There’s a lot of talk these days about how online will replace TV.
And, an equal amount of research that shows this isn’t going
to happen anytime soon. To this end,
take a look at the following.
According to Nielsen’s 2012 Q2
Cross-Platform Report the average American spends 1,905 minutes a week watching
live TV and 44 minutes watching video on line.
That’s quite a discrepancy.
And, to me, at least, it points out that we need to be
talking less about whether one will replace the other, and more about how
one can best work with the other.
How does TV affect online behavior and vice versa?
We know that more and more people are watching TV with
another screen – either a phone or tablet – in their immediate vicinity. Logic seems to indicate that this method of
two-screen access will only increase over time.
Knowing this, how should TV advertising adjust in the way
that it communicates?
Let’s say when watching a TV commercial, a viewer’s interest
is piqued? What’s the next logical
step?
What I do is try to find out more online by going to the URL
indicated in the TV commercial or, to the brand’s website. The difference is that instead of doing it in a couple of hours, or, the next day; I do it immediately, as my tablet is right there.
If the attitude of the website matches the attitude
communicated in the advertising, I can explore online for as long as I’m
interested.
If the attitude of the website doesn’t match the attitude of
the TV commercial, it smells like someone is trying to sell me something and I
leave.
You see, while I like to buy, I don’t like to be sold.
In the past, the TV commercial's objective was different - it needed to make the sale. Today, the sale is made as I explore the
product online, on my own time. The new
“first shelf,” if you will, is the website – not the shelf in the grocery
store, or, the car dealership.
One way to look at it is to think of your website as your
brand’s theater – where you have more time to bring the brand to life for your customers.
Carrying this thought process out further will soon have you thinking the way I do - that TV commercials
should act more as trailers – their sole purpose being to drive people to your brand's theater.
If the objective of TV advertising becomes less about selling
and more about getting people to spend more time with the brand online, then
the quality of TV advertising has no choice but to change.
For the better?
Well, really, could it get any worse?
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