Sky Adsmart Offers Challenger Brands More Bang for Their TV Advertising Buck

Everyone loves hearing the story of an underdog: a lonesome hero who fights against all odds and, through a mixture of blind determination and strength of character, emerges victorious.

A few examples: the hard-as-nails boxer Rocky Balboa from the 1976 hit film Rocky, Leicester City’s unexpected win in the 2015-2016 Premier League, Donald Trump’s glorious victory in the 2016 US presidential election. (Wait – that didn’t sound right).

In the business world, there are plenty of underdog brands with market-leading products or offerings that would effortlessly become a mainstream success given the right exposure.

And that’s where television comes into play. Despite the growing influence of digital mediums, good old-fashioned television is still the perfect advertising platform for brands of all sizes, reaching 91.9% of the UK’s population every week, according to Thinkbox, and accounting for 94% of video advertising.

But for challenger brands there is an obvious obstacle - advertising on TV can be costly. Buying a single advertising spot on nationally broadcasted channels can cost anywhere between £3,000 and £20,000, making it far out of financial reach for most challenger brands.

However, Sky AdSmart is enabling challenger brands to experience their own David and Goliath moment. Hyper-targeted, data-driven and cost-conscious, AdSmart enables advertisers with a limited budget to run entire campaigns for as little as £3,000, and air their ads during hit shows like Game of Thrones.

Here are some of the many reasons why AdSmart is so effective:

AdSmart takes a hyper-targeted approach to TV advertising

To sum up the platform in a few simple words: Sky AdSmart dishes out ads to different households watching the same show. For example, let’s say you’re watching Billions, and so are your neighbours down the road, but during the commercial break you get an ad for a snazzy new sports car while your neighbours receive an ad for a trip to Barbados.

With access to over 7 million homes in the UK, AdSmart has combined its own customer data with information gathered by consumer profiling experts Mosaic and Mastercard, giving advertisers the ability to select the audience that sees their ads based on Sky’s household data.

Advertisers can select households within a particular area or region, or target people of a certain age, or lifestyle – they can even target expectant families or pet-owners.

AdSmart also has the ability to target households within a particular postcode, making it extremely effective for location-based brands that benefit from reaching consumers in a specific area or region, such as universities, car dealerships or government entities.

Greater relevance means greater results

With its ability to cherry pick certain households, AdSmart means your ads only go to viewers with a proven relevance to your offering, benefiting both the advertiser and the consumer.

According to Sky, AdSmart viewers are 14.5% more likely to remember ads compared to broader TV audiences.

The ads themselves are also of greater interest to viewers, with AdSmart viewers being 16.5% more likely to say the ads feel as though they are “aimed at people like me”.

The telecommunications company also said switching between shows has reduced by a third amongst those using AdSmart due to greater relevancy. 

More bang for your buck

AdSmart’s ability to target audiences in such detail means your advertising budget is going directly towards viewers with a proven relevance to your offering.

Since coming on the market in 2014, AdSmart has since attracted a flock of brands wanting to make their TV campaigns more targeted - 70% of which are new to TV or Sky.

AdSmart campaigns are significantly more affordable for challenger brands, costing as little as £3,000 per campaign, with the average campaign costing between £5,000 and £7,000.

Here are three brands that benefited from advertising with AdSmart:

Case study: McLaren

The premium sports and super car brand, McLaren, partnered up with AdSmart to launch its first ever TV campaign - a 40-second ad promoting the new 570S Sports Series models.

Using Sky’s geo-targeted capabilities, McLaren delivered its ads to the top 2% of households, reaching entrepreneurs, small business owners and those earning more than £80k a year. They also narrowed down the reach to viewers within a close proximity to their five UK dealerships.

As a result of the campaign, McLaren delivered over 400,000 impressions into over 61,000 households, with an end result of car sales doubling between 2015 and 2016.

Case study: Santander

The financial service provider, Santander, used Sky AdSmart as part of a wider advertising campaign to promote their business banking service - a financial service that helps businesses reach their full potential.

As a result, Santander were able to increase spontaneous ad recall by 21%; advertising to an audience that was four times more likely to be ‘in market’; creating a 29% increase in spontaneous purchase consideration; and prompting 11% of viewers to engage with the business.

Case study: Hilton Hotels and Resorts

The global full-service hotel and resort brand, Hilton Hotels and Resorts, wanted to raise awareness for their direct booking proposition through AdSmart. After a two month long campaign on the platform, there was a strong uplift in spontaneous brand awareness, with exposed groups 32% more likely to recognise the Hilton brand.

Of those who recalled seeing the advert, 27% took some form of action as a result (17% visited the Hilton.com website and 4% booked a room via the site).

AdSmart’s targeted and results-driven approach to TV advertising is truly a game changer for challenger brands, opening up the door to increase brand awareness, advertise upcoming promotions, and drive sales, without the crippling costs that can come alongside a TV campaign.

We can help you to define your brief, develop creative ideas, manage the relationship between media owners such as Sky, produce your finished TV commercial, gain clearance to air it on TV from Clearcast, and, ultimately, get your ad in front of the right people.

Scorch London is an innovative and agile creative agency with a reputation for equipping challenger brands with highly effective TV campaigns. For more advice on planning the first important steps for your TV advertising campaign, get in touch with our friendly team – we’re always happy to help!