TV Commercials See The Connection
As it’s the New Year, and having watched a little TV over the holiday period, I’ve decided to write something slightly different for this week…
Over recent years we’ve seen an increasing number of TV commercials mention their Websites addresses and Twitter usernames, but rarely have those commercials integrated fully with online marketing. The traditional TV Ad call-to-action is ‘go buy our product at this retailer‘.
As with most consumers these days, I’m fairly numb from the years of TV Ads. Yes, they still achieve branding successes, but few have pulled the customers in to a marketing channel where they can maintain that relationship directly.
Two TV Commercials recently caught my eye, because they had used modern direct marketing techniques…
1. Smirnoff – Nightlife Exchange Project (click here to view the Ad)
Sweeping over a spectacular party scene, clearly an exclusive event, secretive even… and you missed it. Describing and cutting briefly to the unique and exciting events; once in a lifetime, beautiful and exotic locations…and you missed it. And then a date is stated, and a link to Facebook is displayed.
This Ad exudes classic marketing tricks: Although difficult to achieve in TV these days, it manages to stand out, different from the rest. It offers exclusivity, it delivers on those key wants of it’s target audience: a party you’ll never forget; an escape, to another world. And most of all, it has a clear and strong call-to-action – connect on Facebook to be part of the crowd.
2. Powerade Zero
Celebrities have always played a big part in TV commercials. And of course, nothing sells sports drinks better than an elite athlete. But this isn’t just an Ad featuring ‘Jessica Ennis’ (the marketing face of my own city, Sheffield, by the way). The Ad is purely a teaser. Ending with a clear call-to-action… Watch something unusual and special on our website.
With sexual overtones, and no reveal of what the online video actually contains, you are strongly impelled to go and watch that video. I cannot deny it, I had to watch it. And no other TV commercial has impelled me to do that…
You can watch the session referred to here.
So what can we learn from these TV commercials? What have those Ad Agencies achieved that stands out from the rest?
I’d argue above all, that they have effectively transferred prospects from the one-way marketing media of TV, to the direct and rich media of the internet. Transferred those prospects from a high cost marketing medium, to a direct consumer connection, with the ability to repeatedly talk to that qualified prospect at very low future costs.
Another key aspect is ‘engagement’. Once the consumer is engaged by the company they are much more likely to feel a connection with the product, and a desire to consume it.
But We Don’t Do TV Advertising
Most SMEs cannot afford the high cost/high risk of TV Advertising. But across the board, the process of advertising, and the result you want, is the same. Your Advertising must achieve the best ROI you can get from it.
In most businesses minds that just translates to ‘more sales’. But your true goal should be to bring prospects in to a marketing channel that you own and control. And that is easily achieved by SMEs.
When advertising, in any form, your primary aim should be to bring everyone who responds to your ad, in to your own marketing channel – not to sell a product to them. There’s plenty of time for that, once you’ve captured their interest.
Blymi Media core aim is to fulfil that. To deliver a complete online system that builds a marketing channel you own, full of prospective and existing customers that have expressed interest in your products. A system which enables you to contact your customers, quickly, easily, at very low cost.
To find out more, grab our complimentary guide book and consultation session here.