It’s easy to assume that TV advertising is out of reach for the average SME. Most of us associate it with mega budgets, prime-time slots, and national brands with marketing departments the size of our entire businesses. But if you happened to be in the breakout session led by Kurt Edwards of Sky TV at this year’s Elite Business Live, your perception of television advertising was likely transformed, just as ours was.
Kurt took to the stage with the energy of someone who genuinely believes in democratising one of the most powerful advertising channels available. And over the course of 40 minutes, he did just that. He dismantled the myth that TV is only for the big players, revealing how small and mid-sized businesses across the UK are using targeted TV advertising to grow cost-effectively, locally, and measurably.
The truth about today’s TV
“People think fewer people are watching TV,” Kurt began, “but the truth is, they’re just watching it differently.”
He painted a picture of a media environment more dynamic than ever, with consumers watching live and on-demand across multiple platforms, from smart TVs to mobile devices. And amidst a sea of streaming services, Sky remains a central pillar in that landscape, reaching up to 48 million UK adults every month.
But this wasn’t a pitch about traditional TV buys. This was about AdSmart, Sky’s game-changing platform that blends the emotional power of television with the precision of digital targeting.
TV advertising for the real world
With AdSmart, Kurt explained, businesses no longer buy slots in programmes. They buy audiences!
“You and I could be watching the exact same programme at the exact same time, but we’d see completely different ads. That’s how specific we can get.”
For the first time, small businesses can deliver TV ads to tightly defined groups based on location, household income, family makeup, lifestyle interests and more at a fraction of the usual cost. The entry point? Just £3,000 for a six-week campaign.
From the local bed shop to luxury golf clubs and private schools, Kurt shared story after story of brands that had once written off TV as inaccessible but are now using it to elevate their image and generate real ROI.
Why TV still reigns supreme
Four things, Kurt told us, make TV advertising such a potent tool:
- Effectiveness – Consistently shown to drive more profit than any other channel.
- Trust – Viewers inherently trust TV more than digital or social platforms.
- Environment – Your brand benefits from the prestige of premium content.
- Emotion – Video builds emotional connections, and emotional ads perform better.
Even better, adding TV into a broader media mix makes other channels work harder. “TV lifts everything,” Kurt said simply.
Local reach, national impact
As the audience scribbled notes furiously, they were struck by how nuanced Sky’s data capabilities have become. With insights from millions of subscribers and integrations with partners like Tesco, Experian, and DVLA, AdSmart allows businesses to target specific households, not just vague demographics.
Kurt shared a mock-up plan using a three-mile radius around St Paul’s in London, targeting affluent homeowners aged 35+. The results? A six-week campaign reaching 47,000 carefully selected households, with each household seeing the ad seven times, all for under £12,000.
“And if someone doesn’t see 75% of the ad at normal speed,” Kurt added, “you don’t pay. Simple as that.”
Results you can prove
One of the most compelling parts of the session came when Kurt discussed measurement. This isn’t the ambiguous “brand lift” of years past. With AdSmart, Sky can trace whether someone viewed an ad, visited a website, and even whether they went on to purchase.
“We close the loop,” he explained. “And if you upload your sales data, we can match it back to the households that saw your campaign.”
That kind of accountability is invaluable in a world where every pound counts.
Creative doesn’t have to cost the earth
What about producing the ad? Surely that’s still where costs balloon? Not anymore. Kurt shared that many small businesses are creating broadcast-ready, Clearcast-approved 30-second TV spots for as little as £1,800, often using existing assets.
“TV doesn’t just make your business visible,” he said. “It changes how people perceive you. One client advertised on Facebook and Google for eight years and never had anyone mention it. Two weeks into TV, people started walking into his shop saying, ‘I saw you on Sky.’”
A platform for the bold
As the session closed, questions came in from both the room and online, ranging from data privacy to the creative process. Kurt addressed each with clarity and confidence, reinforcing that AdSmart is GDPR-compliant, ethically managed, and designed to help brands be smarter, not creepier.
And that was the real takeaway: this isn’t TV for TV’s sake. It’s TV with targeting, TV with transparency, TV with impact, and it’s accessible to businesses like yours right now.
