Me and my usual hangouts [read psyche,navin,pradeep] were having a discussion yesterday on whether the strategy break introduced in IPL to introduce more ad time actually makes any impact as most people either flip channels or take a piss break etc as they know for sure that in the next 8 odd mins nothings gonna happen.So the actual ratio of those who watch the match and those who watch the ad would be pretty dismal.
This can be true for any ad break,as people mostly start flipping when the ad break starts.So this leads to the question if tv advertising actually makes any impact.The answer might be if done right then definitely yes.An excellent example would be the vodafone cartoon ads made for the IPL season.I want to catch the new ones every day and Vodafone get excellent exposure for the money they pay.Similar examples would be Hero Honda-Roadies or CenterFresh-Roadies ads.Smart placements good return on investment.
But this further led me to think whether all these ads actually make me shell out money[the primary purpose of any ad].Lets cover my expenditure and how i decide on what to spend on.I use airtel mobile because an airtel connection was offered to me the day i joined my company and not because of Rahman's tune or Vidya Balan or Madavan or SRK.The clothes i wear are mostly bought during discount sales and are chosen on my mood at that moment.The shoes i wear fall in the same category.The investment i make is chosen from the kind of returns the mutual funds have given historically.The stocks i buy based on their valuation and bottom lines.The restaurants i eat at are mostly chosen for convenience and taste.
Countering the above argument the brand value and the perception of the product built over time does influence a guy to buy something.Nike,Adidas et all spend so much money sponsoring teams and players because they add the extra zing to their products.Similar the macho ads of Bajaj Pulsar make it the bike of choice for youngsters and the JagoRe ads did influence people to vote[excluding lazy buggers like me].
So is an ad effective or not? i dont know for sure.But what is evident is that an ad made and placed smartly is whats important rather than pay exorbitant amounts to superstars.
5 Legendary Chennai Movie Theatre Advertisements
7 years ago
3 comments:
First of all, Nice post. I would like to point out one angle which you seemed to have missed out. Take the example of your Airtel connection. Assume that there were three dealers offering Airtel, Vodafone and Idea connections to you and your colleagues chose one randomly. You don't know which one to choose because all of them have identical packages to offer. Here your instinct would make you go to Airtel in case you were moved by vidya balan or ar rahman. There the money spent on the ad comes into fore.
The money spent on ads is most likely to spread awareness and is mostly never used to attract customers directly. It is an indirect effect.
The purpose of any ad is to make the viewer a consumer of the prdt/service.I love the vodafone ads but will it ever move me to take one?I dnt think so because from my experience Airtel has unmatched network and services and not because of VidyaBalan/ArRahman.
And in the case of well known brands like airtel and vodafone,they dont really have to spread awareness.Consumers know them pretty well.
But yes as you said,the ad might influence the consumer when he\she is trying out a new service or product.So it might really be creating an awareness of the product in the consumer's mind hoping to translate it into some cash.
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