"The more I find out, the less I know."
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Weather at the Frozen North
This is my personal blog. My professional blog is The Customer Service Survey I've written a book called Gourmet Customer Service. You can buy it on Amazon. (in)Frequently Asked Questions AIM Screen Name: DFNfrozenNorth
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Last Updated: Aug 07, 2008 03:29 PM
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Wednesday - March 31, 2004 at 03:37 AM inIs this the future of advertising?
(Warning: This article contains obvious ideas which others have stated first and more cogently)
Beginning with the widespread adoption of the VCR, and accelerating with the growth of the Internet and Personal Video Recorders like Tivo, it has been getting easier and easier to ignore commercial messages on TV. Of course, there was always the option of running to the bathroom during a commercial break, or fetching a beer, but now it can be as simple as the press of a single button to skip past commercials even if your bladder is empty and your can is full.
As a result, many many pundits have predicted that the line between advertising and entertainment would blur. At the one end, entertainment has started to incorporate more commercial messages, most blatantly in the way that nearly every major sporting event and venue is now named after a consumer brand. At the other end, we have this : a wonderfully entertaining short film, which also happens to be a subtle ad for American Express. If you know that this is an American Express piece, the commercial message is pretty obvious. Even if you missed the sponsorship, they get the message across without disrupting the humor too much. The other fascinating thing which American Express is doing is posting it on the Internet. I'm sure they're hoping for massive word-of-mouth exposure, and they're getting it (for example, the link from this blog and dozens of others I've seen recently). By producing an advertisement which is compelling entertainment by itself, they have the ability to bypass the traditional media (even if they're promoting this particular one on TV). An interesting topic for someone's Master's thesis: Which is the bigger threat to the TV networks: Viewers refusing to watch commercials, or advertisers bypassing TV completely for the Internet? Posted at 03:37 AM | Permalink | | | |