I think TV commercials generally suck and rarely hold my attention. My favorite commercials of the year run during the Super Bowl when a 30-second spot costs, what, $2 million-plus to advertise? But even then, ads may be funny but aren’t personalized to me.
I’m a single guy living in my own place — but do you want to guess how many times I’ve seen TV commercials advertising tampons, diapers, beauty care products, tobacco patches, and college preparatory classes, none of which are applicable to my lifestyle?
Maybe you’ve seen similar commercials that are fun to look at but have nothing to do with you. Have you ever wondered if you could control the advertising you saw on TV?
It doesn’t have to be limited to commercials; imagine watching a music award show and voting, via a TV remote control, what song a performer would sing next. Have you ever wondered, nay, wished that you could control what you watch?
Wish and wonder no more because the six largest cable television companies in the United States are eager to satisfy your cravings — by offering relevant advertising.
Meet David Verklin, the chief executive of a new conglomerate of Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, Cox Communications, Charter Communications, and Bright House Networks. For about a year, the six firms had met once a month to determine the best plan of attack for Project Canoe, now called Canoe Ventures.
Their goal was to enable advertisers to buy targeted and customized ads, mash together geography and demography, and offer different versions of the same company’s product line to different consumers.
In a recent interview with David Kaplan of paidContent.org, Verklin explains what he calls creative versioning:
This is a very simple product. It uses existing cable zone technology, where we overlay the 1,200 cable zones in the U.S. with demographics. Using a U.S. census map or an Experian map, we can convert geography to demography. This product will allow us to take one spot on say, ESPN, and in that spot, a marketing like Citibank, in households above $125,000 in personal annual income, can run a brokerage commercial; from $125,000 to $150,000, a home equity loan creative spot; and for households under $50,000 in income, a free checking spot. So that’s purchasing one spot, but allowing the insert of three creative versions.
In this 3-minute video courtesy of AdWeek, Verklin elaborates on shifting television from medium to platform:
I think this sounds great and I await the introduction in early 2009. Now if only Google can offer a similar service, the subject of my next article…
What do you think about TV advertising? Do you watch it? Are there certain stations that captivate you more than others?
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Ari Herzog is an online media strategist and Newburyport City Councilor-Elect.
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I loathe TV advertising. Like you, the commercials that I see are useless and of little value to me.
I don’t watch TV “live” anymore. I use my DVR so that I can FF through the advertisings. I may miss something by doing that, but it sure isn’t taking anything away from what I’ve got now.
I do watch the commercials during the Super-Bowl. I’ve been know to FF through the ball game just see the next batch of commercials. But, the next day, if I see one on, more than likely I’m going to be FF through it as well.
This guys idea? I’ll just have to wait to see how well it adapts I suppose.
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I never liked commercials and rarely watch them. When When I watch TV (pretty rarely actually) I automatically put it mute the second the show or movie fades to black. I don’t like being told what to do honestly, and that’s what commercials do. Most of the advertisements are for things I don’t care about anyway. If the commercials were for farmers markets, organic foods or local stores, boutiques, restaurants, etc, I probably wouldn’t feel so harsh about it. I’m not totally against advertisement per se, I just don’t like what they are trying to get me to buy.
Carla´s last blog post..Cautious or paranoid? Finding balance with green living
I like most people hate watching commercials. I usually DVR most shows to bypass commercials, or if I don’t I always make sure I have a backup show to go to once commercials hit. I do however think this is a great idea and step in the right direction for advertisers. Making advertising more direct and possibly even interactive could help out a lot. The issue cable companies will face will be for households. It’s easier to target to people living on their own, but how would a company target a specific ad to a household full of varying age members and genders? This will be something they will have to work on.
I don’t have a DVR, Scott and Craig, so I’ll live through you. Are you able to see commercials or does each fade to black get replaced immediately with a fade from black? And are you able to pause and watch a commercial if you choose?
Carla, what if TV commercials were less about advertisers pushing content to you but you choosing what you wanted to see, not unlike using a remote to switch to a new channel? That way you could choose which CSAs and organic food stores to watch and not watch what some media buyer thinks you ought to see?
Yes, the commercials are just visible. Like FF through a VCR tape. Yes, I can watch the commercials if I choose. I have heard, though it’s been a while, that for folks like myself who fast forward through commercials yet can see them, “they” are trying to still make the commercials capable of selling their product. I can’t remember how they planned on doing that though.
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RT @ariherzog: Facebook advertising (or any online ads) should use Canoe’s planned model for Q2 2009: [link to post] (nice post Ari)
– http://twitter.com/PressReleasePR/statuses/1080975000
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Interesting, but I’ve heard it many times before. We’ll see if advertisers will pay and cable systems will have the tcchnology to implement.
Personally, even though I DVR shows to watch, I end up stopping to watch ads that look interesting and cool. Research by the Tivo folks shows that ads that are DVR’d actually get watched.
Shaun Dakin
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RT @PressReleasePR @ariherzog: Facebook advertising should use Canoe’s planned model for Q2 2009: [link to post] (nice post Ari)
– http://twitter.com/johnhaydon/statuses/1080979769
– Posted using Chat Catcher
RT @ariherzog: @PressReleasePR Facebook advertising should use Canoe’s planned model for Q2 2009: [link to post] #IsCool
– http://twitter.com/isCool/statuses/1080983218
– Posted using Chat Catcher
As a UK-dweller, I must admit, much our TV advertising is much more Britishly-humorous that American adverts, and therefore only ever-so-slightly more watchable. But it must be said, I don’t think I have ever bought anything as a direct result of TV adverts in my whole life.
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