Canadian Marketing Blog

Some ideas for TV advertisers

A great deal has changed about how we watch TV over the years.

Many of the changes have been for an improved experience like colour TV and more recently high definition TV.

Other changes have come out of convenience like the remote control (yay, no more getting up off the couch to change the channel) and most recently the PVR. Watching TV through the web is in its infancy and will take some time before it replaces the TV/Sofa combination.

Some of the first TV advertisements were part of afternoon Soap Operas. They earned their "Soap Opera" name because soap companies were the main advertisers in daytime dramas.

Even though there have been lots of changes in our viewing experience, advertisers have kept to a similar model over the years on television. 12 minutes of advertisements every hour. More recently advertisers have had to stand up and listen with the advent of the PVR. PVR's have really damaged this "12 minutes of ads" model since you can now record the show and fast-forward through the commercials. Product placement takes care of this for the most part but is becoming too obvious for the savvy viewers to take seriously.

There are some creative new concepts specifically targeting the PVR user:

* Having the product be front and centre for long enough that even someone fast-forwarding can recognize the advertisement/brand/product (after all they want the viewer to recognize the product!)

* Having characters in a real show become part of the commercial advertisement .

* Cable companies are blocking the ability to fast forward through advertisements (this can't last can it?)

I've given some (very brief) thought to other ideas that might attract back the PVR user and make them enjoy the idea of advertising again.

1. Turn advertisements into a mini show. Let's say Coca-Cola has 5 ads in a given TV show. Instead of playing the same ad each segment (which is very tiring) make each ad connect to the previous one. In 5 ads (2.5 minutes) you could have a mini 2.5 minute show. If the content was good, I would watch them just to see what was going to happen next (therefore no fast-forwarding)

2. Have a large company like Procter & Gamble sponsor a whole season of a show and take out the ads. (the show would then have to produce a full half hour or hour of content (like Sopranos or Entourage). Each show could be sponsored by a different product. I would be very interested to hear that "the following ad free episode of 24 was paid for by XYZ product" and would remember that this product is the reason I didn't have to watch ads.

I know there are financial impacts that I haven't considered. Paying for this types of advertising can be a huge financial burden. These are just ideas on the what the next wave of TV advertising could be. Millions of people still watch TV after all.

Please write your comments on other ideas to help get the PVR user back to watching ads. They are, after all, the reason why watching TV is cheaper than it would otherwise be.

The European model for TV ads is great. In France, TV episode and movies were commercial-free except for the first five or last five minutes. The ads were sometimes so creative that some of my friends would complain about having to watch the show to get to the ads! The same type of 5 to 10 minute ad segment holds true in Quebec on Tele-Quebec on Sat. nights when they have movie nights. It's great to watch a thought-provoking film with no breaks. After the movie, there was a discussion group. One idea could be to have a sponsor for the discussion group and prominently feature the sponsor's banner/products during the discussion.
There could also be a reality TV show about creating the perfect ad - plenty of opportunity for creativity and possible innovation to shine through there. The prize could be a job at an ad agency and building a campaign out of the winner's idea. This is based on throwing the idea out to the TV watching community and see what they have to say.
Ads in Britain and France are often clever, cheeky and intelligent which is why they work. Ads in Canada and the US tend to be annoying, repetitive and unimaginative. I say don't reinvent the wheel, look at places where ads are successful and add your own twist to them.

I think you're missing the point of PVR. one of its primary uses is to AVOID ads. as funny and cute they may be sometimes, they get in the way.

what comcast is doing reeks of executive laziness and turns people off. it's like the RIAA plugging their eyes and ears and refusing to change their business model.

compelling creatives aren't the answer, because they are still interruptions. it's probably going to shift to something like on-demand cable, where you pay an extra $10/month to have access to entire seasons of shows.

I’m happy to see this topic on the table.
I agree with Chamika: Why re-invent the wheel?
The very nature of TV is that it captivates audiences through content that is relevant. The role of marketers is to be: Not just relevant to the OLD segmentation profile, but to be involving enough for PEOPLE to be engaged with the ad. That is where the real creative challenge lies for the advertising industry.
Go beyond the buck in media placement and measurement, to move towards a model that really connects with people.
Regardless of the format or medium, ads must shift their invasive push to a more coherent drive. Otherwise, audiences will keep blocking SPORNSORED efforts that invade their SPACE OF CHOICE!