With gloriously sunny skies, reports of record breaking temperatures throughout May, and packed out parks, advertisers might be considering a switch in tactics to reach their audiences. A major assumption is that summer is the season for lighter TV viewing, and whilst this might be true for on-going TV ‘snacking’, there’s still an opportunity for brands to make the most of the medium.

From the Royal Wedding to the FA Cup Final to the building hype around Love Island, it’s been busy month for TV and it’s only going to get busier. TV continues to smash audience reach with the Royal Wedding reaching 17.1m people, whilst also airing during one of the hottest days of the year so far. Of course, this event proves to be somewhat exceptional in capturing the heart of the entire nation.

However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t similar and more regular events achieving strong levels of reach. The FA Cup final reached 4.7m people for it’s 90 minutes, England’s opening match vs. Italy reached 15.6m whilst Love Island is expected to continue it’s momentum for this series and reach over 2 million viewers (an impressive number for TV series). Although these numbers prove TV’s vitality through summer, another point worth noting is that the diverse range of targeted content means there’s always something for everyone to tune into.

The question remains then, how best can we align brands with summer viewing. One approach can be seen in Iceland’s summer campaign. Having their BBQ products at the heart of the ads allows them to be seasonally relevant, whilst the narrators discuss the context they’re placed in; “Doesn’t she look lovely”, when positioned after the Royal Wedding.
Despite the fact that us Brits are in desperate need for some vitamin D, the content available to all audiences is securing millions of viewers. Aligning brands with big TV events and popular series presents wonderful opportunities for highly targeted campaigns.