I recently saw a commercial "preview" - if you will, for the Superbowl. This is how it was presented: a beautiful woman is dressed in a skimpy racing-themed outfit waving racing flags. All of this is in slow motion and words appear on the screen saying "See you on Sunday." My initial reaction was that the ad was for Victoria's Secret, yet I then realize it's for the Kia car company. I realize that commercials can have very unexpected turns, yet I thought this seemed over the top. Personally, there are members of my family that own Kia cars, and the ad actually caused me to lose respect for the company. Even male friends I have said that it just seemed ridiculous.
Another friend of mine also mentioned that many companies are now releasing trailers for their commercials. It seems that there is now so much hype over Superbowl commercials. It is understandable considering how much money is spent on having them viewed by most of America, yet is it really necessary that we release trailers and previews for something that is only a couple minutes long at the most?
In addition, I heard that you can now go on certain websites to view the commercials before they appear during the Superbowl. Doesn't this take away from the surprise and novelty of seeing it during the actual game? I also find it interesting that marketers feel that people shouldn't have to wait to see the ads. My opinion is that the ads themselves appear to serve more of an entertainment purpose than causing us to actually desire the product or service. Therefore, I don't think sales would skyrocket on a particular product if we saw the advertisement earlier (meaning before the game begins). But I could very well be wrong - maybe when you view the ad does make a difference. Do you think your behavior would be different if you saw the commercials beforehand? If so, do you think you would be more likely to buy the product or not?
My behavior would be different when I saw the ad if I were to see a trailer for an ad or read an article about one. I would be pay closer attention during the ads because I had a preconceived notion about the ad. I might even make sure my friends know to look for the ad as well. When a company talks about their ad before it airs on Super Bowl Sunday,it build hype and people talk about the ad, which causes people to talk about the company. One purpose of marketing is to get your product in the head of consumers, and the company succeeds in their mission when people talk about them in any fashion.
ReplyDeleteAnd personally, these ads do not make me want to buy their products. I view these ads at means of entertainment, much like the games itself. Obviously, the companies paying for these ads hope their sales rise because of the exposure they will receive with their market and customers.
I agree with Stevo that the main reason marketers engage in any promotion--Superbowl or not--is for exposure. The more times we see a product, company, or anything at all, the more comfortable we become with it and the more likely we are to accept it. Technically, consumers don't even have to favor a product over others to buy it; they just have to be familiar with it as a product so they accept it's existence in the market.
ReplyDeleteSo, it would definitely be to marketers' favor to allow people to view commercials beforehand; the more times they see it, the bigger impression the company has on the consumer. And really, this is the only time of the year that people seek out commercials to watch, so why not let them?
The more hype a commercial gets, the more publicity and face time it gets, which means more people see it and are likely to talk about it with others. I actually think having a trailer for the commercial is a brilliant idea, especially with YouTube/the media eating it up. Christine, I agree that these commercials have gone away from what the product really has to offer to the consumer, and has moved toward entertainment motives to get people to watch. As a marketer, I feel like these companies must be doing something right, with this Super Bowl being the most watch event in American history. I agree that we as a society might be blinded by entertainment and see what a product actually is.
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