I DVR Therefore I Am...Not Seeing Any Commercials?

Ever since I got a DVR on my Dish Network system, I'll have to admit that I rarely watch live TV anymore. I record all kinds of shows, sometimes ones that I have never seen before just to see if I'll like them. When I am watching the shows recorded on my DVR, 99.9% of the time I will skip all the commercials.

Does this mean that I am not being impacted by the advertising that companies have so strategically placed? According to Informa Media the US leads the rest of the world in numbers of DVR's and by 2013, there will be more Digital Video Recorders in the US than Asia and Western Europe combined. J.D. Power and Associates says that over 44% of TV viewers now have a DVR. Wow, it feels pretty good to be ahead of the rest of the world on something. I knew being a couch potato was going to pay off sooner or later.

But back to the question. Are people that have DVR's missing out on advertising? Boston College reasearch says NO. As it turns out, brand information that is placed in the center of the screen is retained even with a "95% drop in frames" when a viewer "fast forwards" through the commercial break. “Even in fast-forward, consumers can focus in on a product logo or brand and that fraction of a second can later influence their references,” said Boston College marketing professor S. Adam Brasel. “It’s not like the advertising disappears when you use TiVo.”

I know I sometimes stop and go back if I see something really cute cool, manly or intriguing, but that's me. I try to never apply my personal habits in marketing situations or recommendations. I can be that free radical that everyone always talks about.

This brings me to my next thought. When developing a commercial, don't you think that we must now plan on and execute for the new DVR factor? Since the studies show that viewers are "scanning" the ads rather than skipping the ads, this requires us to reformulate brand placement. Bearing this in mind, here is yet another reason the commercials from the Truth group will fall short in a big way. Continuous and rapid brand messaging will be critical to get the essential short message across to the DVR viewer. Maybe even in a manner that would appear to be subliminal advertising during a fast forward. Remember Fight Club?

This is yet another example of how technology is changing the way we advertise. Do you have a DVR? Do you view the commercials when you watch a recorded show? Do you find yourself irritated when you can't fast forward live TV? These are the questions that the world wants to know. What say you?

 

You Better Catch The First 9 Seconds

I've seen this anti-smoking commercial from the Truth group a handful of times and I always seem to miss the "truth statement" at the beginning. Which obviously leaves me wondering, "what the heck did I just see."



I think that the commercials are well done and have the best intentions, but they fall short in a big way. If you don't catch the first part of the commercial you have no idea what the point is. Normally you lead with the "mystery" and reveal the message at the end. There are 5 similar spots that all deal with the different harms and "company lies." They are all formatted in a similar manner and it's my opinion that they would be more effective if they were written with the "musical" at the beginning and the message after that.

Subject matter aside, the commercial below is exactly what I am talking about.



Thanks for stopping by The Big Bald Blog. See you on Monday.

 

America's Got Talent Winners

Last night was the big finale on America's Got Talent. Normally I don't watch a lot of TV, but for some reason I got sucked into this show in a big way. I started recording them on my DVR so I wouldn't miss anything.



As you saw in the video, this season's winner, claiming the one million dollars and a show in Vegas was Neal E. Boyd, an amazing opera singer that blew everyone away during the auditions in Chicago. Second place was Eli Mattson. Third place went to the hip hop inspired two man violin team Nuttin' But Stringz. Juilliard trained violinists, they were extremely entertaining. Fourth was singer Donald Braswell and bringing up the rear was Queen Emily in fifth. In my humble opinion, Queen Emily and Braswell's rankings should have been the other way around.

Everyone of the top 5 contestants were great. I was really disappointed however. I was on board for Eli Mattson ever since his first audition in the video below. Eli, if for some reason you stumble across The Big Bald Blog - you should have had it man. Regardless of the outcome, you got talent and your gonna make it big.



I think that this guy really had the most "talent".

Other than Eli Mattson, One of my other favorite acts that didn't make it to the finals was the ZooperStars. They were the "inflatable suit" guys and they were simply HILARIOUS. I understand that they would never have made it to the winners circle but they were extremely entertaining. One other act that I thought was worth mentioning was the 2nd Ozzy impersonator. Again not a contender for the top spot, but funny nonetheless. Check out Sharon's reaction to this guy.



Here's my order where I think they should have placed.

1. Eli Mattson
2. Neal E. Boyd
3. Nuttin' But Stringz
4. Queen Emily
5. Donald Braswell

Who do you think should have won? What act do you think should have made it to the top 10 or top 5 that didn't?

 

My Favorite TV Commercial Of All Time.

I know, I know, we have been down this road before. I was hoping for something new or something fresh this year from the Super Big Game Bowl (what ever we can call it), but again, I was let down. In fact I have been disappointed since 2002 when, what I believe to be, the greatest television commercial of all time was released.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Terry Tate, Office linebacker.



Reebok made a series of shorts around the Terry Tate character. The acting is great, the effects are good, but the writing is over-the-top without being in your face. I mean seriously, take a look at the name of the company. Also, in the sensitivity training video, pay attention to the name of the HR firm that they hired.

Lester "Mighty Rasta" Speight (the actor playing Terry Tate) did an awesome job. Lines like "you kill the joe, you make some mo", and "you can't bring that weak a** stuff up in this humpity-bumpity" are simply priceless. I don't care how many times I go back and watch this, it makes me laugh every time.

So let me have it. What do YOU think is the best television commercial of all time? What is your favorite spot and why? Try and convince me otherwise and maybe I'll reconsider, but probably not. Until then Terry Tate has my vote for the best TV commercial of all time.

 

Television Commercials done right.

Hello Gang! It's my birthday today and I was thinking about taking the day off, laying on my couch and watching some TV. Then I came to my senses.

I have quite a collection of RSS feeds coming into my Google Desktop and a headline caught my interest a while back and I decided to save the post. It was on Charlie Cook's blog. The post was called "7 Reasons Most Video Commercials are a Waste of Money..." He has some very valid points but I think in order better understand TV's effectiveness you have to point out the differences between the types of commercials and the solution for poor creative.

His seven reasons for TV commercials being a waste of money are right on and can all be tied to creative. If you haven't heard it before, I'll say it again - Creative is key. Properly written, designed and executed ads that get the information across in a clever manner are better retained by a viewer.

I think, to better understand the effectiveness of a TV ad, you need break TV commercials down into 3 categories. Understanding that each category has a different delivery style, they all need to start with a good creative foundation to better convey the message

1. Toma ads.

2. Event/promotion based ads.

3. PSA type ads.

Each type of ad has a completely unique message and production needs to understand the specific delivery requirements for each type of spot.

Toma or Top-of-mind awareness ads are commonly the most creative. Developing these type of spots, a creative director, copy writer and a producer can have the most fun. You're not being pressed to get a bunch of time sensitive and/or price point information into 30 seconds. This gives you more time to send your message is a manner that will grab a viewers attention. Since this type of spot usually has a longer "shelf life" you can dedicate more time to production and concepting.

With event or promotion spots you are required to cram sale dates, calls to action, price points, specials and other need-to-know information into a short amount of time. A higher level of creative is often sacrificed to include the necessary promotional information. However, this doesn't mean that production quality has to suffer. Obviously this type of commercial isn't on air very long, but done right it will do its job and drive traffic.

PSA type spots typically deliver a soft sell and heart felt message. Creative for this type of commercial manifests itself in quality production. Properly written copy coupled with compelling visual is the key to success when producing these type of ads.

Properly executed creative needs to be done right. Think it through. Hire a competent creative director, copy writer and production crew. It may cost a little more than having a local network affiliate produce your commercial, but in the long run, you will get a better product.

 

It is done!

So how many of you watched HBO's final episode of The Sopranos? I did and I must say I had high expectations. For those of you have seen it you know what I am talking about when I say I thought my satellite went out. Then I began to think that someone blew up the restaurant. All of the speculation then turned to disgust. I wanted closure, I needed a better ending.

According to CBS News, Sopranos creator David Chase was in France and unreachable. He knew what the reaction would be to the ending of all non-endings. Admittedly I had my own theories on what was going to happen, including the notion that Tony was going to "turn states" and hide away in protective custody.

Here are a couple of questions that I would like to have closure on? What was the cat doing? Will Sil live? Is there a feature length film on the way?

After reading the blogs and Soprano discussion sites proceeding the abrupt ending, there was all kinds of insight that made me appreciate the ending a little bit more. The ending makes you realize that Tony Soprano will forever be looking over his shoulder. Also, Wiseguys always say that when it is your time, you will never see it coming. Well, we (the fans) surely didn't see this coming. This was a great show with a great run. In closing, what I really want to know is... WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO THE RUSSIAN that Paulie and Christopher shot in the woods?