Do you hate commercials? Well, I don't! Sure, they're annoying and whether I'm surfing the net or watching a movie on the boob-tube, more often than not, I would rather hit that 'Skip Ad' button or DVR it and fast-forward through the loudly obnoxious and often overtly-interruptive nuisances (guess that law they passed last year isn't being taken too seriously by the networks... or the FCC for that matter! you may CALMly act by filing a complaint but it may not do any good since they're not enforcing it). How many times can they run that local pest control ad in the span of one show?! But hey, I must admit that I honestly enjoy commercials purely for the advertising and marketing lover in me.
"Opulence, I has it." ~ DirecTV
Some are super funny (Old Spice dude riding reverse cowgirl and Direct TV tiny giraffe love are some oldies-but-goodies... and lately GoDaddy.com's new campaign with Jean Claude Van Damme just to name a few) and others make us go, "What tha...?" or in my opinion are totally ineffective. Let's take a look or two at the effectiveness of TV and online video marketing campaigns.
Who You Talking To? - Who is your target audience? Women buy stuff, and a lot of it. I'm not talking about just shoes, bags and other sparkly trinkets, or single women with nothing better to do either (don't get it twisted!)... and if you don't believe me take a look at some statistics: the-real-reason-women-shop-more-than-men. It's no secret that women enjoy shopping, but not just for themselves... they buy stuff for everyone including family members, friends, co-workers, and even their kids' friends (complete with their own personal note... 'cause we're just so danged thoughtful!). So, if you're not including women in your target market, you'll be sorry! However, women aren't the only habitual spenders.. men of all ages enjoy a good shopping spree on occasion. Point being, invest in a tidbit of marketing research to help determine who you should be marketing to.
Funny Factor - I love to laugh and enjoy funny things from all genres and angles (sideways is my favorite). The humorous ads always get me in the tickle-bone, and are therefore more memorable to me than others. Some recent laughable ones include: Kmart's "Ship My Pants," General Mills' "Toaster Strudel Ya!" with quirky German kid, Hans Strudel, Alka-Seltzer Fruit Chews' "Eating Chalk," and Yoplait Gogurts "Mom's Smokey Eye." Let's face it: humor sells (so does sex, but there's just not enough space in this blog to delve into that monster category). Just make sure your brand is also a major feature in the ad or people will only remember the humor.
Music - How many times have you been watching the telly and heard that catchy song on a commercial that you must download immediately? Not sayin' this was recently invented but it became more popular when automobile moguls like Volkswagen started doing it back around 2006 (remember Pink Moon by Nick Drake?). There's some epic ones too like Chevy Sonic - Kick Flip featuring Rob Dyrdek, pro skater and TV personality's car-flipping stunt skills with a 'Glee'-full version of 'We Are Young' peaking at the end of what could be called the raddest car commercial eva! Check it out here: Chevy Sonic - Kick Flip. Adding music to commercials is not only aesthetically appealing, but it literally may help people remember your ad over others.
Branding - How many times is your product/ service brand name appearing and/ or being heard? It's imperative to get this right. For great tips on branding your biz check out these links provided by Entrepreneur.com: Branding Your Biz. Also, consider whether or not your ads lead consumers to your online presence in some way? Adding a simple #hashtag reference somewhere in the mix could help out with that.
Online presence is absolutely key in marketing and advertising campaigns these days. Ecommerce statistics are rising at remarkable rates.. amounting to the tune of $289 billion in the U.S. for 2012 and expected to rise above $360 billion in 2016 (borrowed from statista.com 'Statistics and Facts about Online Shopping by Jessica Kril). Not just in the U.S. though, online transactions for 2012 topped $1 trillion U.S. dollars according to eMarketer, and will predictably top $18 trillion in the near future. And, online shopping extravaganzas aren't just for millenials and gen X'ers either... granny likes to get her eBay on just as much as the rest of us do.
Creativity is crucial in marketing... it's no doubt challenging for businesses to effectively market their products and services to the vast majority. Consumers are pummeled so much these day with ads of all types and the biggest challenge could be keeping their attention on your brand. I mean, we're all a little ADD right? ...ooh ooh, was that a cute kitten video?
Credits: visual.ly 'Online Shopping Statistics' by joshmalan; youtube video courtesy of TvPromosNow
Photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kwl/5075443408/">kennymatic</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a>, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/83950715/">Thomas Hawk</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/">cc</a>
Some are super funny (Old Spice dude riding reverse cowgirl and Direct TV tiny giraffe love are some oldies-but-goodies... and lately GoDaddy.com's new campaign with Jean Claude Van Damme just to name a few) and others make us go, "What tha...?" or in my opinion are totally ineffective. Let's take a look or two at the effectiveness of TV and online video marketing campaigns.
Who You Talking To? - Who is your target audience? Women buy stuff, and a lot of it. I'm not talking about just shoes, bags and other sparkly trinkets, or single women with nothing better to do either (don't get it twisted!)... and if you don't believe me take a look at some statistics: the-real-reason-women-shop-more-than-men. It's no secret that women enjoy shopping, but not just for themselves... they buy stuff for everyone including family members, friends, co-workers, and even their kids' friends (complete with their own personal note... 'cause we're just so danged thoughtful!). So, if you're not including women in your target market, you'll be sorry! However, women aren't the only habitual spenders.. men of all ages enjoy a good shopping spree on occasion. Point being, invest in a tidbit of marketing research to help determine who you should be marketing to.Music - How many times have you been watching the telly and heard that catchy song on a commercial that you must download immediately? Not sayin' this was recently invented but it became more popular when automobile moguls like Volkswagen started doing it back around 2006 (remember Pink Moon by Nick Drake?). There's some epic ones too like Chevy Sonic - Kick Flip featuring Rob Dyrdek, pro skater and TV personality's car-flipping stunt skills with a 'Glee'-full version of 'We Are Young' peaking at the end of what could be called the raddest car commercial eva! Check it out here: Chevy Sonic - Kick Flip. Adding music to commercials is not only aesthetically appealing, but it literally may help people remember your ad over others.
Online presence is absolutely key in marketing and advertising campaigns these days. Ecommerce statistics are rising at remarkable rates.. amounting to the tune of $289 billion in the U.S. for 2012 and expected to rise above $360 billion in 2016 (borrowed from statista.com 'Statistics and Facts about Online Shopping by Jessica Kril). Not just in the U.S. though, online transactions for 2012 topped $1 trillion U.S. dollars according to eMarketer, and will predictably top $18 trillion in the near future. And, online shopping extravaganzas aren't just for millenials and gen X'ers either... granny likes to get her eBay on just as much as the rest of us do.
Creativity is crucial in marketing... it's no doubt challenging for businesses to effectively market their products and services to the vast majority. Consumers are pummeled so much these day with ads of all types and the biggest challenge could be keeping their attention on your brand. I mean, we're all a little ADD right? ...ooh ooh, was that a cute kitten video?
Credits: visual.ly 'Online Shopping Statistics' by joshmalan; youtube video courtesy of TvPromosNow
Photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kwl/5075443408/">kennymatic</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a>, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/83950715/">Thomas Hawk</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/">cc</a>
