Why Are Big Tech Companies Advertising On TV?

from the ego-or-strategy? dept

Companies like Alcatel and Cisco almost never deal directly with consumers. So why should they want to advertise on TV? It's all about brand. Besides, who knows if that "consumer" is really the CEO of a large company who will buy some Alcatel equipment. Or an investor who will help pump up the stock. Or, possibly an engineer who will take a job there. Some people think such advertising is a waste of time and money, but if done right, it could be a strong part of a long term marketing campaign.
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  1. identicon
    Brandon, 24 Jul 2001 @ 11:01am

    My personal beef...

    ...is when the local utilities advertise. After all, its not like I can choose them. I guess more recently there have been some attempts at choice for local phone service, cable and electricity, but they've been advertising for some time.

    And don't get me started with those AT&T digital cable commercials... if digital cable didn't suck so much because there is little to no competition, maybe everyone wouldn't be flocking to dishes.

    I'm personally waiting breathlessly for the San Francisco Department of Parking and Traffic to advertise. That would be great!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. icon
    Mike (profile), 24 Jul 2001 @ 11:19am

    Re: My personal beef...

    The scary thing is how effective those AT&T ads are. I have a non-technically savvy friend who told me I was crazy for thinking about getting DirecTV and proceeded to list off verbatim the ridiculous points made in the commercials.

    I think AT&T's digital cable commercials should be banned simply for their horrible production qualities. You would think that a company as big as AT&T and that's supposed to be a cable company would at least go to the trouble of professionally producing the commercials. They all look like the super amateur commercials that you see late at night for the local pool hall or something. I don't think I've ever seen an AT&T digital cable commercial where the sound levels were mixed correctly.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Brandon, 25 Jul 2001 @ 10:01am

    Re: My personal beef...

    Well, this is AT&T we're talking about... anyone know how many of those "You will" commercials have come true yet?

    Brandon

    link to this | view in thread ]


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