Era hopes to lure a wider audience; Poles glued to the boob tube
The campaign will feature steep discounts promoting Siemens' telephone sets as well as a contest for the best slogan for the network. "It's one of the largest promotions of its kind in Poland," said Robert Niczewski, public relations manager for PTC. However, he would not detail the campaign's cost.
The idea behind the campaign is that cellular phones aren't just for business people.
"The offer goes across the board," Niczewski said. "We're trying to show that Era has something for everybody, be it a rapper, a doctor, a woman or a rock star."
To get this idea across, D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles (DMB&B) produced a 30-second television spot, with well-known Polish actor Wiktor Zborowski, featuring different potential users of Era's Siemens phones. The campaign is also trying to attract female users of cellular phones, in an attempt to dispel the notion that cell phones are masculine gadgets.
"We're trying to move away from the perception of Era as a network for businessmen, and in this campaign we want to make it clear that women are a very important market for us," Niczewski said.
To make the marketing push more appealing, PTC's current subscribers - more than 300,000 - as well as those who take part in the new promotion will be eligible to participate in its best-slogan contest for the Era GSM network. The grand prize will be a flight for two to Paris with tickets for the World Cup finals, plus zl. 4,000 in cash.
Starting Tuesday, prices for all Siemens' models sold in Era GSM offices will be reduced by zl. 1,000 to zl. 1,620.
"We want to create a new image for the network, as well as strengthen Era's brand-awareness," Niczewski said. The promotion will offer a range of Siemens' models starting with the cheapest S6 model for zl. 340, down from zl. 1,324, and finishing with the most luxurious S10 offered by Era for zl. 840, down from zl. 2,458. All prices include the activation fee for Era's network.
Everybody's watching
Having access to an array of television channels may be a fairly recent phenomenon in Poland, but it's one luxury Poles have quickly embraced. On average, Poles spent 11 minutes more a day, or 67 hours a year, in front of their TV sets than the average European viewer in 1997.
"It's true that we watch television more than elsewhere in Europe, but it will probably change with the increase of the offerings," said Joanna Bancerowska, a managing board member at Telewizja Polska (TVP). "European and American experience showed that with a richer offering, people tended to limit the time they spent watching TV and chose more carefully."
However, Poles weren't as glued to the tube as Americans, who watched television for 239 minutes a day. Poles spent, on average, 211 minutes, or 3.5 hours, in front of the TV each day, while the rest of Europe averaged 200 minutes a day, according to the European Television Overview, a report released two weeks ago by the IP Group.
The study found that 96% of Poland's 12 million households have at least one television set - a television penetration rate that is 1% lower than the European average and 2% below the United States.
But Poland is leading the continent in new channel launches. Since the start of 1997, Poland has seen the launch of supra-regional stations tvn and Nasza TV as well as four cable or satellite channels: Polsat 2, Planete, Atomic TV and TVP's recently suspended Tylko Muzyka. In five days, @Entertainment is set to launch 14 new channels through Wizja TV, the country's first digital television platform. Later this year, rival Canal+ Polska is expected to unveil a digital platform also featuring new channels.
"Poland's television market will be completely changed this year, as the two digital television (networks) launch their platforms," Bancerowska said. "The question, however, is if (the market) is big enough for two digital platforms."
On the advertising side, the Polish television market attracted 604 advertisers who spent an average of zl. 1.35 million ($385,000) airing an average of 130 spots per campaign last year, according to AGB Polska data quoted in the report. Poland's top television advertiser was Procter & Gamble, which spent an estimated zl. 239.8 million ($68.5 million) on television spots, followed by Unilever's Van den Bergh Foods, zl. 214.9 million ($61.4 million), and Masterfood, zl. 84.1 million ($24 million).
"The market is expanding very rapidly," said Ellbieta Smolenska, general manager at MQI Polska media house. "As far as our group is concerned, in terms of television advertising spending, Poland ranks fourth after the U.K., Germany and France."
The media house, which is wholly owned by Mediahaus Stroebel/CIA Medianetwork, spends about 63% of its advertising budget on television. But Smolenska also said the market will not stay the same after digital television forces its way through. They may make the picture more blurry until media research companies show if they are worth advertisers' budgets. "It's not difficult to spend money, it's difficult to buy more viewers than your competitor and spend less at the same time," she said.
According to the report, the largest advertising revenue stake was grabbed last year by the private station Polsat, which attracted more than 44% of the total zl. 1.9 billion ($543 million) in revenue, followed by TVP's channel 1 with 40%, and channel 2 with more than 12%.
January data from AGB Polska shows that Procter & Gamble was still leading the pack, with an estimated zl. 13.17 million ($3.7 million) spent airing 929 television spots.
The second largest advertiser was TVP, which ran 500 spots on its own network advertising its audiotele contests for an estimated zl. 6.745 million ($1.9 million) in January. Coming in third was Unilever's Lever, which spent approximately zl. 5.83 million ($1.6 million) to air 797 spots.
Going flat
Talk about a relationship going flat. Brewer Lech Browary Wielkopolskie (LBW) and Poznan-based Just Polska advertising agency are going their separate ways this spring after a three-year stint together.
The separation will be complete when Just finishes with the account for Lech's 10.5 brand in May. The agency is dropping the brand even though at the end of last year it signed a two-year, full-service deal.
The 10.5 brand was the last account Just had with Lech after the brewer decided to put four other brands the agency handled up for review. "We were already involved in work on 1998 promotions with the brewery, taking an active part in all the planning stages, when suddenly last December we were informed that the brewery had announced a tender for its stronger brands," said Maciej Korobacz, client service director at Just, which refused to take part in the tender. "We thought the client was not really playing fair."
That opened the door to Warsaw's Ogilvy & Mather Poland, which last month won the accounts for four Lech brands - Pils, Mocny, Premium and Porter.
Just decided to completely sever the relationship with Lech, despite the two-year 10.5 contract, which it had helped launch in 1995, because the relationship was beyond repair.
The agency said it was finding it difficult to work with the client, who was getting "less and less trustful, regardless of everything we did for the brand," Korobacz said. "It was everything but a partner-like relation.
"You don't make business with an advertising agency, inviting them for talks and then not saying thank you," Korobacz said. "Advertising people are pretty sensitive."
Although Korobacz said the client was difficult, O&M was more than happy to pick up the accounts.
"We're very happy to get Lech, which will definitely become one of our big-five names," said Marek Jelewski, managing director of the agency, which already has clients such as Unilever, Ford and Rothmans. "It's a huge chance to make this name, which is already huge on the market, even huger."
The idea behind the campaign is that cellular phones aren't just for business people.
"The offer goes across the board," Niczewski said. "We're trying to show that Era has something for everybody, be it a rapper, a doctor, a woman or a rock star."
To get this idea across, D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles (DMB&B) produced a 30-second television spot, with well-known Polish actor Wiktor Zborowski, featuring different potential users of Era's Siemens phones. The campaign is also trying to attract female users of cellular phones, in an attempt to dispel the notion that cell phones are masculine gadgets.
"We're trying to move away from the perception of Era as a network for businessmen, and in this campaign we want to make it clear that women are a very important market for us," Niczewski said.
To make the marketing push more appealing, PTC's current subscribers - more than 300,000 - as well as those who take part in the new promotion will be eligible to participate in its best-slogan contest for the Era GSM network. The grand prize will be a flight for two to Paris with tickets for the World Cup finals, plus zl. 4,000 in cash.
Starting Tuesday, prices for all Siemens' models sold in Era GSM offices will be reduced by zl. 1,000 to zl. 1,620.
"We want to create a new image for the network, as well as strengthen Era's brand-awareness," Niczewski said. The promotion will offer a range of Siemens' models starting with the cheapest S6 model for zl. 340, down from zl. 1,324, and finishing with the most luxurious S10 offered by Era for zl. 840, down from zl. 2,458. All prices include the activation fee for Era's network.
Everybody's watching
Having access to an array of television channels may be a fairly recent phenomenon in Poland, but it's one luxury Poles have quickly embraced. On average, Poles spent 11 minutes more a day, or 67 hours a year, in front of their TV sets than the average European viewer in 1997.
"It's true that we watch television more than elsewhere in Europe, but it will probably change with the increase of the offerings," said Joanna Bancerowska, a managing board member at Telewizja Polska (TVP). "European and American experience showed that with a richer offering, people tended to limit the time they spent watching TV and chose more carefully."
However, Poles weren't as glued to the tube as Americans, who watched television for 239 minutes a day. Poles spent, on average, 211 minutes, or 3.5 hours, in front of the TV each day, while the rest of Europe averaged 200 minutes a day, according to the European Television Overview, a report released two weeks ago by the IP Group.
The study found that 96% of Poland's 12 million households have at least one television set - a television penetration rate that is 1% lower than the European average and 2% below the United States.
But Poland is leading the continent in new channel launches. Since the start of 1997, Poland has seen the launch of supra-regional stations tvn and Nasza TV as well as four cable or satellite channels: Polsat 2, Planete, Atomic TV and TVP's recently suspended Tylko Muzyka. In five days, @Entertainment is set to launch 14 new channels through Wizja TV, the country's first digital television platform. Later this year, rival Canal+ Polska is expected to unveil a digital platform also featuring new channels.
"Poland's television market will be completely changed this year, as the two digital television (networks) launch their platforms," Bancerowska said. "The question, however, is if (the market) is big enough for two digital platforms."
On the advertising side, the Polish television market attracted 604 advertisers who spent an average of zl. 1.35 million ($385,000) airing an average of 130 spots per campaign last year, according to AGB Polska data quoted in the report. Poland's top television advertiser was Procter & Gamble, which spent an estimated zl. 239.8 million ($68.5 million) on television spots, followed by Unilever's Van den Bergh Foods, zl. 214.9 million ($61.4 million), and Masterfood, zl. 84.1 million ($24 million).
"The market is expanding very rapidly," said Ellbieta Smolenska, general manager at MQI Polska media house. "As far as our group is concerned, in terms of television advertising spending, Poland ranks fourth after the U.K., Germany and France."
The media house, which is wholly owned by Mediahaus Stroebel/CIA Medianetwork, spends about 63% of its advertising budget on television. But Smolenska also said the market will not stay the same after digital television forces its way through. They may make the picture more blurry until media research companies show if they are worth advertisers' budgets. "It's not difficult to spend money, it's difficult to buy more viewers than your competitor and spend less at the same time," she said.
According to the report, the largest advertising revenue stake was grabbed last year by the private station Polsat, which attracted more than 44% of the total zl. 1.9 billion ($543 million) in revenue, followed by TVP's channel 1 with 40%, and channel 2 with more than 12%.
January data from AGB Polska shows that Procter & Gamble was still leading the pack, with an estimated zl. 13.17 million ($3.7 million) spent airing 929 television spots.
The second largest advertiser was TVP, which ran 500 spots on its own network advertising its audiotele contests for an estimated zl. 6.745 million ($1.9 million) in January. Coming in third was Unilever's Lever, which spent approximately zl. 5.83 million ($1.6 million) to air 797 spots.
Going flat
Talk about a relationship going flat. Brewer Lech Browary Wielkopolskie (LBW) and Poznan-based Just Polska advertising agency are going their separate ways this spring after a three-year stint together.
The separation will be complete when Just finishes with the account for Lech's 10.5 brand in May. The agency is dropping the brand even though at the end of last year it signed a two-year, full-service deal.
The 10.5 brand was the last account Just had with Lech after the brewer decided to put four other brands the agency handled up for review. "We were already involved in work on 1998 promotions with the brewery, taking an active part in all the planning stages, when suddenly last December we were informed that the brewery had announced a tender for its stronger brands," said Maciej Korobacz, client service director at Just, which refused to take part in the tender. "We thought the client was not really playing fair."
That opened the door to Warsaw's Ogilvy & Mather Poland, which last month won the accounts for four Lech brands - Pils, Mocny, Premium and Porter.
Just decided to completely sever the relationship with Lech, despite the two-year 10.5 contract, which it had helped launch in 1995, because the relationship was beyond repair.
The agency said it was finding it difficult to work with the client, who was getting "less and less trustful, regardless of everything we did for the brand," Korobacz said. "It was everything but a partner-like relation.
"You don't make business with an advertising agency, inviting them for talks and then not saying thank you," Korobacz said. "Advertising people are pretty sensitive."
Although Korobacz said the client was difficult, O&M was more than happy to pick up the accounts.
"We're very happy to get Lech, which will definitely become one of our big-five names," said Marek Jelewski, managing director of the agency, which already has clients such as Unilever, Ford and Rothmans. "It's a huge chance to make this name, which is already huge on the market, even huger."
