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Tailored Commercials, Pt 2
Posted by Joel Witmer on August 06, 2008
Last week TiVo released its first batch of data measuring second-by-second commercial audience numbers. Interesting stuff.
(Caveats: The data only cover May 2008 and the sample is 200,000 TiVo users who voluntarily participated in the study)
While everyone skips commercials, according to the research viewers skip fewer ads that they see as relevant to their circumstances. In other words, people will actually watch commercials if they find the commercials relevant.
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A week ago I wrote about the BMW commercial that aired during the season premier of Mad Men. That commercial held my attention because it was tailored to the program on which it was airing. From a purely aesthetic perspective having a non-disruptive commercial is preferable to the typical clatter that interrupts my television watching. I watched the BMW commercial in part because it was as seamlessly integrated into the show as a commercial can be without becoming a product placement. I wasn’t jarred away from the show enough to warrant changing the channel.
What the TiVo research suggests is that people will watch commercials if the commercials are seamlessly integrated into the viewer’s daily existence as a sentient being who has thoughts and concerns that range larger than the immediacy of the current television show. In other words, if you’re a teenager who suffers from acne you’re likely to watch a commercial about acne treatments. The commercial addresses something about your life that you find important. The commercial is non-disruptive because it’s not disrupting your life.
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Geographical commercial targeting already exists. The next step is targeting on a more precise scale. Right now the show itself is a functional proxy for this more precise targeting — acne medication commercials air during Gossip Girls, not during the evening news.
But perhaps one day the targeting will be even more precise and the TiVo fast forward function will feel just a little teeny bit unnecessary.
Tagged with: advertising, commercials, data, television, tivo
Possibly related posts:
- Sea Change in Ad Sales >
- Representing Data - NFL edition >
- BMW + Mad Men = Tailored Commercial = Great >
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