The BV Blog

People who own DVRs (Digital Video Recorders) and access television programming online watch fewer commercials. A lot fewer, according to an Adweek article by Brian Morrissey:

“The TV industry often touts the fact that DVR owners watch more TV than those with only ‘live’ programming. Yet DVR viewers frequently skip the commercials. Over 50 percent of respondents said they ‘always’ fast-forward through commercials, and another 36 percent said they skip them at least three-quarters of the time. Fully 85 percent of respondents said they watch fewer commercials since they got their DVRs.”

Traditional radio is struggling with the same problem. Satellite radio and music services, along with the iPod and similar devices, have made it much easier for listeners to actively avoid, not just radio advertising, but its programming as well.

These examples serve as another argument for intensifying the focus of your marketing messages on existing customers. Concentrate your marketing efforts on an audience that’s more open to what you have to say, not those trying to avoid your message. Those folks already in your database don’t need to be convinced that you’re a fine, upstanding company. They already know it.

Chances are good, though, they don’t know everything you can do for them. So work to educate them about all that you offer with the intent of increasing customer share, not market share. You can do this easily with On Hold Marketing, TeleGreeting and Point-Of-Purchase Audio. These tools allow you to communicate cost-effectively with your captive audiences - those that can’t change channels or fast forward: your callers on hold and the shoppers in your store.

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BusinessVoice President Jerry Brown is featured as a satisfied customer in Buckeye TeleSystem’s new “We Chose Buckeye” campaign. Check out Jerry’s TV spot, his billboard, and his web ad.

Jerry is taking full advantage of his new celebrity. He’s signed on to appear on next season’s “Dancing With The Stars,” he’s already penning his tell-all autobiography, and he’s launching his own line of popcorn and spaghetti sauce.

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I saw a commercial the other morning that really made me laugh. It’s a Titan Tire commercial, which if you you would like to have a hearty chuckle, you can view here. Just click on the “kimono” link.

It was funny to me because of the recent state America’s relationship to all things foreign. Funnier still was seeing rugged cowboy types accessorizing a lasso with a beret and pairing a pitchfork with a silky kimono.

I thought it expertly and humorously isolated what’s different about American manufactured products.

But it wasn’t particularly funny to an editor at Indiana State University’s student newspaper, The Statesman. Her reaction to the commerical was markedly different than mine. Read her editorial here.

This editorial offended a member of the the Terre Haute community, so much so that he responded with a letter to the editor defending the family that was attacked in the Opinions column and highlighting the lack of journalistic integrity on the part of the editor.

My point is two-fold. Firstly, what’s funny to some people may not be funny to other people; so un-funny that, as in this case, it is received as offensive and malignant. The lesson? Be cautious in your advertising, but don’t be afraid to push the envelope. If you’re too cautious, people may not have a negative reaction to your efforts, but they may not react at all.

Secondly, I came across this information only because I was searching the Internet high and low for a way to share this commercial with you. In the course of my search, I came across the editorial. Then I came across the response to it. Only then did I locate the commercial. The lesson? You can find almost anything on the Internet. Be smart about what you put out there, and about how you handle criticisms about what you put out there.

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It was kinda’ backwards this year: the game was great but the commercials seemed a little flat.

Still, I had a couple of favorites, both from the Bud Light folks: “Endorsement” with Will Ferrell and “Breathe Fire.” (I predict Ferrell’s line - “Suck one” - will be the next great catchphrase to sweep the nation.)

You can see all the spots here on the Advertising Age website.

Which spot do you think was best and why? (Please show your work.)

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A few weeks ago, A&E launched an unusual marketing campaign for their new “Paranormal” program.

See the article detailing the techniques here– Hear Voices? It May Be an Ad.

One technique that struck me is the use of Audio Spotlight technology. The name implies just that–an audio track is narrowly transmitted to a location, and only the individuals occupying the space within that “beam” can hear the message.

There’s been a lot of response to this particular method, and reviews have been entirely mixed. According to a poll conducted by AdAge, respondents were split 50/50 as to whether or not the technique was a good idea.

Personally, I think it is a GREAT idea.

It’s a genius way to use the Audio Spotlight technology in an interesting fashion. It’s not an effort at mind control or a some other dark purpose. It’s just a clever way to use clever technology to generate awareness. Marketing at its finest.

A&E found a terrific application for something that grocery stores and gas stations have been using for years. This type of audio technology, sometimes referred to and applied as point-of-purchase audio, has been cutting through the visual clutter of print and television ads, and reaching out to remind people that the detergent is on sale, or when they’re done filling up, to come inside and grab a beverage for the road.

Although, I must admit, had I experienced the A&E application, I would have felt slightly schizophrenic.

But most applications won’t have that effect. They will, however, produce results.

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A local blog has posted a great discussion question that could work in any town – “What’s the worst locally produced TV commercial you’ve ever seen?”

They got lots of nominees, including this one that may take the top prize for mind-numbing repetition in the quest for name awareness (Think “Head On” for teenboy button-mashers.) Still, you’ll probably remember the name for a long while after you see the spot.

Which brings me to my question: what do you want your viewers, readers and listeners to remember about you and your business? Is it a name, a slogan, a particular product or service? Just as we see here, you can make a strong impression in 30 seconds or less when you focus your message. Pick a target — such as your Unique Selling Proposition (here’s our USP) — and then zero in on it in your marketing. Hopefully, your effort won’t make any “Worst Ever” list, but you will be remembered.

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The apocalypse is upon us.

Starbucks, high and mighty coffee giant, and television advertising naysayer, has finally launched a national television advertising campaign.

The new ads, created by the team at Weiden & Kennedy are lovely. The colors and animation immediately evoke a feeling of holiday verisimilitude. And human interaction with animals always gives me the warm and fuzzies.

Bear Hug

Window Washer

Ski Lift

The Los Angeles Times quoted Starbucks Chief Operating Officer Martin Coles as saying “The ad campaign is designed to ‘capitalize on our brand awareness while driving new customers and existing customers to our stores.’”

I’m not sure these ads are going to do the trick. I’ve been a Starbucks devotee for years, and cannot, with great conviction, say that these ads are appropriate to their brand or their customer.

Where are the leather arm chairs and rich green colors? Where are the smiling faces of their baristas, around which their entire brand identity revolves? Where’s the guy in the corner who bought one cup of coffee at 9 am and is still working on his novel at 5:30 pm?

Starbucks is for tech-heads, snobby city-folk, laptop junkies and people with i-Pod earphones surgically implanted in their heads. Not for outdoorsy, woodland creature and winter wonderland-loving granola heads.

This is the Starbucks we know and love. The critical problem with this campaign is that it does nothing to reinforce the Starbucks brand. There’s nothing to solidify that in-store experience that keeps customers coming back again and again.

That said, what this campaign has accomplished is to get people talking about who Starbucks really is, and who they certainly are not.

Don’t make the same mistakes Starbucks has made. Your marketing efforts should make an authentic connection with your customers and reinforce the experiences they have with your company. The key is to focus on your customers, who they are and what they view your business to be.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fine thing to re-brand or re-position yourself in the marketplace, but if you lose sight of who you are in the process, people will wonder if you knew who you were in the first place.

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Is it just me or does the audio from a typical TV commercial pod sound more like what’s on my iPod? Armed recently with an old school pad of paper and pen, I was able to jot down - from memory - 10 current TV spots that rely heavily on a famous tune, but hardly at all on the spoken word.

I’ll need another 10 or 12 years before I can separate the sound of Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” from my mind’s eye image of a Cadillac kicking up desert dust. But that’s the point. You may not ordinarily think of Cadillac on any given day, but now, if you hear “Rock and Roll” on the local classic rock station during the drive home, I’ll bet you a cheese danish that an image of an Escalade pops into your head. That connection can be so strong that Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” isn’t just “Rock and Roll” anymore–it’s “that Cadillac song.”

More proof. What products do you think of when you think of these songs? “Like A Rock” by Bob Seger; “I’m Free” by the Rolling Stones; “Don’t You Want Me” by Human League. All of these tunes have a positive connection with Chevy Trucks, Chase Visa, and those chunky Chips Ahoy, respectively. Some companies have even elected to use lesser-known music to form an almost mutually exclusive relationship between the piece and the product. Most folks wouldn’t know Aaron Copeland’s “Rodeo: Hoe-Down” by name, but when it’s set to the sweeping images of families enjoying hunks of meat and paired with the tagline “Beef: It’s What’s for Dinner!” it becomes instantly recognizable.

Tapping into the powerful alignment of music and a famous spokesperson, American Express rolled several slices of sounds into one commerical. During the famous “Ellen’s Dance” spot, dog-dealer Ellen DeGeneres dances her way through the day to such tunes as “Car Wash,” “Respect,” and “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now).” Clever, American Express, clever - conveying energy by capitalizing on just seconds of famous songs.

Aligning your business with music, whether through advertisements or in your environment, affects how your customers and prospects perceive your company. Do it right, and you can achieve top-of-mind awareness every time “your” song hits the airwaves.

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These days, there aren’t many jobs more difficult than doing PR for an oil company. (Now that the tobacco companies are down for the count, these are the folks we really love to hate.) So hats off to Chevron and their new “Human Energy” campaign. It’s subtle yet thought-provoking and re-frames the debate while clearly stating their mission and why we need them. And those are elements that can be put to work with any product. Check it out and see if your attitude doesn’t change a bit, even for only a moment. That’s the power of effective marketing.

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