16 December 2009

TV is a popular medium, but how does it drive sales?


Yesterday Deloitte released a new study finding that TV is the most popular medium in the U.S., with 34% saying so, an increase from last year. The Internet came in second. (You can download the study here.) This is a timely follow-up to the previous post and discussion about TV's popularity among teenagers.

Speaking of research, we spent the morning yesterday reviewing the latest copy test results for a long-running TV campaign. It was a fun meeting because we scored incredibly well, giving us confidence for the day when we unleash this advertising on the marketplace.

The most successful TV commercials leave the consumer able to do two things. (1) Recall the brand name along with the commercial itself. (2) Retell the story line along with the product itself.

Many will tell you that TV advertising should inform, entertain, incite, et cetera, and those are all true depending on exactly what you sell. None of them matter, though, unless the audience remembers the brand name and understands the product being sold. (It helps if you are selling something relevant to the audience, but that's a story for another day.)

2 comments:

  1. God it is refreshing to read something where people actually understand advertising. I will never forget a Stuperbowl (sic) party I went to years ago where someone actually said "Wow that was the best TV ad I ever saw, I wonder what it was that they were selling." Thanks, Alan Beim, Herbert, Holden, Slater and Beim www.adsthatwork.com.

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  2. You're welcome, Alan! Hope to see you back here at Ad Majorem. The future is not just about cool new media, it's about cool new metrics to make sure we're selling the stuff we advertise.

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