A look at some of the campaigns we’ve recently launched for first-time TV advertisers, as part of Sky’s AdSmart SME250 initiative.
Sky launched their AdSmart product at the start of 2014. In a nutshell: AdSmart pairs the audience-targeting capability of online advertising with the traditional power and impact of TV. We produced our first AdSmart campaign in February 2014 (for Nottingham NHS) which delivered great results, and we’ve been vocal advocates of its place in any TV/VOD strategy ever since.
Due to market conditions created by the Covid-19 crisis, Sky decided to give away £1m of AdSmart campaigns to 100 SME advertisers who were new to TV, or who had been dormant for at least 12 months. The level of response was so high that they decided to expand the programme to 250 businesses, each receiving a campaign worth £10,000.
A couple of our existing clients were awarded campaigns, and we were delighted to be invited by Sky to produce additional TV adverts for some new clients, too. It typically takes 8-12 weeks to write, clear, produce & deliver a TV advert – but these campaigns had to be delivered within 4 weeks, so it was a fun challenge. Read on to find out more, and to watch the adverts.
Oatein
A fellow North East company, Oatein have been making waves since they launched their low-sugar, high-protein oat-based snack range in 2016, not least thanks to their success on the BBC’s Dragon’s Den series in 2019 and their recent agreement to supply 830 Aldi stores. We produced custom animation, shot new footage with Geordie Shore star and brand ambassador Stephanie Snowdon, and utilised one stock clip to produce an energetic advert.
Shepherd’s Purse
A family business now in its fifth decade of trading, Shepherd’s Purse produce an award-winning range of artisan cheeses, from sheep’s milk. Covid-19 had an immediate effect on this niche industry, with 20 of 22 sheep milk processors halting operations since March 2020. Shepherd’s Purse wanted to focus their advert on this issue and raise awareness of their ‘Save Our Sheep Milk’ campaign which promotes their Yorkshire Fettle product, as each piece sold helps to support the supply chain.
Little Learners
Little Learners is a multi award-winning children’s activity provider which offers educational messy play classes for under-5s. It was created by a qualified primary teacher who designed an innovative mark making programme following the journey of four fun characters – ‘The Mark Makers‘. Children focus on one character each week at Little Learners classes. The TV advert utilised existing footage, stock assets and screen-captures to promote their online classes, web shop, and their franchising opportunity.
Uberpet
We were in the final stages of prepping a live-action shoot for Uberpet’s first ever TV advert when lockdown was announced. So, we improvised! The final animated advert utilised existing product photography blended with stock assets and bespoke animations to create a sunny, upbeat advert to promote Uberpet’s range of natural raw dog food.
Carpets To Your Door
An innovative new North East business which does exactly what the name suggests – brings the ‘carpet shop’ to your home! The first and the simplest of all the adverts we created for AdSmart SME250, exclusively using stock assets, the campaign has already proven very effective, with Carpets To Your Door reporting a 90% conversion rate from appointments booked through the campaign.
Drop us a line any time to find out how your brand can make best use of TV and VOD.