TV phone in competitions and the betrayal of brand trust

By Simon on 19 Jul 07

Categories: media, brand, marketing

 Ken Bruce - the Pop Master

Today, an uneasy silence fell like a think fog across the Rocket office in Sheffield. It was 10.20am and the usually furious sound of typing, designing and general thinking faded as we awaited our daily dose of Ken Bruce's Pop Master quiz. But our expectations were dashed as we soon realised that this institution of the airwaves had become a victim of the BBC's blanket ban on all phone in quizzes.

BBC director general Mark Thompson announced yesterday that following an internal investigation that all phone based quizzes across the whole BBC network would be suspended. After a series of damaging announcements covering some mainstays of the BBC's output, such as Blue Peter and even Children in Need, the corporate clearly felt that serious action was needed.

This whole saga is a great illustration of how carefully organisations need to think about how their promotional activity impacts their brand. From a quick review of the newspaper headlines this morning, you could be forgiven to think that the BBC had at least killed someone, if not done something far worse than merely invented competition winners when a phone line had gone down. But in today's world of instant opinions and quick media-led judgements it does not take much to do real damage to a brand.

When creating a set a brand values it is very tempting to portray a business as the perfect embodiment of human endeavour - we are the best at this, we offer our customers the most perfect products and services. But this dedication to perfection can only lead a business into trouble, as things will eventually always go wrong. One of the characteristics of a truly great brand is how its reacts and responds to trouble, not one that hopes it never happens.

The BBC is suffering a little unfairly in this scandal simply because of how the general public and the rest of the media view the BBC's brand. The Corporate is viewed as a bastion of decency, fairness and good old-fashioned British honesty. So when something like the phone-in scandal breaks the reaction is amplified. This is a clear example of when seemingly positive brand values can become a burden to a business.

So, will the shock banning of Popmaster be seen as the right response, and will the BBC regain its position of trust - Well why not phone the Rocket competition line on 08775678 456751 534556 (calls charged at £18 per second) and let us know, one lucky caller has the chance to win a trip in a real Rocket!

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