAB can be a new way to reach consumers.

Third sector groups should take advantage of this new market so that we're already established with the major players, if and when the technology really takes off.

Even if it doesn't grow in the way many people hope, there's certainly nothing to be lost from seeking to develop further relationships with big players such as the BBC and Channel 4, and 6.5 million DAB-using households is a not insubstantial audience.

A big part of me feels there's nothing to lose.

- Damian Radcliffe is head of broadcasting for volunteering charity CSV

I got a nice letter a few months ago inviting me to become a Fellow of the RSA, which I've now done.  

I was there last night, having a quiet drink in the bar, there's worse places to hang out...

Having a lot of fun doing some music writing at the moment.

I can't say anything more, but it's for a US website, and it's going to be pretty damned cool (even if I do say so myself).

Check back for more details at a later date.

Go on... you know you want to!

I don't remember this being filmed, but it was. It's not as bad as I thought!

Publication written and produced in September 2006 highlighting some of the work done through the CSV/BBC partnership. There's some really nice case studies here showcasing our work across a wide variety of different types of projects.

There was also a press release (also printed below) highlighting the key points.

I've finally got round to scanning my Third Sector columns and uploading them here so that you can see/read them in context (should you so desire).

We must change Ofcom's auction

Silver lining to the BBC's clouds

Australia ain't what it used to be

Get ready for television's D Day