THE OPPORTUNITY FOR BRANDS IS TOo OFTEN OVERLOOKED
Emma Armstrong, AV Executive
Two years ago, as a young person from the Northeast with an interest of entering the media industry, I felt there was no choice but to move away from home to follow my ambitions. It felt a shame at the time, given Newcastle is the best city in the UK (dare I go as far as to say in the world?!).
Luckily, I didn’t need to travel far and landed a role as AV Trainee at Republic of Media in Manchester. In my time I have had the opportunity to work on many brilliant regional campaigns. Since the BBC’s move to MediaCity in 2011 there has been a growing tech and creative industry here, attracting more diverse, young talent to the region, something I am proud to now be part of.
Whilst it’s been great to see firsthand more media owners and agencies set up in Manchester and other major UK cities, I still believe much more needs to be done by the industry to support growth in all regions of the UK, not just London, for the good of the entire industry and brands we represent.
This coincides with advertising becoming synonymous with noise more than ever. Consumers are bombarded with (often unwanted) messaging every day and consumers (younger groups in particular) are more adept than ever at filtering out and ignoring.
So how does this link back to the need to grow our industry outside of London?
Firstly, 87% of the UK’s population live beyond the M25. A good way for brands to break the cycle of noise is to be more authentic with the audiences they want to reach. Personalisation is a trend in the industry that has been around forever and remains more relevant than ever, but research has consistently shown (including the Radiocentre’s groundbreaking re-evaluating media study) that media planners perceptions – particularly those in London – about what media ‘normal people’ are consuming differs hugely from the reality.
I mean no disrespect when I say this, but can a media planning manager who works in London and only leaves to go to the airport, really know what is keeping Dave, the financially stretched electrician from Salford awake at night? I’d say no – and chances are no one in their team does either.
On the flip side, in our agency we have residents born and raised in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Wrexham and Nottingham. Not to mention many further towns and cities that, as a total, represent a big cross section of the UK.
Regional advertising also seems to have become a lost artform, even though tailoring national campaigns to reflect regional nuances can be a way to cut wastage and create more relatable and so effective, messaging. Historically, regional media has been considered difficult to plan and buy which is arguably the reason why it is under-invested in as an approach by more brands. Sense of personal identity is stronger than ever in the UK and I would argue this makes it more important for brands to understand local quirks and find ways for this to play out in communications. One of the UK’s biggest national advertisers, Jet2 started with a regional test & learn approach, and it remains a smart way to test the water of paid media investment at a reduced risk before scaling up.
While there are no definitive sources, The Grove Media estimates the regional ad market to be worth £1.5bn to £2bn per annum. Hopefully more media owners will follow the example of ITV who recently launched their Geo-X platform to aid more effective regional planning, which should make regional media more attractive and easier. I believe we should also be supporting local/regional newsbrands and publishers, showing they are not a scaled-down version of their national counterparts, but experts on their patch with a strong connection to their audiences.
There is much more to the UK than London but it’s up to agencies and brands to spot the opportunity and make the most of it.
