More articles from the ' Industry, Marketing ' Category
At the next junction, drop an E
Funny thing about me and TV program sponsorships. I only seem to notice them when they are not on TV.
Like the outdoor super-site currently festooning the junction between Old Street, Shoreditch High Street and Hackney Road heralding the forthcoming second series of the excellent Channel 4 program Skins.
Sponsored by BSM.
BSM??? The British School of Motoring. Part of the RAC. Trustworthy instructors with economical cars that have those funny little signs magnetically stuck to the roof. “Learn Your Way to Freedom” cries their web site. How does this fit with Skins?
Skins!!!!
A genius program reflecting the lives of dysfunctional 16 to 18 year olds in Bristol. With massive reference to debauched partying, heavy drinking and sustained drug abuse. Way cool. But more BDSM than BSM.
So why BSM and Skins? From a media targeting point of view it’s bang on. Late teens with a desire for freedom will, no doubt, be gagging to get behind the wheel of their first car.
Does the apparent mismatch in tone, style and content then really matter?
From a conceptual point of view it probably does. In my experience the best TV idents usually make some reference to either the program or the essence of the program they sponsor in order to “top and tail” the broadcast in a relevant way. This helps them to extend their resonance beyond their 5 second slot and almost become a “frame” for the program. By no means the main “art” but a useful and relevant part of it none the less. Cadbury did this brilliantly with Corrie. 118 118, in a more obtuse way, delivered it with Lost.
I’m buggered if I can think of how BSM are going to do it with Skins.
Which is not to say that their agency won’t achieve it. At the time of writing I have yet to see any of the executions. They might just pull it off.
Maybe they could take some inspiration from a lovely little Skins cultural influence taken from a posting in Wikipedia:
During the holiday a girl in County Durham threw a house party; it was advertised on her MySpace as an unofficial Skins, referring to the party in the first episode with the subtitle “Let’s trash the average family-sized house disco party”. 200 people turned up, causing over £20,000 worth of damage.”
Wouldn’t it be great that if the very next day, she passed her driving test.