BBC using social media for its teenager brand...

Once upon a time the BBC made programmes, put them on the TV at a specified time and we watched it if we felt so inclined.

BBC Switch is the corporation's teenager wing. I imagine it to be a section of their television studios with a disco in one corner, Kevin the teenager sulking in another and Hoodies (thats what teenagers wear isn't it?) having board meetings.

So what the BBC are doing now is going multi platform. They're flirting with the New Media furore and it's great! Research done by the BBC themselves shows that the young are far more likely to use the internet for entertainment.

So what has Auntie been doing then? Well they are creating a new show for teenagers called 'Proper Messy'. this will be delivered in short, 90 second episodes and be shown on BBC 2, the BBC switch site and kids favourite, Bebo (Blog Early Blog Often). The BBC is also hoping that 5000 of it's target audience will sign up to receive mobile SMS text featuring real time messages from the soap's characters. Future storylines will then be affected by audience participation.

A bold and welcome step by the BBC and if it works, they could capture a large proportion of the hoodie market.

Just as my predictions for 2009 suggested...

See this NMA story on Ad Funded content

Attempt at Social Media Tracking

Research company YouGov have just announced their intention to investigate the actual usage of social media networks. They propose to interview over 2000 users to discover the most used networks, how often these are used and test participant’s reactions to various adverts. See my article on Social Media Measurement.

The aim it appears, is to learn how best to make money out of the unsuspecting public. How to make money in the short term with clickable ads ‘Google’ style, and in the long term through increasing brand engagement and two way communication. Clickable ads equals bad idea. Social network users are generally of a demographic that is educated (to some level) and not ignorant when it comes to being advertised at. Research may say that users don’t mind the ad’s, but there will be a limit before. David Lucas, head of media consulting for YouGov, said, "The next challenge for these websites is to find a way to take advantage of their audience and make money from their product. Appealing to advertisers is an obvious route, but finding the best way to engage with those using this channel needs further consideration." …take advantage of their audience…people don’t like to be taken advantage of I’m afraid chaps. Be careful.

If companies really want to benefit from brand engagement through social networking, they may want to think about other, more subtle ways of financing Facebook et al.

Read further at NMA

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