An evening with STV

By Rebecca Worrall, Senior Campaign Manager, Community Justice Scotland

Hosted by STV’s marketing gurus and their guest from Little Dot Studios, the theme of the session was very much: the power of partnerships. So, here’s what I learned…

Gill Petrie, Head of Marketing at STV, kick-started the evening with her ‘what, where, why, how’ guide to partnerships. Using a range of successful examples such as:

• The BT tech campaign;
• A slot on Capital FM’s evening drive time show where DJ Gary Spence updated listeners on the daily ‘I’m a Celeb – get me out of here!’ gossip;
• And, the exclusive screening of everyone’s favourite cuddly dragon this Christmas #ExcitableEdgar – a partnership between STV/John Lewis & Partners.
   

Gill touched on the value of well-known brands coming together. Not only does this extend reach, but it is a cost effective marketing tool which puts customers at the very heart of promotional activity.

Top takeaway from Gill – know your brands worth!  

Next up was Remi Brunier, Director of Product at STV. Remi talked about when things don’t go so well. Cue captivated audience! Using an example of a partnership between STV and a new sports channel, Remi outlined the two main reasons for its failure. Reason (1), “we did not agree on our goals”. Reason (2), “we were not user centric”. 

Top takeaway from Remi – partner to conquer! 

Last to present was Alex Hryniewicz, Head of Owned Channels at Little Dot Studios. Alex took us on a whistle stop tour of Little Dot Studios - a digital content studio which specialises in content, distribution and monetisation of video content across all social platforms. Interested? Watch this video. 

What I liked most about Alex was his passion for content. And, what I liked most about his presentation was his introduction to: Real Stories. Clearly a channel that Alex is passionate about, he explained “this is Little Dot’s own channel which covers everything from true crime and incredible humans through to hard-hitting current affairs.” As a Senior Campaign Manager at Community Justice Scotland, the art of storytelling is vital. It underpins my latest campaign Second Chancers which gives a voice to people in the Scottish justice system. A voice which is so often lost in a system full of processes and paperwork. Squeezing all I can out of a very small media budget, this collection of compelling audio stories and films perform well on social media with millions of online views. But, listening to Alex made me think of all the other digital possibilities out there…

Top takeaway from Alex – take a look at the Real Stories channel on YouTube