Television advertising has been around for decades. There are many different strategies to make television advertising work for your brand. As I was watching the Super Bowl with friends yesterday we were more intrigued by the commercials than the game. The commercials we saw were funny, scary, sexy, stupid, dry, and some that left you thinking what was the punch line.
Super Bowl television advertising is very expensive so you better be airing a commercial that gets you the end result you’re looking for.
If all your commercial is good for is a laugh or two but has no impact on brand lift awareness or end conversion rates, the commercial was a waste of money.
Advertising Agencies love to tout awards for commercial production paid for by their clients. These awards are typically not awarded based on the effect it had on brand conversion rates. So I ask you, what is your objective in advertising? To entertain or to achieve a predetermined objective for the brand?
The other critical areas to be concerned with in television advertising are frequency and placement.
Many buyers like to talk about the great low television advertising rates they were able to achieve in purchasing airtime in a program. What you need to realize is that in most programs and especially primetime programming, the lower the rate the less desirable the position in the program. For example the break going into a primetime program has a much lower audience than a break within the program. If you’re going to buy primetime, you must air within the program which commands a higher rate.
The Super Bowl has one of the highest reaching audiences of all programs. If you air one or two commercials in the super bowl or another high reaching program, what you achieve is a large reach with no frequency. Frequency is the key to advertising success. Prospects or customers need to see or hear your ad a minimum of three times in a relatively short period of time (usually a week) in order to act upon your product or service. What I’m saying is sacrifice a large reach for an effective frequency. In other words be effective with the people you do reach rather than ineffective with a very large reach.
Television advertising in the super bowl is a very prestigious place to be. What I want you to think about are; what are your objectives in television advertising? Ego driven, entertainment or effectiveness! If used correctly television advertising can still be very effective!
About Julie Musial
Just curious how advertisers think they can over come the tendency of viewers like me who mute the commercials the minute they start? We are a multi tasking family, the commercial breaks are so long now that we use the time to continue with home work, potty breaks, check on supper. etc.
Commercial zapping has become a huge issue for television advertisers. Television advertisers try to make the most of the video for this very reason. Muting is also the reason advertisers try to begin their commercials with a hook to draw you in. It’s also common for advertisers to pay more for first position in the commercial pod or last position in hopes of catching the viewer before the ad is tuned out and when it gets tuned back in.
Television Advertising is indeed very effective.