Articles
Ad Clutter
Posted: 04.24.07 by to Resource Review
I just read an interesting article in Ad Age (4/2/07 issue). Coming from a traditional ad agency background, I find this stuff very interesting and am intrigued at how this effects the social marketing world I now know and love. So, I thought I would share (and I’m feeling kind of chatty).
The article was on ad clutter. As consumers, we can relate to this: We are hit everyday with anywhere from 254 to 5000 commercial messages. OMG! And the industry is doing nothing about it. This makes sense to me since radio folks, TV folks, newspaper folks, all of them, make their living on selling ad space. So, no, I can’t imagine that they are anxious to decrease the number of ads they accept on their media vehicles. (Case in point: Clear Channel Radio led the way in offering :30 spots in addition to the traditional :60s. Their theory was that the :30 is as impactful as a :60, which in some cases it is. Clear Channel, and now others, sell these :30s at a lower rate — typically 70% of a :60 — giving the advertiser some stretch to their budgets, but now they can also run more commercials in a commercial break.)
I digress. Anyway, “cutting through the clutter” is becoming more challenging as new media vehicles appear — mobile, door hangers, the Goodyear Blimp. Clutter leading to more clutter — perfect. On top of that, clutter, like beauty, is in the eyes (and ears) of the beholder: A magazine ad seems less intrusive to someone reading through their favorite magazine on a lazy Sunday afternoon then a TV commercial. So what do we do? What we at Worldways have been doing: Look at the consumer as they move through their day from medium to medium. Try to get a handle on what their day looks like from their perspective. Take a look at permission marketing which can be very effective since the consumer is willing to tolerate advertising that is paying for the program they are enjoying. (A personal case in point: I just tried the free directory assistance number that is available on cell phones. Those calls are completely free, as compared to the $.75 per call that my carrier charges. However, you do have to listen to a commercial before you get the number. I’m ok with that — especially since the directory assistance on my cell phone bill has been as high as $10 in one month — ouch!)
Bottom line, as sexy as some advertising can be, we need to continue looking at it from the consumer perspective and looking out from there. Media Neutral is the descriptive new buzz word for this, but the practice is not new to us.