BBC CURRENT MARKETING PLANS

The BBC’s current marketing plan focuses on a number of specific areas, where the BBC hopes to achieve a variety of objectives that will improve the corporation’s image, in this country as well as abroad.

The BBC plans to increase the range and quality of its radio and television services. More high impact broadcasting is being focused on. More memorable programmes are being developed and created, in particular arts and current affairs. The BBC plans to build up and solidify its digital service, providing something for everyone on this service. Interactive learning activities are available and will become increasingly available in the future. These factors are hoped to increase the up-take of digital television generally.

With the ever increasing digital take-up, and the British Government pushing for Britain to be fully converted to digital television by 2010, the BBC has been required to change its direction, as well as capitalise on it. The competitors of the BBC have also ventured into the digital television revolution. ITV 2, ITV News, E4, Film Four, Film 4 World and Film 4 Extreme all stepped into the digital limelight before or at the same time as the BBC’s digital channels. The BBC should be wary of the way in which its arch rival, ITV, through away its first and probably only attempt to launch its own box. On digital/ITV digital paid over the odds for football coverage and then failed to attract enough subscribers to warrant it. They proceeded to own the football clubs they were supposed to bankroll millions of pounds. The BBC can fall back on the fact that BSkyB subscribers will watch their digital channels as well as Sky TV. Providing something, of interest, to watch for everyone it easier said than done. Children, young people, young adults, adults and older people would potentially have to be catered for. These different groups in themselves would also have various tastes. It would have to be determined what the viewers would want to see most then the next most wanted programmes and so on.

The BBC wishes to bring younger audiences to BBC services by making bold, innovative programmes. It also wants the young people to engage more with the BBC’s news and current affairs, without having to dumb it down too much or showing less parliamentary programming. New methods of attracting more of the UK’s ethnic minorities, both through the mainstream and targeted through specially made programmes are needed.

Younger audiences appear to be a trouble area for the BBC, as they are supposedly failing to attract enough of them to programmes. Young people are greatly interested in new and ...

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Younger audiences appear to be a trouble area for the BBC, as they are supposedly failing to attract enough of them to programmes. Young people are greatly interested in new and existing technology. Programmes like Tomorrow’s World could be created especially for young people, providing news and information on different inventions and modifications to existing technology. Currently there are not enough dedicated programmes to it. Nowadays the news appears to be very serious and bleak. To alter this more funny news and entertainment news should be shown. Ethnic minorities do make up a considerable amount of the UK population. These families of an ethnic minority whose first language is not English will speak their alternative language at home. Ethnic minority families will usually subscribe to a digital channel that provides for their needs the best. ARY Digital, Prime TV, ZEE TV, PCNE Chinese and Bangla TV all provide ethnic minority groups with what they are looking for. A channel in that family’s mother tongue. The closest the BBC could come to this is to show a Bollywood, Chinese or other ethnic minority movie or have a half hour TV show with news and information.

Internally the BBC hopes to attract a larger percentage of ethnic minority workers, at low levels up to senior management. Disabled people’s numbers working for the BBC are also being viewed in relation to an increased. The BBC hopes to achieve this by making the BBC come across as a creative, collaborative and exciting organisation, which staff and viewers fully understand and is fully justified.

10% of the BBC’s total workforce is to be of ethnic minority background and 4% of senior management by the December 2003. The targets set by the corporation are fully feasible and should come to pass. Although it is an achievable target, ethnic minority people should not be employed simply because the BBC has a target to meet, but because they are the best people for the job. Every organisation has targets like these, mostly to prevent institutional racism throughout the corporation.

The BBC has a limited amount of money coming in to it. This is due to licence fees. The BBC plans to increase the amount of spendable money by, improving licence fee collection, reducing overheads and improving efficiency in programme production whilst maintaining quality of output.

The BBC does have a cash flow problem, and improving it will inevitably free up money for reinvestment into the organisation. Most organisations have to streamline their business at some point to increase output or profit. It is better to streamline while in a stable condition as oppose to doing it when the company is already on its knees. Maintaining quality of output whilst improving efficiency is vitally important, as viewers will seek alternatives is programming quality is not up to the standard that is normally expected.

The BBC values its reputation in the UK and abroad highly, and recognises that having a good reputation can help to sell programmes.

The BBC wants to earn greater appreciation from UK audiences in relation to being an open, creative and trusted public service organisation.