Will we ever see an add free society? (1 Viewer)

[Christ Reynolds]

obligatory futurama quote, fry experiences his first 'in-dream' advertisement:

Leela: "Didn't you have ads in the 20th century?"

Fry: "Well sure, but not in our dreams! Only on tv and radio...and in magazines...and movies. And at ball games, on buses, and milk cartons, and t-shirts, and bananas, and written on the sky. But not in dreams!

CJ

 

[DeathStar1]

I'm not saying ads arn't usefull in spreading info. I just hate how good programs, or in the case of radio, good formats, are pulled because advertisers beleive no one is paying attention to them....and there for not buying their products. And if the ads arn't selling, no need to keep the program around..despite the fact that alot of people may be tuning in..

 

[Armando Zamora]

Amen Holadem...if it weren't for ads:

1) I'd still be "Just doing it" instead of "Protecting this house";

2) My wife would still be wearing boring lingerie and ho-hum undergarments instead of "stuff" from Victoria Secrets;

3) Even though I don't use the product, I wouldn't have been able to drool at the hottie, in the Old Spice deoderant commercial, glistening with sweat as she's dancing away in a club;

4) I will never eat at Burger King again for fear of the King himself stalking me where ever I go; and

5) I'd never have found out if Miller Lite "Tastes Great" or is "Less filling".

 

[Holadem]

Have you any example of a program that was pulled despite a large audience, because people weren't buying into the ads?

Programs are cancelled prematurely because of poor audiences. Nothing to do directly with ad performance. If an advertiser feel they are not getting a good return on their investement and wishes to retire the ads, others will be glad to buy the same time slots as long as the host program is performing well.

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H

 

[Chu Gai]

Look at the success of QVC, HSN, Trudeau, and all the other infomercials out.

 

[RobertR]

Why isn’t it reasonable to want your ad to reach the most people (go to the programming with the largest audience)? If you’re saying that audience estimates are wrong, what’s your evidence (a “feeling” or anecdotal evidence doesn’t suffice)?

 

[DeathStar1]

Hmm, would VCR tapes, Collge Dorms, DVR's and formerly Tivos count as 'wrong audience estimates'?

I was just browsing a board with a bunch o' people complaining how one format was taken off in place of another when both where moderatley popular. Just happens the other one was a better ad demo.

At least that's how I read the note .

 

[RobertR]

I don't know how advertisers are addressing those issues, but they don't apply to your original post, which had to do with radio formatting. If one format more effectively reaches an audience, why shouldn't an advertiser use it?

 

[MarkHastings]

Don't you mean "My badd"?

And I agree with Holadem, as much as I feel that ads don't influence me, they do.

Case in point (which was brought up earlier) Coke and Pepsi...Why aren't the other colas on top? They all basically taste the same, it's just that Coke and Pepsi's popularity comes from ADVERTISING! If not for ads, Coke and Pepsi would be just as obscure as Snapple Soda.

The thing with ads is, when it's for a product we like, we don't think that the ads have any effect on us because we like the product and assume we'd buy it even if the ads aren't around. While this may be the case, it's the ads that are maintaining your loyalty to that product. Reinforcement is key!!!! I mean, I always like Dairy Queen and I don't need an ad to get me to go there, but if I don't see ads on TV, I may forget about liking their ice cream. And even if an ad may not make me want to go there right that second, the thought has been placed in my head and in the near future (when deciding on ice cream places) I may say "Hey! Let's go to Dairy Queen!" - Of course I'll think that this decision was totally driven by my own mind and had nothing to do with an ad, but it was definitely the ad that kick started my thinking of DQ some time ago.

On the other hand, when there is a product that you won't buy, you (obviously) see the ads as being ineffective. Since we don't buy everything that we see in an ad, we tend to think that ads don't have any effect on us, but in some subliminal way, they do.

 

[DeathStar1]

Ok, I was using TV ads as a referance, since the topic had veered off toward that area .

Here's a question I was wondering about, however, getting back to my orginal post. Does anyone know why CBS FM Oldies was pulled off the market? Low ratings, or low ad sales? What I've heard is that oldies markets have been pulled due to low ad sales.

 

[Holadem]

I disagree, it's not at all that simple. There is no way the success of these two company can be attributed to advertising, as opposed to say, the fact that Coke invented the damn thing, and everyone else is mostly a copy cat. The prominence of Coke ads is a result of their success, rather than the cause.

On a vaguely related topic, I used to be a Coke head (ha ha), until college, where apparently my campus had an exclusive deal with Pepsi. No Coke vending machine to be found anywhere on campus, all Pepsi. By the time I graduated, I was a Pepsi dude, Coke now tastes like shite (I exagerate).

What do you call that, corporate cohersion? Whatever it is, I think it's far worse than all the ads in the world.

--
H

 

[RobertR]

Ads inform us about a product, and they also affect our subjective evaluation of that product. I don’t think it’s the ad that keeps us buying the product, though. If we like the product, we keep buying it (why would we forget we like something?). If we don’t like it, we don’t buy.

By the way, there’s no evidence that subliminal advertising has any effect (this has been addressed by skeptic organizations). The idea that you’re going to buy a bottle of something because there’s a “hidden” naked woman on the label or the word “BUY!” appears every X number of frames simply isn’t supported by evidence.

Yes, Holadem, a lot of the Coke-Pepsi market dominance has to do with the exclusive distribution deals they make, not advertising.

 

[MichaelBA]

Have you ever bought something based primarily on an ad (even if you had a pre-existing interest), but later lamented the purchase?

 

[Holadem]

Yup.

$100 IIRC. I though this would strenghten my abs and ease my back pains. Problem was, I was already in such a good shape (heck, I had a vaguely visible six-pack) the thing was completely useless. I gave it up after a couple of weeks. That was 10 years ago, nowadays my rapidly inflating beer gut makes me wonder if I dreamt the whole thing.

--
H

 

[D. Scott MacDonald]

I don't know the answer to this, but almost by definiton it is harder to generate add income from an Oldies station.

 

[MarkHastings]

I don't think I totally agree with that. The reason Coke has maintained itself, may very well be (as you described) due to it's success, but Coke would never be what it is today if not for advertising.

Coke would probably still be here without ads, but it's the ads that pushed Coke into the category that it's in today (Mega-whatever ya wanna call it).

Have you ever seen the OLD Coke ads (not tv)? They used to boast holistic healing, they used to promote family life, Hell, they even invented our image of Santa!!!!

While Coke may be a great soda, I just don't see how it could have gained popularity (when it first came out) without some sort of slick ad campaign.

Here's an interesting read:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ccmphtml/colahist.html

Coke and Advertising seem to go hand in hand. I just can't see how Coke could be what it is today if not for advertising.

Sure, Coke would have sold without ads, but quality doesn't always mean longevity. Longevity needs quality, but it also needs to remind people of that quality.

 

[Dheiner]

Well, its' original spread might have had something to do with it containing cocaine.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

No, we will not see an ad free society, at least not as long as things like t-shirts with slogans continue to exist because that's a form of advertising. It may not be as direct as say a Television commercial but if I were to wear a coca-cola shirt that'd basically be me advertising the product.

I also need ads because otherwise how would I know what football game my local station is televising on a given Sunday afternoon? Or how would I discover a new show that I am interested in watching? Ads aren't designed singularly to get you to part with your money, some just want you to part with your time.

 

[Micah Cohen]

Thanks, Lew. (I was gonna say, "THANKS, CAPTAIN OBVIOUS!" but there was no real call for sarcasm.)

My post follows your post about OTA TV, but I started writing it while reading Jay's post about paying for advertising... And then I hit submit and you had already posted before me... And then I look like I was three posts too late, and talking about something I didn't mean to talk about. Know what I mean?

Just didn't want nobody thinking I didn't know what "OTA" stood for, is all.

Move along...

MC

 

[Eric Kahn]

they do NOT taste the same, there is a great difference in their taste, now, for me, all beer, including guiness tastes the same, and that is very bad