Advertising & TiVo Part 2

A year ago I created a post on a trend – the impact of DVR usage on TV ads…

“TiVo has changed advertising. Since people can fast-forward through ads on television these days with TiVo (or another DVR of choice), ads get the short-shrift.”

I made a few notes on what the ad world could to do to compensate- two of the areas were step up the creativity and utilize in-show product placement.

Make really interesting TV ads: Some people will rewind to see an eye-catching ad if they feel like it looks interesting or if it looks particularly relevant to them. Make them interesting, when people are fast-forwarding, they can still see the ad (albeit in fast motion), but they will stop for a compelling reason. Give them a reason.

Product Placement: Product placement ads – where advertisers pay a show to include their product during the actual show – may become more common. A viewer can’t miss these placements, and they may even be more effective.

Tomorrow’s Trends: Advertising & TiVo.

Following along this trend – today, there was an interesting article on the impact of DVRs on advertising called: DVRs cause advertising creativity.

Some interesting excerpts:

Some of the most creative thinking in television these days has nothing to do with comedy or drama. It’s about the commercials.

Fueled by a growing sense of desperation, networks are inserting games, quizzes and mini-dramas into commercial breaks. They’re incorporating more product pitches into programming.
…
This is all being done to stop viewers with DVRs from fast-forwarding through advertisements, or to circumvent those that do.
…
An estimated 17 percent of American homes now have digital video recorders. Nielsen estimates that in prime-time, nearly half of 18-to-49-year-old viewers with DVRs are watching recorded programs instead of live ones. Of these, six in 10 skip through the ads.

PostStar.com.

The whole article is interesting. I like this quote from the article:

“A commercial has to be like a DVD extra,” he said. “It has to be an added value, not an inconvenience.”

I agree… think about the super bowl. Many people actually try to watch those ads. DVRs will spur additional creativity in TV ads and the necessity to be a pleasant or even compelling experience for consumers.

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