Bridging The Gap Between Off-Line And On-Line Advertising :: A Superbowl Case Study
The Super Bowl is the most watched event of the year and last year, it was watched by a staggering 114.4 million people. If you're in charge of marketing or advertising for your company, this number is probably your target audience. So if you're going to advertise during this show you'll want to know how best to bridge the gap between off-line and on-line advertising.
First and foremost, we have to understand the Super Bowl isn't exactly a normal advertising event. It's the Super Bowl . The average viewer doesn't care about media buying and creative artistry. They are there to watch the game, which is what they will do and they know nothing else. So it's not like they're watching TV commercials or anything else that might interest them in your product.
The second thing you need to keep in mind is that the Super Bowl is a TV event. The ads are on TV and that's where the vast majority of the people who watch it are watching. If you're not on TV, then your ad is going to be missed by 90% of the audience. The Super Bowl is different from other advertising because it's being watched live. So if you're not there at that time , then you're already behind.
So to recap, when it comes to the Super Bowl and advertising during this event the goal isn't just to get as many people as possible to recall seeing your ad or product. It's about making them think about your product during a big event when they are most likely going to want what they see advertised during it.
But What Is "Advertising" Anyway?
Advertising is a full time job. It costs millions of dollars and it takes an intense amount of planning and expertise to do well at it and get results. So when we're talking about marketing and advertising, we're actually referring to a huge number of other things that are often neglected. All these other tools potentially reach the same audience as TV advertising, but they cost nothing: print , outdoor , radio , the internet , Facebook, Twitter and blogs .
That's why this industry has resulted in so many people going out of business. They aren't prepared to make one stop at marketing. They choose to ignore the other many tools available and expect advertising to be enough.
But you can't advertise your product for free, it doesn't work that way. You need money or some other form of compensation for your efforts, even if it is just a free sample or a discount on the purchase of your product in the future. So all these other tools are expensive and this is why we don't think people are prepared to master them because they don't want to pay for them. This is why they fail so often.
But why pay money for something when you can get it for free? Well, you need to understand that everything has a cost. What do you think you're paying when you buy an item at Wal-Mart? You're paying the manufacturer and the store's salaries as well as their marketing department and all the other costs associated with keeping them open. So why not cut out the middle man and just make your own product yourself?
The reason is that most people don't know how to do that. They have no idea how to make a product (or by which method), and even if they did, there are 10 other things associated with doing it. If you didn't know how to make a product, how would you sell it? How would you ship it? Where would your customers come from? This is why we are so specialized. Because even if they had the skill to do something, they don't have the knowledge of what else is involved or that can help them to do it better and more efficiently or the resources.
So when we think about marketing and advertising, we are really thinking about all the other ways to reach people for cheaper than TV ads. We're talking about Facebook ads , Google Adwords , Twitter and a thousand other things that cost nothing but can be targeted by demographic so accurately that they are more targeted than TV advertising.
So why aren't people taking advantage of these other outlets? Because they don't have the money to invest in them. The advertising industry is like any other business. They have a budget and know how much they are going to spend on marketing and advertising. They don't have an unlimited account, so they need to work within it and use it wisely. But it's not like they're just throwing money out the window, because that would be foolish. They are investing it very wisely in order to reach their goals.
So all this is leading to the conclusion that, as we've said many times before, you can't advertise on TV without knowing how to do it in other ways . So if you are going to make a TV ad, you will not be successful unless you do other things as well. You need to master print , outdoor , radio advertising and all of the other ways available before you can expect any success with TV ads.
But this is where the myth of "TV proven tactics" comes in. There are supposedly many ways to sell a product, but they only work with the right audiences, because there are different people for every market, and the market only changes though television.
The problem with this thinking is that it's just not true. There are no secrets and there is nothing magical about TV advertising. It's a very specific thing that you need to know how to do well before you can do it well . It's not a broad generalization that can be done by anyone. So if you are a marketer or advertising executive, it means that you are responsible for making sure that you have the knowledge to do it right. You need to know the why and how behind it.
So what exactly is the "why" and "how"? The whole purpose of this industry is to help people make smart decisions, so don't make dumb ones on your own behalf with all of this.
People buy commercials because they want to see some form of entertainment during that time as well as to advertise their product for them.
Conclusion
So let's summarize some of the main points we have talked about. Advertising isn't just a bunch of sneaky tricks used to make people buy something they don't need. It is an important part of our American economy and it is the result of consumerism and the need to be sold things. We live in a society where we are told that we can be anything we want, but that there's not guarantee for us to get it otherwise.
Because if you don't advertise your product then everyone else does and you'll go out of business from all the advertising budget overruns by your competition as well as lack of sales. This is why TV ads work.