Social media opens up advertising campaigns to smaller players, says leading agency

By Richard Siddle

Published: 10 January, 2014

The growth in digital technology is changing the face of media advertising. More importantly, it is levelling the playing field for smaller businesses to make a real impact through innovative campaigns, according to a leading advertising executive.

Although television advertising is still seen by the advertising world as the most effective way to connect with large numbers of consumers, brands with smaller budgets can use media outlets such as YouTube to great effect.

Stephen Woodford at the Lexis advertising agency, which includes Carlsberg, Coca-Cola and Sainsbury's among its clients, said that while you needed at least £2 million to £3 million for an effective TV campaign, you can create a great deal of value with a just a few thousand pounds using social media.

Spend £40,000 on a YouTube campaign, he suggested, and you can get up to a million views.

"YouTube is a fantastic opportunity to get filmed content in front of consumers and connect with them emotionally," he said.

"Ten years ago it would be very hard for a small company to have a global reach," he explained. "But now with social media there is a chance for small producers to reach anyone in the world and sell to them directly."

* Woodford was speaking at last year's Wine Vision event organised by Harpers publishers William Reed Business Media. You can read full coverage of the event on Harpers.co.uk by going to the Live from Wine Vision section.

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