Television Ads: Useful or Dead?

[vangogh]

Aaron those are great commercials. I assume it's two commercials back to back in the video.

You come across well and I really like the way you show specific hats. Mentioning the celebrity associations is a nice touch too. I can see how that would work to bring people into the store.

Did you ever think of adding the video prominently on your site? I think it could do well to help bring more customers in through the site. I see you have old commercials in there if you dig, but I'm thinking featuring the video more prominently. Normally I'd say it would be ideal on the home page, but it wouldn't really fit in with your home page. A link to it on the home page could probably be added without too much trouble though.

[KristineS]

That is a terrific video Aaron. Very informative and well done.

I agree with Vangogh, that would be great on your site somewhere. Videos are a great selling tool, and it would be interesting if you did some on subjects like why to wear a hat or sun protection.

[Aaron Hats]

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, I think it does deserve a more prominent place on the site. I'll just need to figure out how to do it without disrupting the theme.

I do plan on doing some product specific videos but I need some time to dedicate to it.

[vangogh]

Aaron you could probably add a link to the video on the home page. One place you could add it is on the right side of the red bar above the image. You could even add a text link on top of the image itself. There's room in the upper right.

A link could be added in the menu on the left below the other three links or it could be added in the space below the main image.

There are definitely places to add it, the question is where will it be most effective without disrupting what's already there.

[Marcomguy]

TV advertising still works. Lots of people watch the ads and remember them - both good and bad ones. Next time you're in a group, just bring up the Mastercard "Priceless" ads or the Verizon "network" commercials and see how many nod in recognition.

[vangogh]

I agree tv advertising can still work. However remembering an ad isn't necessarily the same as the ad being successful. Some of the more memorable ads never led to more sales.

But I do agree with your point. TV ads aren't going away anytime soon. I do think the future is blurring the line between ad and content, though.

[KristineS]

I don't think ads will ever go away entirely, if for no other reason then the fact that smaller local affiliate stations make a lot of their money from local advertising. I do agree with vangogh, however, the line between content and advertising is getting increasingly blurred.

Marcomguy, it's also interesting that the ads you mentioned "Verizon" and the "Priceless" ads for Mastercard are more image ads than ads designed to sell something specific. I think that will also become more of a trend, and we'll see a lot more tv ads used to cement a brand, while the actual selling goes on elsewhere.

[Marcomguy]

Yes, those are awareness-building ads. That's an ongoing battle in advertising - some people say awareness ads are a waste of money, others say they're necessary.

My view is that you need to build awareness; the only question is how much. All measurements of awareness are based on audience research. And the fact that if you stop advertising your sales drop.

When you visit a networking group, that's analogous to running an awareness ad. You're in that group to be seen. You don't expect to do business on the spot. But people see you, remember you, and maybe call you later with some business.

The alternative to awareness ads is direct-response ads. Like those 2-minute commercials for vacuum cleaners and CD compilations. If every ad on TV were a direct-response ad, we'd turn it off in an instant.

Actually the line between awareness and direct-response isn't all that clear. If you see a direct-response ad but don't buy the product, you've still gained some awareness of the product.

[cbscreative]

There's another category of ad that hasn't been discussed except maybe in passing. My brain is not remembering the official marketing term for it right now, but it's product awareness not associated with a particular brand. The best example of this is "Got milk?" This ad campaign promoted milk, but not any certain brand. From my understanding, the research was inconclusive on whether this helped boost milk sales or not, but I'm sure other campaigns were more successful even if they weren't as memorable.

[KristineS]

Most of those ads are called "image" ads and they're usually used to boost recognition of a company or a product. In the case of "Got Milk" the ads were trying to make milk seem like a cool drink. In the case of the MasterCard "Priceless" ads, they're trying to encourage people to use Mastercard instead of Visa. Visa's "Life Takes Visa" campaign is trying to do the same thing.