BBC launches new marketing campaign to encourage people to take their "First Click" and get online

Today, the BBC launches an on-air marketing campaign in support of First Click – a major new media literacy campaign aimed at encouraging people to get online, with the end-line “it’s easier than you think to take your First Click”.

Two executions of promotional trails will air on BBC One and BBC Two, and on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 4. They will run for three weeks from Monday 11 October and coincide with the national Get Online Week from October 18–24.

The purpose of the campaign is to engage with those who are not yet online and direct them to a dedicated freephone helpline to find a beginner’s computer course in their local area.

Catriona McGrath, the BBC’s Head of Marketing for Future Media & Technology, said: "Before embarking on this marketing campaign, we conducted both qualitative and quantitative research to look at the barriers that prevent people from using the internet and explore potential hooks to encourage people online.

“Our single biggest insight was that a claimed ’lack of interest’ in the internet frequently masked other barriers, such as people’s lack of confidence in themselves or their skills – or even a dislike of formal learning.

"Working with our agency, Red Bee, we took this insight and tested various propositions and scripts for the campaign with our key target audiences: adults aged 55 and over who are not yet online. Their positive feedback led to our campaign proposition: learning to use the internet is easier than you think.

"We filmed real people who had taken that step online, rather than using actors, and worked closely with our partners at Age UK and UK online centres to source people who really had experienced the benefits. By showing our audiences people just like themselves already online and loving it, we aim to demonstrate just how easy it is to get online.

“The campaign is about reassuring people that they are not alone in thinking that they might be too old or unskilled to learn how to use the internet.”

The end of each trail will direct people to a special BBC First Click Advice Line where they can get information about a beginner’s computer course in their local area: 08000 150 950.

The phone line is managed on behalf of BBC Learning by Next Step, and will be open 8am to 10pm, 7 days a week, from Monday 11 October.

In partnership with Race Online 2012, UK online centres, and the Post Office, BBC First Click aims to encourage the estimated 9.2 million people in the UK who have never used the internet to take the first steps to get online.