Feature: Brand Blue Peter

The phone-in scandal has damaged the reputation of many shows – but Blue Peter will rise above it all.

Name a brand and most consumers will be able to think of one adjective to describe it. This instinctive ‘feel’ for the soul and values of a product, service, person or TV show is what makes brands so powerful in our everyday lives. The ability to prioritise and reject brands based on consumers’ feelings towards them is still as empowering as ever.

But what happens when a brand’s values do not measure up to the offering? In other words, what happens when a brand pretends to be something they clearly are not, and in some cases resort to deceit to retain a false image? The response is uproar, and for the brand in question it can mean ruin. But like an argument with a good friend, if a brand has enough trust and equity built up over years, resurrection is possible. This was certainly the case with Blue Peter following the March 2007 phone in scandal in which a winner was falsified.

To understand why there was such uproar following the revelation that Blue Peter had faked a winner, you have to dissect the brand values which had been built up over the last 50 years of the show. Two adjectives best describe the BBC’s flagship children’s programme: moral propriety and rectitude.

The programme first aired in October 1958 with one male and one female presenter. The initial format was mainly the two presenters demonstrating dolls and model railways, with the male presenter concentrating on traditional “boys’ toys” such as model aeroplanes, and the female restricting herself to domestic tasks, such as cookery. As expected, this approach has changed with the times and the female presenters, of which there are now two, get fully involved in some of the more adventurous activities.

Originally, it was a 15-minute weekly programme whereas now it runs for 25 minutes and is shown three times a week on BBC One and repeated later on the CBBC Channel. Its ubiquity in children’s TV programming has led to certain catchphrases such as “Here’s one I made earlier” being forged into the national psyche. Other notable aspects of the show include the annual charity appeal, the pets that lurk around the studio every episode, the garden and, of course, the much coveted Blue Peter Badge. The show celebrates its 50th anniversary this coming October meaning Blue Peter is probably the best known children’s programme in the UK.

And over these 50 years the show has built up a reputation for honesty, innocence and ‘good old fashioned fun’. Whereas a lot of children’s TV programming has been corrupted by TV advertisements, sexualised presenters, outrageous stunts and overly materialistic prizes, Blue Peter has remained low key and down to earth. That’s why parents love it and producers demand each presenter has a ‘squeaky clean image’. Hence the sacking of Richard Bacon in 1998 for taking cocaine and the BBC's Head of Children's Programming, Lorraine Heggessey, addressing viewers on-air before the first edition of the programme following his sacking to explain to the audience why he had been asked to leave and to apologise for his actions. So when it was revealed that the calls to a premium line number had not been counted due to a technical error and an overzealous producer had resorted to ‘picking’ a false winner from the crowd, people were justifiably shocked. That kind of double-dealing cynicism just doesn’t happen on Blue Peter.

The phone scandal engulfed many programmes – Richard & Judy and The X Factor to name just two – but, frankly speaking, most consumers had come to expect this sort of behaviour from these shows. Richard & Judy can come across as incredibly insular, pretentious and self-serving. And The X Factor, with its ritualistic infighting between the judges and coarse language directed against the contestants, has never pretended to be anything but utterly egotistical and individualistic. The X Factor is win-lose. Contestants win or lose. Blue Peter lives out a certain philosophy of equality and community, with its emphasis on helping others, self-improvement and engaging in collective activities. That’s not to say there is anything wrong with The X Factor. It is a very successful show. It’s just that there is no pretence of moral propriety about the show – whereas Blue Peter actively crafts such an image.

Blue Peter will get over the phone-in scandal because it has lots of brand trust built up over 50 years in the bank. One error will not erase that goodwill. Blue Peter has survived crisis before and it will survive again. Consumers have vast amounts of goodwill for brands they trust. The important thing is that Blue Peter seeks to regain some of that lost trust.