The BBC is planning 'strong and impactful' marketing to relaunch BBC Three online

The scale of the plan reflects the broadcaster’s high hopes for a channel that will stream content around the clock and continue to commission original shows. Should the switch be approved  by the BBC Trust, it would see the broadcaster pump half of the advertising budget it spends on paid-for media this year into promoting the online-only TV service.  

Unsurprisingly, the BBC is worried about the brand being damaged in the switch and wants to throw more budget behind the move to guarantee its safety. The planned investments could see the corporation buy outdoor and print media to convince more viewers to transition across to BBC Three Online, as well as running promotions on its own inventory such as the BBC Online homepage or iPlayer.

Longer campaigns on both BBC One and Two are also in the pipeline, a move the broadcaster claimed would increase the BBC Three brand’s reach amongst 16 to 34 year-olds by nearly a million per campaign. Social media will also be called on to promote the online TV service pre-launch, with gambles on emerging social networks lined up to push users to new content – both short form and linear programming.

“We intend to sustain BBC Three brand awareness during the transition period from the summer by increasing marketing support across the relevant BBC promotional inventory and via paid-for media,” the broadcaster said.

Another core component of the plan is a new logo in November, which the broadcaster said is “so audiences can become familiar with the new branding pre-launch”.

The investments would serve as a warm-up for what will be BBC Three Online’s launch campaign in January before the TV channel closes in March. It will lean heavily on paid-for online media as well as the BBC’s own media inventory to target younger viewers, while actual promotional media on its own channels and stations will reach the broader licence fee payers – so they understand what the BBC is doing for younger audiences even though the service is not directly aimed at them.

The launch campaign will need to prove right the BBC’s decision to set up a temporary transitional channel instead of run both TV and online versions of the service in parallel. Running two separate services at the same time would have around £4m extra to the corporation’s proposed budget and so instead it has planned for what it called a “purely promotional” service with 12 hours of late night programming between January and February.

BBC Trust chairman Rona Fairhead said: “Our provisional conclusions sought to ensure that the BBC’s services remain distinctive, innovative and relevant to all its audiences, while working within ever tighter funding constraints. Over the next few weeks, we’ll gather more views about the BBC’s proposals and the mitigations we’ve put forward to address concerns raised. We will carefully consider the responses and all of the evidence before making our final decision.”

The BBC is planning "strong and impactful" marketing to relaunch BBC Three online