Thinkbox, the nine months-old British TV marketing body whose declared aim is to "make TV more sexy" [WAMN: 16-Feb-05] has announced a tripling of its £1.5m launch budget.
It plans to raise in the region of £3 million ($5.3m; €4.41m) to fund a major new research initiative. Additionally, it will appoint a fulltime chief executive shortly after the Christmas holiday period.
Thinkbox chairman Justin Sampson (day job: director of customer relationship marketing at ITV) says the major broadcasters who fund the body are determined to combat the threat to the dominance of the TV sector and prove its ROI effectiveness to advertisers.
"The strategy we've decided on is to seek to answer the questions that are keeping advertisers and their agencies awake at night. We believe that momentum requires extra investment."
A number of major research companies are pitching for the Thinkbox study, which aims to demonstrate that TV is the most engaging of all media.
Results of the research will be revealed in spring 2006 at a two-pronged Thinkbox presentation on the flexibility and interactivity of TV. It will be followed-up by a second Thinkbox Experience to be staged at London's Olympia arena in the second half of 2006.
Data sourced from Media Week (UK); additional content by WARC staff
