ITV’s brand shift: a playbook for UK startups

Most companies get this wrong: they obsess over the thing they sell and treat the brand as decoration.

ITV is doing the opposite. After pushing hard on ITVX (its streaming product), it’s now putting serious weight behind the parent brand with a new platform—“There’s No Place Like ITV”—rolled out across TV, radio, online, social, and 50+ out-of-home placements nationwide (launching 1 January 2026). The strategic message is clear: when your market is crowded, brand is how customers choose—especially when they’re browsing, not searching.

For the Startup Marketing United Kingdom series, that’s a useful case study. British startups and small businesses don’t have ITV budgets, but you do have the same problem: too many alternatives, too little attention, and customers who decide in seconds. What ITV is buying with brand investment is mental availability: the chance to be the default choice.

Why ITV is betting on brand (and why you should care)

Answer first: ITV is investing in brand because viewers increasingly choose what to watch in “browse mode,” and brand cues win those moments.

ITV’s brand and marketing director Paul Ridsdale points to a striking behavioural insight: around 60% of the time, people sit down to watch TV without a specific programme in mind. They’re browsing. In browsing mode, people don’t compare features—they follow familiarity, emotion, and habit.

That’s not just a TV problem. It’s the same dynamic when someone Googles “accountant near me,” scrolls Instagram for a local café, or checks three similar SaaS tools and postpones the decision because they all look identical. If you’re a small business, your competitors might be global platforms, a local chain, or ten near-identical independents. Either way, brand becomes the shortcut.

A strong brand does three practical jobs for a startup:

• Reduces perceived risk (“I’ve heard of them; they feel legit.”)
• Improves conversion rates on paid and organic traffic (“This looks like the one.”)
• Builds pricing power (“They’re not the cheapest, but they feel worth it.”)

Product-led growth hits a ceiling

Answer first: product-led growth drives early adoption, but brand building sustains growth once your audience has more choices.

ITV’s earlier marketing focus leaned heavily on building awareness and usage of ITVX. That makes sense: new product, clear behaviour change required. But as ITVX scaled (ITV reported 3.3bn streams as of 30 November, and 26,000+ hours of content available, up from around 1,000 hours on ITV Hub), the problem shifted.

Now the issue isn’t “does the product exist?” It’s “why should I pick you first?”

Startups often feel this exact moment:

• Your paid ads are working, but costs creep up.
• Your SEO traffic grows, but conversion stalls.
• Referrals happen, yet your category still sees you as “one of many.”

The reality? Features get copied, offers get matched, and performance marketing gets more expensive. Brand is the compounding asset—it makes every channel work harder.

A useful stance for small businesses

If you’re choosing where to put time and money in 2026, here’s the stance I’d take:

Performance marketing is how you harvest demand. Brand is how you create it.

You need both. But if you only do “salesy” activity, you’ll constantly rent attention instead of owning it.

Integrated marketing isn’t a luxury—it’s how consistency happens

Answer first: ITV’s multi-channel campaign matters because consistency across touchpoints builds recognition faster than any single channel.

ITV’s campaign is fully integrated—TV, radio, online, social, and OOH. Small businesses should read that as: customers don’t experience your marketing in one place. They see a post, then a review, then your website, then an ad, then your storefront, then your email. If those touchpoints don’t feel like the same brand, you lose trust.

ITV is explicitly aiming to become “more distinctive and consistent,” including a stronger use of its “spark yellow” as a recognisable brand asset.

You don’t need a massive rebrand to copy this. You need a system.

The small business brand system (simple, not fancy)

Build three layers and keep them tight:

1. Distinctive assets (recognition)

   • 1–2 brand colours you actually use everywhere
   • A consistent logo lockup
   • A repeatable photo style (warm, high-contrast, documentary, minimalist—pick one)
   • A short tagline or positioning line

2. Message hierarchy (clarity)

   • One sentence: who you help + outcome you deliver
   • Three proof points (numbers, credentials, outcomes)
   • Three “category entry points” (the moments people need you)

3. Channel rules (consistency)

   • Website pages follow the same structure
   • Social templates don’t change every week
   • Email tone matches your site
   • Paid ads use the same headline rhythm and visual cues

If you can’t describe your brand in a paragraph and repeat it across channels, customers will do it for you—and you probably won’t like their version.

“There’s No Place Like…”: belonging beats feature lists

Answer first: ITV’s platform works because it sells a feeling—relatability and belonging—rather than a technical comparison with streamers.

ITV’s research found two themes that consistently surfaced: relatability and belonging. That’s a smart lane. Netflix and Disney+ can win on global scale; ITV can win on cultural closeness and shared experience.

Small businesses can learn from that positioning choice: don’t fight the biggest competitor on their strongest attribute. Find the emotional benefit your business can credibly own.

Examples for UK startups and local businesses:

• A local gym: not “more equipment,” but “the place you’ll actually show up.”
• A B2B consultancy: not “strategic frameworks,” but “decisions you can defend in the boardroom.”
• A regional trades business: not “fast response,” but “the team you trust in your home.”

This is where branding meets lead generation. When your promise is emotional and specific, your ads get cheaper, your referrals convert faster, and your content marketing has a clear theme.

People also ask: what’s the difference between brand and marketing?

Brand is what people remember and expect. Marketing is how they encounter you.

You can run lots of marketing and still have a weak brand if every touchpoint feels different, forgettable, or generic.

Make your business the default choice in “browse mode”

Answer first: To win in browse mode, you need strong cues (assets), repeated exposure (reach), and an easy next step (conversion path).

ITV wants audiences to default to ITV when browsing rather than instinctively opening a global streaming app. The same ambition applies to you:

• Default to your café when someone thinks “quick lunch.”
• Default to your SaaS when a team thinks “we need to organise projects.”
• Default to your accountancy firm when someone thinks “I’ve got a tax mess.”

Here’s a practical 30-day plan a UK small business can run without a big team.

A 30-day brand-building sprint (that still drives leads)

1. Week 1: tighten positioning

   • Write your one-line promise (who + outcome)
   • Pick three proof points (numbers beat adjectives)
   • Choose one “distinctive asset” to standardise (colour, photo style, or headline style)

2. Week 2: fix the conversion path

   • Your homepage hero should say what you do in 8 seconds
   • Add one primary CTA (book, call, quote, trial)
   • Build one landing page for your main service with FAQs

3. Week 3: publish for category entry points

   • Create 3 pieces of content mapped to real intent:
     • “Cost/price” explainer
     • “How long does it take?” guide
     • “Mistakes to avoid” checklist
   • Repurpose each into a short LinkedIn post + a 30–45 second video

4. Week 4: run light paid support

   • Retarget site visitors with one simple brand-led creative
   • Run a small-radius campaign if you’re local (Google Maps + Meta)
   • Track: branded search lift, direct traffic, and lead-to-call rate

Brand isn’t a “later” project. Done properly, it improves lead quality and makes your digital marketing more efficient.

What ITV gets right that many startups miss

Answer first: ITV is aligning brand promise with real substance—content, distribution, and internal ownership.

One ITV line should be pinned above every founder’s desk:

“You can’t make a big brand claim without the substance to back it up.”

ITV is pairing the brand platform with a strong content slate and internal changes (including appointing a dedicated head of brand). That’s the deeper lesson: brand isn’t a campaign; it’s operations.

For a small business, “substance” means:

• Your reviews match your promise
• Your delivery process is reliable
• Your website answers real questions clearly
• Your customer support tone matches your public tone

If your brand says “premium” but your quote process is chaotic, you don’t have a brand problem—you have an experience problem.

The practical takeaway for UK startups in 2026

ITV’s move is a timely reminder for this Startup Marketing United Kingdom series: as markets get noisier and attention gets pricier, brand is how you build a moat that performance marketing can’t replicate.

If you’re a founder or small business owner planning your 2026 marketing, don’t ask “which channel should we try next?” Ask: “Would someone recognise us in two seconds, and could they explain why we’re different in one sentence?”

Pick one distinctive asset, one clear promise, and one integrated rhythm across your website, email, social, and ads. Then repeat it long enough for it to stick. What would it take for your business to become the default choice the next time your customer is browsing?