So you know how you’re sitting around, watching TV, and you see a commercial come on that has that really hot chick in it?
Doesn’t it make you wonder, sometimes, just who the hell that girl is?
Tag: advertising
Does your company have an iconic logo, one that defines who you are or what you do in an instant?
We’re not talking about a cartoon character spokesman, like the Geico Gecko (or the Geico Caveman, take your pick). We’re talking something more akin to the “apple” logo for Apple.
As we’ve seen on any number of episodes of THE PITCH or CELEBRITY APPRENTICE, a vital part of marketing your business or product can come down to the most simple of items, THE LOGO.
Look, we get it.
The Internet is free, right? You have to pay to be online, but once you’re there – the millions of pages of information out there should be yours for the viewing, without being blocked by persistently annoying advertising invading your viewspace.
Web Watch is in a quandray over this – we’re supported by advertising on the site, so why would we want to share with you one simple, easy way to completely block all ads from ever appearing on your computer or WiFi-enabled devices ever again? If this idea takes off, we’ll have to switch to a subscription-based model – but we’d rather not go that route if we can help it.
How many people listen to the radio?
If you were to pay attention to technology pundits and the general news media, you would come away with the conclusion of, “well, practically nobody”. According to them, all those people who used to be radio listeners are bypassing that “old” technology for new offerings that the Internet has brought to bear, such as Pandora and Spotify. Cellphone playlists. Satellite radio, even, still makes a claim for being a popular alternative to traditional radio listening.
In advertising and when designing websites, lots of research goes into determining exactly how to place specific items onto the page, photo, advertisement in order to determine the best layout.
Stores do this physically, by putting high-demand items (such as milk or perishables) towards the back of the store. Walt Disney did this when he decided that his new theme park needed a “weenie” in the center of the park to act as a magnet, ultimately drawing visitors towards the Castle that’s become a centerpiece of each of the Disney parks to date.
So while it’s easy to determine traffic patterns when people are walking around, how to businesses determine what makes a good print or online layout?
One question that Web Watch hears a lot from our friends is “Why do some businesses use the term THE BIG GAME or PIGSKIN PARTY, while others use the term SUPER BOWL in their promotional material?” We’ve noticed this ourselves, and are often amused at the lengths some companies go to in associating themselves as being a part of the Professional Football Championship Game without actually mentioning any of the NFL’s trademarks.
Web Watch is not a lawyer, nor are we involved/affiliated with the Super Bowl, the NFL, and its various properties – but we can certainly share some of the things that we’ve learned over the years. Take the following as helpful suggestions, but if you are planning on using any of the NFL’s trademarks yourself – you may want to check with your own legal department and/or followup with the NFL themselves for your own DOs and DONTs list.
How To Get Ahead in Advertising
Advertising and comedy often go hand-in-hand.
Remember the film HOW TO GET AHEAD IN ADVERTISING? It’s about an advertising exec who ends up with a talking zit on the side of his face. Yeah, it’s worth watching.
Or the Dudley Moore film CRAZY PEOPLE, where ad execs decide to get their advertisements written by people in the looney bin (“Volvo: It’s safe, but boxy!”).
How many times have you looked at the TV or radio during a commercial break and mutter to yourself, “Really? Did they REALLY just say that? Do they think we’re idiots?” Without even knowing what you heard, Web Watch is fairly certain the answer to that rhetorical question will be “yes”.
TiVo: those who have never owned one will never understand. Those who have used a generic DVR think they understand, but they really don’t.
One benefit that many TiVo enthusiasts love to speak about is their ability to fast-forward through commercials. This has led to some advertisers trying to make their ads “TiVo-Friendly”, so that the core message of the spot will still be conveyed, even as the rest of the commercial goes by in a blur. As an example, you may have seen some movie ads that have the name of the movie displayed at the top of the screen for the duration of the commercial. TiVo users may not see the commercial content, but they know what the commercial was for.
Heck, even NBC CONDUCTED A STUDY THAT PROVED TIVO and DVR USERS DO PAY ATTENTION TO COMMERCIALS. In part, it’s because users who are fast-forwarding through the commercials end up watching the screen intently focused on when the commercial break stops, and if they happen to see an interesting commercial whiz by, they’ll rewind back to watch it.
Let’s take a look at WHAT TiVo SAYS ARE THE MOST WATCHED PROGRAMS AND COMMERCIALS BY TiVo USERS IN MAY 2009: