Hold the brew— TV advertising is dead
But it’s good news for National Grid.
It’s adverts. Put the kettle on, love. I’m dying for a cuppa.
TV advertising confuses me.
First up, who really pays attention to them anymore? We all have more interesting things to keep us occupied while our favourite shows get interrupted.
Second, we live in a world where social media platforms know almost everything there is to know about everyone, and yet guesswork TV advertising still exists.
Organisations, or individuals, can now set up an ad campaign on Facebook and have it target 27 year-old white females in Florida who enjoy surfing and blogging.
Or, they could target 55 year-old black men in Manchester who have an interest in coffee and eat out regularly.
Or even all females in the UK over the age of 35 who like Keeping up with the Kardashians.
Social networks give us all — every single one of us — the power to do this. Better yet, we’re free to drop a fiver on these campaigns and see how they do, or splash the cash with a £50,000 lifetime budget spread over several months.
So why the hell do companies still pour billions in television commercials?
There’s no really big data and measuring engagement and ROI is almost impossible.
TV advertising is akin to playing a game of Battleships; you’re never quite sure if your effort will hit its mark.
And we all hate advertising. We avoid it like the plague. If I’m watching live TV — which is rare nowadays — I’m straight on my phone or my MacBook (or I’ve left the room all together) as soon as there’s a break.
I care very little for whatever right hook an advertising agency is swinging at me.
TV advertising is archaic. It’s behind the times. It’s dead.
Our love of live TV has now fallen so sharply that there are no longer massive electricity spikes after some of television’s most popular shows.
What some proof? Eastenders drew average pick-ups of over 660 megawatts back at the start of the millenium. Now, it’s around 200MW.
Then again, that could just mean Eastenders has got a bit shit.
