Pitter-patter of BT feet

Hannah ThompsonYouGovLabs and UK Public Opinion Website Editor
August 19, 2010, 9:05 PM GMT+0

Telecommunications company BT’s popularity has dropped after their highly publicised television advertisement, in which viewers were able to vote to decide whether a long-running character was pregnant or not, was aired for the first time last night.

Despite almost 1.7 million viewers voting for the outcome, the campaign seems to have had made little positive impact on the popularity of the telecommunications company among TellYouGov users, or ‘tyggers’, with the company’s sentiment score falling to -45 in the last 48 hours, representing a moderate decrease of 10 points, or a slightly more negative feeling towards the brand.

Although BT’s high volume score of 79 represents an increase of 19 points in the past 24 hours, suggesting that many tyggers have started to comment on the brand, its sentiment score indicates that feeling is mainly negative towards the company.

‘Annoying’ ads

And many of the negative comments, or ‘tygs’, are about the well-known TV advertisement campaign, which have followed fictional ‘Adam’ (played by Kris Marshall) and ‘Jane’ (Esther Hall) through their relationship both with each other, and their various BT-provided communication gadgets, for five years.

Many simply complain that the adverts are ‘annoying’ and ‘awful’. One tygger declared that BT had ‘the worst TV ad campaign ever’, and another thinks that ‘they are getting more annoying’. For some tyggers, the adverts have put them off BT altogether, with one saying ‘I won't buy from them until they stop making adverts with that awful couple’, while a former BT customer said that they had ‘swapped providers as a result of the adverts’.

However, amid the negativity towards BT’s campaign, there are some who were pleased to see the results of the vote in the advert last night. One particularly excited tygger commented, ‘yay - the lady on the adverts is pregnant!’.

Day-to-day dismay

Comments about BT’s day-to-day products remain steadfastly mixed in sentiment, with many lamenting that service is becoming ‘more and more expensive’, despite an internet connection ‘as slow as my grandma’ and ‘shocking customer service’. And while a few were glad to congratulate BT’s customer service, calling them ‘helpful and friendly’, ‘brilliant’ and liking ‘their excellent package so far’, another tygger comprehensively criticized the ‘rubbish products, ancient out of date landline technology [and] massive charges,’ recommending a ‘major company overhaul’.

With the long-running campaign set to continue, and the company’s sentiment score continuing to drop, it remains to be seen whether the pitter patter of tiny BT-savvy feet will help win any disgruntled tyggers over any time soon.

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