Advertising Execs Slowly Reaching Obvious Conclusion: Ads Are Content Too
from the hey,-look-at-that! dept
Part of the economic we make here is that the nature of content as a digital good means that it's going to move towards free in an open marketplace. However, that isn't a bad thing, because "free" content can be used in good ways - as promotional material for something else. The argument goes both ways - promotional materials should be looked at as content, too. Unfortunately, too many people seem to think they're different - that somehow content that is produced for promotional purposes is somehow "less" than other content. That sort of thinking leads to (a) people trying to lock up their "good" content and (b) people producing really bad promotional content that tends to annoy people more than make them interested in whatever is being promoted. We've argued this before in reference to TV commercials. It seemed like too many executives (such as those who claimed that not watching commercials was "stealing") seemed to think that forcing people to watch bad content was the only way to produce good content. This is, of course, not true - which has been shown by the likes of Honda and BMW with the advertising they created that people actively seek out (not to mention the whole damn Super Bowl commercial watching phenomenon). It appears that finally some advertising and broadcasting execs are understanding this message. NBC is going to start airing mini-movies during commercial breaks. Some of these really are still commercials - but they're actually designed (what a concept!) to be entertaining. Others, though, are more traditional programming content - but designed to fill 30 second spots, and use cliff-hanger endings to get you to want to see the next one. Basically, they're hoping to provide content that is worth watching, so you don't just TiVo through all the commercials (or worse, change channels). Should be interesting to see how this experiment goes.
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will she or won't she... choose the Colgate®?
I'll bet you're all looking forward to the family mini-drama revolving around Grandma's constipation or Mom's intense personal conflict choosing between Helmann's and Miracle Whip.
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Re: will she or won't she... choose the Colgate®?
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Re: will she or won't she... choose the Colgate®?
Well, I watch the Super Bowl because I'm hoping that someday -- in my lifetime -- I'll see the Patriots win again. Probably not this year, though. :)
Radio has been treating their advertising similarly for quite a while now. Rock stations play a 30-second spot for Bud Light that starts out sounding like some new rock song, or traffic reporters speed through their traffic reports -- directly followed by their reading of an advertisement in the same tone of voice.
In my opinion, it's not necessarily better for the advertiser. It's just another way for media companies to convince advertisers to spend more money on these new ideas the media has devised to "guarantee" eyeballs/ears.
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Re: will she or won't she... choose the Colgate®?
It will still be a major challenge to integrate toilet paper or branded pain killer into a narrative that both sells and is something people will sit and watch. Nearly every campaign I ever worked on involved trying to pull the client back from shoving it down people's throats. Advertising is very expensive, measuring what makes an ad a success is difficult and everybody wants their logo bigger.
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Been Done Already
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first loacal comercial for retail store
thanxs
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Too Many Commercials on TV we Pay for, Maybe the G
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Online digital advertising
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