Brands and Agencies Navigate U.K.'s GBNews Controversy

The channel at launch was supported by what looked like a good level of ad content sold on its behalf by Sky Media the sales arm of Sky that represents a large number of independent channelsWhat happened next was pretty predictable For months prior to launch activist groups and opinionated individuals had been calling on advertisers to boycott the new channel Neil never one to back away from confrontation had responded Ah well all publicity is good publicityThe point is the launch was hardly a secret This was never going to be anything other than controversial So it was hardly a surprise that as soon as the channel went on air the activists started naming and in their eyes shaming those advertising on itMany advertisers promptly pulled off the channel stating they were unaware that their ads were due to appear there in the first placeLet39s just park the fact that what matters to advertisers is audience and the broadcaster39s adherence to OFCOM39s regulations on fair and balanced content and explore how these ads came to be quotplacedquot on GBNewsI39ve put quotplacedquot in quotes for a reasonImagine yourself in an agency Unless you39re simply unaware of what39s happening in the media world pretty weird if you39re a media person you would have known that GBNews would be controversialThat may be a good thing audiences would have been attracted to the first evening so why not capitalize on the curiosity valueBut what if your client has brands that promote certain values values that would likely clash with the editorial on offerWouldn39t you have perhaps waited Explained the situation to your client and recommended holding off Waited till things calm down If the audience is there and the content is in line with the client39s values then in you goIf the client was prepared to forego his values for the rather small as it turned out spike in audience and interest then fine the agency has done its job the client has decided to ignore the advice and spend the budget as appropriateI strongly suspect this is not what happenedWhat I suspect happened was that agencies handed budget over to Sky Media with zero instruction to avoid GBNews The placement across all of Sky Media39s channels was down to Sky Media39s audiencebased algorithms I suspect the agencies of those clients with ads that finished up on the channel didn39t bother telling them didn39t know or couldn39t have cared lessIt39s all audience numbers isn39t itWhat happened to planning What about aligning a brand39s values with content This is a subject that agency leaders talk about endlessly in the trade press and on conference platforms Avoiding the issue is what happens unfortunately when planning principles meet buying pragmatismThis is a sad indictment a microcosm of how agencies work these days Hand the money over to a third party and let them get on with it Algorithms overthinking on behalf of the clientMeanwhile will I be watching GBNews I39m a busy man with grass that needs watching as it grows during the day and paint that needs keeping an eye on to make sure it driesI suspect I39m not alone in not caring much beyond this weekClick the social buttons to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Brands and Agencies Navigate U.K.'s GBNews Controversy

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Brian Jacobs

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