Will an old idea become the TiVo killer?
TiVo has changed the way millions of Americans watch television - much to the chagrin of advertisers, as this new way involves skipping commercials. Thanks to TiVo, the benefit of this form of advertising has been largely reduced. So if people would rather watch the show than the commercial, and are now able to do just that, then why not be the show?
In a sense, this is how television started. On the 1950s program, "Your Show of Shows," advertisements were regularly the source of songs and sketches. Other advertisers would have their names included in the titles of shows, such as the "Goodyear Television Playhouse," or "General Electric Theater." This latest trend takes the idea a step further, and makes the actual content of the show use a company's brand or product as source material. Read the Article Here. Even if the show is a flop, the purpose of marketing a product can still be fulfilled. Does anyone remember the show, "Viper?" This was a show on NBC that was a naked promotion for the newly available Dodge Viper. The show died, but everyone was made aware of what a Viper was, how it sounded, how it looked zooming through city streets... Therefore, if you are a multi-billion dollar car manufacturer, this could be a nice route for you to take. A much simpler approach, however, is the traditional product placement. While your product would not be the sole focus of the show, it would get prominent placement. In a television spot, it would again get around the TiVo guard dog and be seen by that show's regular stable of viewers. Sites like Media Match Maker specialize in building ties between advertisers and film/TV producers to create just these kinds of opportunities.
So while it may be unrealistic for a company to consider producing an entire film or television show around their product, the concept of beating placement through inclusion in a film or television show may eventually beat out the traditional 30 second ad spot.
What is more, you wouldn't have to be held accountable for blighting the landscape with something as ugly as a television show like, "Viper."
About the Author: Eric Reid
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1 comment so far
Roger Hurni says:
I would like to offer a couple of additional possibilities for TIVO and the 30-second spot which would not kill it but make it part of the consumer TIVO experience.
The first one is that TIVO downloads advertising right to a specific consumer’s TIVO box that is relevant to them. Since TIVO can be a part of a home network it can have an IP address. If TIVO could line up the programs a consumer is recording with the demographics those programs attract and the advertisers who have products suited for that audience, commercials can simply be a part of the menu options on a TIVO box. In other words, if a TIVO box records 24, CSI and Heroes and the demographic that watches those shows is in line with the demographic of let’s say BMW, then BMW could load a 2 minute commercial on that TIVO box introducing their newest 325. The likelihood that a consumer would select the commercial to watch is pretty high. And instead of BMW being charged by the size of a show’s audience they could pay TIVO for each viewing. It’s kind of like pay-per-click ads on the Internet.
The second way for the 30-second commercial to co-exist with TIVO is to take a lesson from geo-targeted web banner advertising. We start again with the fact that the TIVO box is connected to the Internet. By understanding which zip code a TIVO is in, network and cable channels don’t just have a choice between national an local (you can read “local” as citywide) commercials to run but they can re-define “local” as the pizza joint just down the block. Television advertising would be open to a greater amount of advertisers and at low prices. More importantly, it would give the consumer the kind of information that maters most to them which is information that is truly neighborhood specific.