Line of duty Season 6 Advertising Campaign
aims and objectives
the aim of the line of duty series 6 ad campaign is to create awareness of the new series, and help draw in viewers for the finale.
Choice of media
used TV ads that played on all BBC channels. Billboards around major cities as seen above. Youtube trailer and clips were released, as well as social media sites such as Instagram and Twitter. These all link to the intended target audience as 18 - 50 demographic all regularly use these apps and more often then not, drive past billboards on the way to work. chances are these people will be exposed to at least one of these forms of advertising a day
synopsis
a firearms detective Steve Arnott is transferred to AC-12, a unit that specialises in exposing corruption within the police. throughout the show AC-12 investigates different police officers with links to corruption and organised crime.
Target audience and aims and objective
The BBC are trying to advertise the Line of Duty show in order to drum up viewers. Their target audience for Line of Duty are most likely to be under 40, male, English speaking, working and middle class and located anywhere
key message
the key message of Line of Duty is that corrupt police are not safe and that they will be uncovered eventually.
Approach
Celebrity endorsements and "shockvertising" are not present in Line of Duty. the series uses traditional advertising methods such as billboards and TV ads. The actors in Line of Duty do interviews with news outlets but there aren't any big name celebrities that actively help advertise the show unless they are actually cast in the show itself.
Representation
The police are the main figures being represented in Line of Duty. they arent really stereotyped in a traditional way (power hungry fascists comes to mind), they are portrayed as serious and professional. they have backgrounds and relationships on screen. which helps humanise them, allowing the audience to relate and root for AC-12.
Campaign Logistics
Scheduling of ads was strategic. the ads needed to be spaced long enough away from the premier of the season in order to generate significant amount of interest but short enough to stop the hype dying down. The BBC channel released the main season 6 line of duty trailer on the 9th of march. The season then premiered 12 days later on the 21st of March
Call to action
the producers of Line of duty would be looking for viewers to engage with the advertising campaigns. whether that be by watching the TV Trailers, telling their friends, sharing clips around, really anything that helps generate interest in the TV Show. something that the BBC would, I suspect, really engage with is feedback from fans and crew, as they can tailor new trailers to the feedback given.
relevant legal and ethical issues
BBC must have considered if what they're portraying on screen is truthful and not viewed as "slanderous" by the police. they may have changed peoples perception towards the police, and not in a good way. people may now view police with suspicion, suspecting that they may, in-fact be, corrupt. The BBC will have to be careful when constructing characters for the show as its in the Police's best interest to appear civil and polite to the public, the danger comes from viewers interpreting the corruption seen in the show as a force wide issue, This also links to stereotyping as part of the police force in the show is shown to be corrupt.
there may be copyright issues with using police equipment as the manufactures may argue that their equipment is not being used in a good, representative way.
Permission to film may be an issue as though a fair few scenes are constructed on a sound stage, there will be outdoor shots which will need to be filmed on private property. The show was filmed in both Birmingham and Northern Ireland. so they would needed northern irelands permission to film.
Violence and offensive material will be an issue as there are many scenes of violence and swearing etc. you only have to look at the billboard above, where it shows the main character, Kate Fleming, holding a pistol towards an unseen foe. The Line of duty trailer does show violence in the form of police shooting at some unseen foe several times. the trailer doesn't show any bloodshed however.
Public Interest could be seen as an issue as the BBC are presenting some of the police (a force that the British public should trust and have confidence in) as corrupt an untrustworthy. During the running of the show the real life police were involved in some hot water. complaints and malpractice reports were leaked which damaged the polices reputation, so for the BBC to air a show about police corruption whilst real life police are being accused of some really serious crimes, must have been a tough decision to make.
Regulatory Bodies
3 regulatory bodies stand in my way; ASA, Ofcom and BBFC.
ASA - Stands for advertising standards agency and they are responsible for all the adverts that run through UK televisions. ASA ensures all ads follow the correct rules.
Ofcom - Ofcom is the regulatory for all communication services in the uk. they oversee areas such as the universal postal service (Royal Mail), Ofcom also provides advice and info to people in order to help them from being scammed. they also make sure the British people are satisfied with what they see and hear on the radio and TV. they also look after the airwaves which are used by cordless phones nd walkie talkies.
BBFC - British Board of Film Classification, this body is responsible for ruling on age certificates on films, tv, radio etc. these guys are particularly important as if my show is given a old age certificate, ie 18+ then it really limits the amount of people that would be able to see my show.
The BBC must have bowed to all of these bodies in order to make sure their show is distributed correctly and isn't hounded with lawsuits, delays and hearings that may come with not following the rules set by ASA, Ofcom and the BBFC.
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