When ITV announced last week that it had appointed John Hardie as
its new marketing and commercial director, there was much talk of
heritage and inheritance - similar but not exactly identical concepts.
Heritage as in ’Hardie will bring with him something of Procter &
Gamble’s vast brand-building heritage’ - he’s P&G through and through
and worked in a senior capacity on many brands, including Oil of Ulay
and Fairy Liquid, during his 14 years with the company. Most recently,
he was managing director of the company’s European cosmetics and
toiletries division.
That’s the heritage bit. Inheritance, on the other hand, is what Hardie
finds waiting for him at ITV. This includes its agency arrangements -
M&C Saatchi, Motive Communications and the Concord outdoor specialist -
plus an expanded marketing and advertising budget. He also inherits
something rather more insubstantial but no less important: attitude.
There is arguably a new mood within the network, a new desire to get
things right, and a recognition that marketing is absolutely paramount
within that.
It is no accident that this mood has coincided with the arrival of ITV’s
new chief executive, Richard Eyre, who took up his post a few weeks
ago.
Eyre - who arrived at ITV’s Network Centre by way of Capital Radio and,
for those with long memories, Bartle Bogle Hegarty - is a class act. For
some, his appointment of Hardie goes to prove it.
Inheritance-wise, Hardie is on a winner. Unfortunately, though, the big
problem isn’t going to be inheritance. It’s likely to be heritage - ITV
heritage. Heritage as in arrogant monopolists who are finding it
incredibly painful adapting to the new multi-channel environment.
Heritage as in petty squabbling and infighting among the network’s three
superpowers, Carlton, Granada and United News and Media. Could that turn
out to be a more important factor then the new positive mood?
Most people agree that Hardie is an inspired appointment. But will he
regret accepting the offer? What should his priorities be? There are
cynics, of course (aren’t there always?) who suggest that this is merely
a bit of cynical window dressing. Hire a P&G man to get on the phone to
his old mates and tell them to stop whingeing. Good move, given that the
big fmcg advertisers such as P&G have been the most likely to give ITV
grief recently. The big five fmcg advertisers, for instance, are widely
held to be the ringleaders behind recent campaigns to get longer ad
breaks.
Is that the reality behind this appointment? Not a bit of it, Mark
Cranmer, the managing director of Motive Communications, ITV’s media
company, argues.
’Richard Eyre just wouldn’t know how to think that way,’ he states. He
agrees that it’s an inspired move.
’The P&G heritage will be hugely important in marketing ITV’s real
value. John Hardie will be expert at finding the competitive advantages
and making the most of them. I think we’ll begin to realise just how
badly ITV has been under-marketed over the years. After all, more people
have fresh experiences in their recreation time via ITV than they have
by any other means. It’s an important part of people’s lives. You only
have to hear people talking in the office some mornings to realise
that.’
What are the priorities? The consumer or the industry? ’Both,’ Cranmer
argues. ’This is a broad cultural issue. All ITV’s audiences should
appreciate its strengths more.’
Jim Hytner, the marketing director of BSkyB, says he has plenty of
advice - but not for Hardie. He comments: ’He’s an experienced marketer
and knows how to develop a brand. The disciplines are the same, whether
you are marketing Coca-Cola, Orange or Sky. My advice would be for ITV
itself. It needs to give its marketing director a mandate to make brave
decisions without having to present through committees. It should allow
him to build a structure - similar to that of Sky and Channel 5 - in
which marketing is pivotal to the decision-making process. ITV should
treat him as a consumer marketer, not a trade marketer.’
According to Mandy Pooler, the managing director of the Network, it’s
vital Hardie takes a leaf out of Peter Mandelson’s book. ’He’s got to
get ITV ’on message’ as they say these days. Every part of the network
has to speak the same language and talk the same agenda. ITV’s big
problem has been its lack of common cause. Then he has to look after us
and let David Liddiment (ITV Network Centre’s programming chief) put
some distance between himself and the advertising industry. We like to
think we know about programming but we don’t. One of the problems in the
past was that Marcus Plantin (ITV’s former programming boss) got too
involved in the advertising issues - he was sometimes put up as a
sacrificial lamb when things weren’t going too well on the programming
side.’
Pooler argues that, while Liddiment’s priorities should be ’viewers,
viewers, viewers’, Hardie’s priority should be advertisers and
agencies.
’We’re the most disenfranchised group at present. With the general
public, he can’t do too much until the programming is right. There are
things he can do more quickly with the advertising community. Let’s have
a statement on the advertising minutage question - and not just a
statement, an explanation of the thinking behind it. Inflation continues
to be the overwhelming issue.’
But Graham Bednash, managing partner of Michaelides & Bednash, suspects
ITV may have a heritage problem. ’It will be easier identifying what the
problems are than doing anything about them,’ he says. ’Key to the TV
market is reacting to change. Hardie will have a big role in getting
people within ITV to change their behaviour, and it won’t be easy
because some people resist change. Richard Eyre has already gone on
record as saying that big changes are necessary, and I think that has to
be a fundamental cultural thing.
’It’s difficult for an organisation that has historically been
successful and has dominated its market. I think that every campaign ITV
has had so far has reflected that problem. Hardie will now have to be a
champion for change.’
