Feature: Redeeming the red button

As the seventh series of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here gets under way on ITV, the fall-out from this year’s problems over phone-in voting and competitions continues to be felt. Last year’s show was one of those criticised in a report by business consultancy Deloitte into ITV, when “serious technical issues” on a number of programmes were blamed for millions of votes failing to arrive in time. This time around, viewers will not be able to vote contestants out of the jungle via SMS or the red button on their remote control as ITV’s suspension of these interactive media remains in place.

For marketers, the controversy surrounding viewer polls and phone-in competitions on TV threatens to damage the credibility of text-to-win and “red button” entry routes for promotions. However, a study by research group Ipsos Mori this month suggested this has not happened. A survey carried out between May and July this year, just after the negative publicity about TV competitions broke, found that 29 per cent of people were still using the red button on their digital TVs at least once a week, and over four in 10 were pressing it on a monthly basis.

About 45 per cent of people said they would rather interact through their remote control rather than pick up the phone or go online. “This would indicate that, when a direct response is required, the remote control, which is to hand, is a preferred method,” the Ipsos Mori report said.

However, there are still some trust issues, with only one in eight people with digital TV saying they would give out personal information and credit card details via red-button technology.

Broadcasters continue to believe in the potential of brands engaging with viewers via their remote controls. Sky is currently running a roadshow to promote the value of interactive TV to agencies and enhancements to its offer. Next year, Sky Plus is launching a new service allowing subscribers to download ads via the green button on the remote control.

ITV chief executive Michael Grade also remains committed to growing interactive TV, and this month the broadcaster relaunched its red-button service with an improved platform to make it more attractive for using brand promotions. The easier-to-use platform also aims to make more of the yellow button that allows people to access “showcase areas” via their remote control.

One of the first programmes to take advantage of this has been Loose Women, which is using interactive TV as part of a multi-channel promotional campaign for its sponsor, Masterfoods brand Maltesers. This includes a prize draw that people can enter via the red button or online to win an overnight stay in London for two people so they can attend a studio recording of the show. While entering via the internet is free, each red-button entry costs 10p on their telephone bill.

Other big brands to use interactive TV this year in their promotions include Audi, which teamed up with magazine New Scientist to offer the prize of a sub-orbital trip into space. Entry was either via the web or part of the red-button content that viewers could access during Sky ads for the Audi A6. Encouraging people to request a test drive or a brochure, it also allowed Audi to capture entrants’ email addresses.

As for ITV, it has not abandoned interactive TV completely. Following the Deloitte report last month, ITV pointed out that it would “continue to offer SMS and red button for non-time-critical competitions and other interactivity”. Even I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here is using interactive TV, offering viewers a chance to enter three competitions, each with a prize of £10,000, through the red button at a cost of £1 a time.

With broadcasters taking action to clean up their act through improved staff training and better internal governance, interactive TV is undimmed as a way for brands to instantly engage with audiences.