Positive Non-Marketing: Discuss

[ikonia]

On an unusual journey into work today I found a the person I was driving with radio hopping due to adverts in local stations. On the occasion we did hear an advert they where poor.

This applied to both local stations and national comercial radio.

A discussion started on positive non-advertising.

For example if there are 10 advert slots in a 3 hour show costing say £100 each for the week then thats £1000. If one company bought that set of advert slots for a week and at the start of the show said "local radio - brought to you without advert interuption because Johns local music - just loves the music" and then things like local magazine / bill board advertising saying the same style slogan - we love the music/show so much we've paid for you guys to not have it ruined with cheesy adverts

That would appeal to me more as a company rather than cheesy adverts that it appears people try to dodge.

I appriciate the figures I have gave are total fantasy but its only an example.

Would this scale and be more effective as a positive marketing tool for not actually ruining marketing.

Imagine a great movie on ITV - you have the cheesy sponsored by "X" logo at the start and the end I know I'd take a much more positive view of that company than the costant adverts.

Same with the football and say F1 races "Toyota sponsor itv-f1 with the new prius so you don't have your coverage interupted" much more positive than having something interupted to be told about the new prius.

In theory the practice would scale well, eg: the bigger the coverage - the bigger the marketing, but then only bigger companies would invest, so it would be proportianal again say a local radio station/tv add with local smaller companies paying cheaper costs.

I understand the impracticalities and mass loss of potential revenue, but in theory would this give a more positive view of a company than one that rams it home every 15 minutes.

[DougMcDonald]

I think the problem with say advertising at the start and the end is that those are the bits that people will avoid if possible.

You mention scaling up, but if you had say 10/15 mins of solid adverts before a film, people would just turn on ten minutes later to avoid them all.

There are some good examples of Negative marketing, and as a concept I think it certainly add's a unique feel to the product (that guy with the diamonds that i learned about in business studies years ago!) ... I just can't find any!

[ikonia]

I didn't actually mean 10 - 15 minutes of adverts before the start of a show, I meant more

10 seconds before the show starts "apple.com bringing you The green mile uninterupted" then maybe a bilboard campaign Tuesday night on itv is film night brought to you without adverts, thanks to apple !

that sort of thing

[DougMcDonald]

Ah i see what you mean.

I would think that would vastly increase the cost of adverts per second, and therefore knock any small guys out of the water

[kalniel]

I'd just forget who was mentioned at the start of the film, then turn it off before it was mentioned at the end :/

[Lucio]

Hmmm, I don't think the adverts done like that are any more memorable though, so I don't see how it would make enough of a difference for ad companies to find it worth doing.

Sky Movies already does this, and the ad's before each movie only sticks in my head because I've seen it so many times (Panasonic Vivera TV's). I certainly don't think any more positively of them for paying for that slot.

[ikonia]

interesting feedback.

I'd certainly think more of someone like panasonic who are audio visual / home enterainment marketing if there marketing was clever enough to not interupt my pleasure of audio visual / home entertainment.

As I also tried to point out, its not just the advert at the start of the show thats the marketing, its the campaign that goes with it, paper/bill boards etc etc.

It wouldn't be right for all TV, but say something like a film or F1 racing, where a break causes disruption to the overall show.

[pollaxe]

Very interesting thought/proposition.

I find myself increasingly bothered by adverts these days, particularly on the tv (the average Sky episode of Lost has me screaming due to the breaks) so I now rarely watch live tv and skip the adverts if it's recorded.

Most of my recent cinema trips (where the adverts seem to be getting worse/longer) seems to show a trend of people arriving later too. Could just be tardiness I suppose or an active "It's only the adverts we're missing," mindset.

[kalniel]

As I also tried to point out, its not just the advert at the start of the show thats the marketing, its the campaign that goes with it, paper/bill boards etc etc.

Ok, but I don't watch trailers/read paper adverts for programes. I turn on the TV to watch what I want I guess.

[chicken]

...an active "It's only the adverts we're missing," mindset.

That's my policy on Cinema-going. Turn up at the advertised time, buy tickets, go to the pub for one, return to catch the start of the film.

Why sit through 30 mins of ads + trailers?

[pollaxe]

I usually try to get a seat before the trailers start - mainly because the cinema I go to is typically packed or the choices of seating once the film's underway are usually between a chav and a hard place..

[ikonia]

Ok, but I don't watch trailers/read paper adverts for programes. I turn on the TV to watch what I want I guess.

Don't think of it as an exact example - think of the principal behind it.

For example, I'm sure if you wanted to watch say an event like Wimbledon you may check the papers for who's playing and what times - but even if you didn't walking past a bill board saying "Wimbledon uninterupted on your TV and radio thanks to IBM - we care about your multimedia experience" is a more positive feeling about IBM's marketing stratergy and to an extent company "ethics" than 2 adverts per set trying to flog you blade servers. Its not about flogging a "thing" but creating a positive impression on the market so that when you do want to flog a thing at a targeted market eg: IBM in a server catalog - your perception of IBM is "we do care about your experience" despite the kit.

Same could be said of radio - if you had a great show you loved listening to and its constantly got adverts in that you swap around channels to dodge, then imagine that uninterupted, I'd have a positive view of the person who advertised with the user experience in mind.


Don't focus on the examples I've given - just the idea behind it. Even if you turned off for the 20 second intro at the start of the show - you'd still be aware at some point that company X provided this feature without interuption so it would stick in at some level.

[chicken]

That's why I turn up for the ticket on time. At our cinema (and most I think) seats are allocated to your ticket, so it makes no odds if you don't turn up until after the ads for getting a decent seat if you've already got your ticket.

[Whiternoise]

I do remember some time ago when one of the free to air channels did something like that though, they got some company to do a promotion at the beginning to show the whole film uninterrupted, and to be fair if it's a good film, it'll be once every half hour rather than once every 15 minutes.

The one that really forced me to stop watching commercial channels (i literally only watch BBC TV now) was Channel 4's habit of putting an ad break 5 minutes into a program. I mean that's just ridiculous, i've already watched 3 minutes of happy clappy diarrhoea adverts why should i suffer another 5 minutes?!

Interesting though, i do turn up on time to see the adverts at the cinema because they seem a lot more appealing - i don't know why, but it's almost that "Aw come on, the ad's are the best bit!" mindset.

[chicken]

...Channel 4's habit of putting an ad break 5 minutes into a program. I mean that's just ridiculous, i've already watched 3 minutes of happy clappy diarrhoea adverts why should i suffer another 5 minutes?!

That method was designed to be of benefit afaik. You get an intro then ads, then two long sections with only 1 gap, then ads just before the ending. The idea being that the main part of the show has minimal interruption. Of course it works better for them too as you're more likely to stay sat through the ads if they are there then any old random part of the show because you won't want to miss the next bit.

[kalniel]

Don't think of it as an exact example - think of the principal behind it.

I get what you're saying. But couldn't the same thing be achieved with more effect by simply donating money to charity/planting trees and then advertising that you'd done that?