The good news, as I\’ve written in past posts, is that new ways to devour video – online, via mobile phones, etc. – are rising in popularity among consumers. Even better news is that TV-viewing continues to rise along with it – making it easier for old-style marketers to toe the digital waters while keeping a foot on firm land (aka traditional media).
The Nielsen Company last week reported that the average American spent 127 hours and 15 minutes per month in front of the (traditional) tube in May 2008. That was up from 121 hours and 48 minutes the same month in 2007.
\”Commercial television is alive and well\”¦ despite the adoption of other platforms,\” said John Burbank, chief marketing officer of Nielsen. In addition, he noted that most people are viewing TV shows commercials and all, since only five percent of TV viewing was done in \”timeshifting\” fashion (such as watching shows recorded on a DVR and skipping the ads).
That\’s why Nielsen\’s report is great news for all marketers. In spite of the new ways viewers can watch their \”stories,\” they\’re still doing the watching in a traditional manner: In front of the TV set, while the show is actually airing. Television commercials, then, are still an important way to reach consumers – and are a crucial part of permission-based message marketing.
After all, best practices dictate that consumers must engage the brand first by signing up for texts and emails. So they must be enticed to do so with ads that promote a short code, an email address, and/or a Web site with a sign-up form. Because of this symbiotic relationship between old and new media, TV marketing will only increase in importance and efficacy as digital platforms do.
Heck, with the right platform you can even see which TV ads got the most people to sign up for marketing messages!
Eydie Cubarrubia
Marketing Communications Manager, mobileStorm
“I’d rather you text me”