Finding New Shit on TV

[pdub]

And re: billions of dollars wasted, I wonder whether that metric was identified by a bunch of marketing execs who would otherwise be out of a job if they had to admit that what they do is largely a waste of time.

Ah but this isn't the case ( or rather not always the case ).
Many companies have internal marketing - and can directly see the impacts of campaigns - not from the marketing firm or ad agency they are working from - but from their own results.

For instance, a company that my agency rebranded had an increase of sales directly attributed to the campaign, which spanned all medias. The increase of sales was acknowledged to be attributed to the campaign by their marketing department, not ours. And that increase of sales was in the 10s of millions. They did not pay us 10s of millions. So yes, it can work, very well.

[ousdahl]

Right on. Are you able to say what sort of product or service saw increased sales? Was there a particular media/s that were found to be particularly effective?

Unfortunately the only things I really remember from business school any more were fun little catchphrases like, “a dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow,” along with omens like, “here’s the traditional way we’ve taught marketing but it’s prob gonna obsolete cuz soon all this shit will be digital”

[ousdahl]

In hindsight I wish I had studied something else.

[pdub]

Well it wasn't just a simple TV campaign -- can't be like Mad Men anymore where you spit out a 30 second spot and a poster and you're done. Lots of channels. Direct sale/Point of sale. Search. Online video. Social - organic and paid. Out of home. Experiential. Digital display.

And it can completely backfire too - either a waste of money or a missed message -- so like anything, it has to be good to be effective.

[ousdahl]

I'll ask you this question for you to answer: If you were going to start your own fish guide business, would you get a logo? A website? Would you put up fliers? I'd say probably, yes. But why?

Well, sure. I wanna be the first guide business yall think of when wanting to drop like $500 plus tip!) to take a selfie with a trout.

But there’s so many ways to do that beyond the initial question of just throwing a ton of money at tv ad campaign.

Yes, I’d want some sort of logo/overall branding, and a website. I prob wouldn’t put up paper flyers, but I might do some google ppc type thing, so at least you’re getting your message up in places where people are already looking for guides. I’d prob do some sort of social media campaign, but I feel like that is more and more cost prohibitive, and less worth doing organically. Maybe even some ad buys in some fishing specific media! But almost certainly not a big overproduced high dollar tv campaign. But I would do a lot of word of mouth, referral, repeat guest type stuff. Work with local hotels and lodging companies for referrals too.

But this would be a niche thing - high margin, low volume, luxury tourism. That’s a different thing than just like, trying to remind the masses they prefer Coke over Pepsi.

And I doubt it’s often that small niche businesses get into big ad wars with one another. That’s more big corporations, and when it becomes less about simply bringing goods and services to market, and more about some game within itself?

[pdub]

But if all of a sudden you were the biggest fish game in town and wanted to expand your business in the state, you then would be wise to consider a TV spot, because you would have the budget to do so.

Coca Cola had to start somewhere.
They advertised the shit out of their product during WWII -- major brand loyalty.

[ousdahl]

Are there instances of the opposite - using a lack of advertising to strategically generate organic buzz?

Didn’t Chipotle refuse to do tv ads for the longest time?

[pdub]

And then Chipotle ran an effective spot in 2012 or 13 during a big event ( forgot which one, SB? ) - that got a ton of buzz.

That said, yes, there are examples of companies that don't do TV. Or advertising at all. And are successful.

Sriracha doesn't do any advertising and has built a brand that way.

[Deleted User 89]

my company doesn’t really advertise, per se, but we’ve got sales reps that visit our target buyers

we had a competitor enter the market a few years back and take some market share, but with improved messaging/advertising we’ve been taking back a good portion of that share

it’s really more word-of-mouth than anything else though

[pdub]

Call 8421212,
Call us now “”

[Deleted User 89]

any time, night or day

[ousdahl]

Yea.

So big ad campaigns certainly can help toward brand awareness and loyalty, but also aren’t necessarily necessary.

But I think at some point it did become less about just messaging markets about goods and services, and more about a market within itself. The advertising industry is valued in the hundreds of billions, if not trillions.

And yet, most consumers generally seem to view it in a net negative light. “Commercial break, time to hit the head.”

Or, if one encounters an ad on YouTube, is one more likely to watch it until the end, or to just skip it? “Well I really came here to watch kittens sneezing, but since you brought it up, yeah I’d love to watch a video about car insurance that’s even longer than the video I came to watch!”

and I wonder if there are examples of a backfire effect - people avoiding brands because of over-saturated advertising?

[zsn]

And then Chipotle ran an effective spot in 2012 or 13 during a big event ( forgot which one, SB? ) - that got a ton of buzz.

That said, yes, there are examples of companies that don't do TV. Or advertising at all. And are successful.

Sriracha doesn't do any advertising and has built a brand that way.

How much does Tesla advertise, if at all? I’d say they are doing quite well. On the other hand I have seen Boeing ads on tv. I never saw the point of that. It’s not like the common viewer is going to change his/her itinerary to fly on a Boeing plane or buy Boeing-made products for personal defense!

I do see the point of Southwest Airlines ads advertising fare sales , but like I said I was likely planning on taking a trip anyway!

[pdub]

Again, some brands can make it without advertising but Tesla is loosing money if you don’t count their credits and sells a much smaller amount of vehicles compared to other companies that do advertise.

I’d also say Tesla’s owner is a brand in of himself. And he also has said they will eventually need to spend on advertising.

[ousdahl]

So when you go to buy a car, do they eliminate Tesla as an option since they don’t advertise?

Or when zsn buys a plane ticket, does he pick the flights that fit his schedule and budget the best, or does he pick southwest because of that commercial?

[pdub]

He picks his flight more likely because of schedule and budget but if there are three choices there that are similar in schedule and budget, and he’s never heard of the other two airlines ( or a less extreme example, has seen an ad he thought was intriguing ), he’s picking southwest.

[zsn]

The scenario is closer to pdub. At least I’m going on the Southwest website to look if cost/schedule would work because of the ad, touting a fare sale.

In another case, if I was procrastinating on buying a ticket the ad maybe the push to act.

[ousdahl]

I thought of something!

Popeyes chicken sammiches.

The commercials totally made me wanna try one. I’ve ordered them a couple times since.

Of course, I’m not sure I would have ever tried them, and prob wouldn’t have even noticed the commercials, if it wuzn’t for the fried chicken thread first.

[Deleted User 89]

i’ve enjoyed the Mutombo swat and finger wag commercials

but i gotta say, his laugh is creepy af

[Deleted User 89]

i already knew most of the story, but really enjoyed Murder Among the Mormons mini-series on Netflix

(y’all should binge it since there’s now no KU games this weekend)