Note the way the title of this post was written. Now, take a look at this New York Times Ad called “Viewers Fast-Forwarding Past Ads? Not Always“. The key factoid in the article is that users of digital video recorders (like TIVO) don’t always time-shift their viewing and don’t simply skip past the commercials … to the tune of 40%.
I suppose that’s ONE way of looking at it (40% commericials are watched). But, the MUCH more significant perspective … at least from an advertiser’s point of view … is that a whopping 60% of the commercials are NOT being watched!
Like it or not, the world is changin’ … and right quick! Are you an advertiser? If so, what are you going to do about this?
Dig deeper into the article and you find out about tactics like;
- Running ads while fast-forwarding is taking place
- Running ads as marquees at the bottom of the screen
- Asking viewers if they would like to see an ad after the show is over
I understand WHY these attempts are made, but can’t the advertisers see that these tactics are just bucking the specific efforts of the viewer to NOT see their interruptive commercial in the first place?
The world of commercial advertising is going to have to get VERY creative … in a hurry … to overcome this trend…. Embracing relationship building, evangelism and great customer care are just a couple of steps in the right direction.
