The Post Office: Lessons in Media

The last few weeks in the UK has produced a story media people and marketers can for once actually learn fromThis is the saga of The Post Office For overseas readers hundreds of postmasters and postmistresses the people who run our local post offices found themselves accused by their bosses at HQ of fiddling the books In fact they had done no such thing amp8211 the fault was within a new computer system installed inbranch by Fujitsu and believed as gospel by Post Office Headquarter ManagersThe result has been devastating Many local postmastersmistresses have lost their jobs their savings their houses their sanity their freedom some went to jail Some even lost their livesAnd all because of glitches within a central computer systemIn 1999 amp8216Computer Weeklyamp8217 broke the story amp8216Private Eyeamp8217 followed it up with regular lengthy and wellresearched articles amp8216The Daily Mailamp8217 amp8216The Daily Telegraphamp8217 amp8216The Guardianamp8217 amp8216The Timesamp8217 and I expect others all covered the unfolding scandal Although maybe not as frequently as they might have doneThe BBC ran both TV and radio programmes dedicated to this the main news bulletins carried updatesThere was some debate in Parliament calls for compensation and an enquiry has been grinding its way through the facts but progress is slowThis has been going on for more than 20 yearsThe story was out there in other words but it didnamp8217t catchAnd then just after Christmas ITV broadcast a fourpart drama streamed across the week called Mr Bates Versus the Post Office It told the true story of several victims of this injustice and starred Toby Jones Monica Dolan and Julie Hesmondhalgh All good actors known here but not particularly wellknown internationally ITV scheduled and promoted the series most effectivelyThe drama ran and suddenly things happened After years of inactivity the postmasters and postmistresses are being pardoned and compensated Itamp8217s been all over our papers for days itamp8217s been debated in Parliament things are at last movingamp8216Computer Weeklyamp8217 today has 200000 subscribers to its online magazine Back in 1999 it no doubt had feweramp8216Private Eyeamp8217 circulation has been growing and is now about 250000 so maybe 750000 to 1 million readers In 1999 it no doubt didnamp8217t have as manyI believe the ITV drama pulled in around 7 million viewers live Including timeshifting and streaming thatamp8217s risen to between 12 and 13 millionThe point is these are not huge numbers in the Facebook TikTok and Google era Numbers aside the drama made things happenThere are lessons to be learnedTV is still supreme at telling a story at creating empathy amongst millions all at once This simply wouldnamp8217t have happened anywhere else Social media can amplify the story but nothing beats TV for empathy and impactThe TV drama would I strongly suspect never have been made without the work of many printbased journalists Good oldfashioned journalism made this happenComputer systems arenamp8217t always right but if enough senior generalists believe what they say despite caveats from the specialists itamp8217s easier to believe them than question the outputThe biggest numbers do not guarantee the greatest effectMarketers and their agencies have poured money into social media using automated techniques that are prone to fraud and unfortunate placementsMany talk of brand safety and cry tears over a young girl taking her own life because of peer pressure allowed by the likes of Instagram But they carry on spending on these channelsTheyamp8217re told of fraud and largely ignore it Admitting an expensive media placement error has consequencesAdvertiser and agency initiatives designed to benefit society proliferate Green packaging less sugar and salt more inclusive and diverse workforces electric vehicles media schedules that take account of carbon emissions All good of courseBut as I said in October 2022 amp8216When it comes to where they advertise as opposed to what they advertise marketers all too often look the other wayamp8217 They see the huge numbers and look no furtherMeantime broadcasters haemorrhage ad revenue and subsequently cut programme budgets Drama is expensive so expect less of itSome like EssenceMediaCom are starting to consider how consumers perceive media forms and how that perception impacts resultsRegulated media held to account for their actions are generally brand safe and impactful I suspect although I havenamp8217t seen the EssenceMediaCom work in full that such channels are also perceived positively by consumers which increases the impact of the ads appearing on themWe should continue to encourage advertisers to look beyond misleading numbersWe should question computer generated schedules to ensure our plans consider context and impact quality and effectWe should actively support media forms that are regulated measured and accountable and are committed to bringing the truth to the audienceNot just for philanthropic purposes but because this stuff worksThereamp8217ll always be rogues but sometimes the good guys winBut to win they need to be supportedPosted at MediaVillage through the Thought Leadership selfpublishing platformClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageorgMyersBizNet

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

The Post Office: Lessons in Media

Author

Publish date

Channel

Archived in

Brian Jacobs

"About That with Carl Mayer": Involved Media Connected Audience Fall 2024 Report (Episode 5) - By Carl Mayer

More Videos:

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

The Post Office: Lessons in Media

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

Brian Jacobs

TAGS:

"About That with Carl Mayer": Involved Media Connected Audience Fall 2024 Report (Episode 5) - By Carl Mayer

Cookies