commercialapathy

Introduction:
Last night I was watching the end of the New Orleans- Dallas game and that gatorade commercial with the heavy music and garnett sweating orange came on for about the 10th time in the half hour I had been tuning in. I was thinking at that moment how great it would be if I had TiVo or other DVR on that tv so I wouldn't have to deal with the same tired ads every break in the action. I realize that the proliferation of this type of technology is a huge issue in terms of the effectiveness of companies getting their message out through television commercials. Consequently this is obviously also an issue for the entire television industry since they are so dependent on advertising for revenue and if people have the ability to skip through commercial breaks the whole system would appear to be in jeopardy.

Body(?):
My thought here is that this could possibly serve as an impetus for companies to stop producing multitudes of shitty commercials. With the advent of YouTube, the best commercials are going to be seen millions of times though word of mouth, links, email, etc... The Kobe-Aston Martin spot for adidas has been seen at least 4 million times, if not more, just on Youtube. Viewers have the ability to watch what they want and weed out the rest. Will companies be forced to actually produce quality commercials or face getting pushed out by others who do?

I realize not every commercial can generate the interest that the Kobe one did, but I would think just as a general rule that companies would be much better served producing one or two really eye-catching, lovable commercials per year or quarter or whatever than pumping out tons of mediocre ones. I feel the Kobe spot and others like it are so successful particularly because it doesn't feel like it was all over the airwaves anytime an NBA game was on. There was this buzz that was generated without having to shove it down the throats of consumers. People were blogging, debating and watercoolering whether it was real or not and it had people talking while subconsciously having the three-stripes logo in the back of their mind.













What about the Frank Caliendo show? Sure his commercials were good at first, but having to see his face every half inning of the 2007 MLB playoffs completely turned me off to the idea of watching his show. I was much more apt to watch it a couple months earlier when there were just quick glimpses of his spot-on impersonations. I was just left over-saturated with that asshole and had no desire to watch anything else that he put out.

Conclusion:
a) I have a hard time understanding how the television industry will operate with DVRs and YouTube gaining such ground in making our lives easier and better. I know online media and advertising are growing at phenomenal rates. I'm just not too proud to admit that I don't quite understand how it is all going to play out. Any help would be appreciated.
b)Viral marketing is where its at. Give me a taste of what you're selling but don't give me the whole thing. I think people in general are inquisitive and curious. A little mystery or intrigue is alright with me.