TV Advertising Is Just A Bad Show
Posted by Josh Klein
This video is clever, fun and entertaining, but in no way helps me solve my problems. We only watch TV for entertainment, so TV advertising has to be entertaining (not informative and helpful).
That’s why TV ads suck; to reach your audience, your call to action has to be “sit on your ass and chuckle.” Let the shows handle that part, they do it better.
Instead, communicate online. People surfing the web are seeking entertainment, but switch to learning, shopping, and problem solving modes instantaneously (or simultaneously).
Your messages should be entertaining, helpful, and lead the audience to actually do something.
[video via Mattias]
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4 Responses
TV(and movies, and video games) do more than just entertain. They offer escapism and fantasy, drawing in people who want to - for an hour - be a hero, be a lawyer, be an FBI agent. They also offer viewers something they can’t see in real life, but would like to: ancient rome; the bottom of the ocean; the surface of mars. There is an element of growth, and discovery - personal, emotional, or intellectual - that people flock to television for. TV ads have the ability, and opportunity, to connect to these emotional needs - especially since when we watch television, our brains are set to “receive”.
Of course, with the demand for DVR, and the ability to view sponsored episodes for free online, the landscape is changing. But even when it for the most part migrates online, there will still be there difference between people being active (surfing, seeking out info) and passive (watching, being entertained), and therefore two different avenues that will need to be carefully minded.
Or so I think
Totally agreed, Ben. I think there is some terrific TV out there. I’m a big fan of episodic installments of a story.
My problem is with most TV advertising. Television just doesn’t strike me as a medium that lends itself to advertising. Advertising that interrupts the viewer, diverting his attention from what he really wants to be doing, is bad.
A good TV ad might be for historic Williamsburg during a History Channel special about colonial America. That might interest the viewer, but it also might not.
Now if you could optionally skip that ad, it might be even more useful. Or maybe you can pause and easily buy airline tickets to Williamsburg without going anywhere else.
But now that’s starting to sound like the web, and most TV advertising isn’t anywhere near that appropriately timed.
Researchers have actually started monitoring viewer retention during commercial breaks, and discovered something interesting. People LOVE movie trailers. 9 times out of 10 if the first commercial during a break is for a movie, they will not change the channel. Perhaps people, like me, just want to know what will entertain them next.
Anyway, the point is that maybe where commercials are isn’t the problem, but what they are. Like you said, the product isn’t the point.
That’s a really smart observation. I frequently stop the Tivo to watch movie previews. Sometimes, I even rewind. After all, TV is (sort of) like a mini-movie. A high viewer retention during ads for movies seems to fit the bill.
Movie ads are curious creatures. They’re almost product demonstrations, since the movie itself is the product, and the preview is a distillation of the full story. Interesting.