You’re right in that mobile and digital usage is way up. But that doesn’t translate into effective advertising. People are using the Internet at an incredible rate. Almost 80% of Americans regularly use the Internet. Yet studies show that online advertising is still one of the lowest regarded forms of advertising. Viewers actually rank brands that advertise via mobile and online lower than their print and television counterparts. Why? Because they find advertising on these mediums to be the most intrusive. And the low cost of entry and tendency towards low production values also diminishes the brand perception of advertisers in these mediums.

Basically, to reiterate my point, yes, usage of digital mediums is up. But usage does not translate into influence when it comes to advertising. Studies show that television is still an incredibly effective medium with the HIGHEST influence on consumers over all other medium.

Also, please realize that we don’t have a single client whom we recommend place all of their eggs in one basket. No one medium will do everything that a client needs. They must diversify their media in order to make the strongest impact. We don’t have a single client for whom an online presence is not a part of our overall marketing plan. That includes websites, mobile marketing, search engine marketing and optimization, social media, and even online advertising for a select number of clients. And for a select few, for whom it makes sense, it includes television and radio. Because, again, no other medium is as powerful at driving strong responses from consumers.

We don’t disagree, that digital is definitely a wave of the future and that clients should definitely consider it in their marketing mix.

But to say hands down that all clients should disregard TV and that everyone should jump on the digital bandwagon and forget all other media is short sighted and not a very calculated move.

Does this study show that its being recorded vs watched live? My son said to me the other day when a commercial was playing as I walked away…..”Daddy, fast forward this.”

Commercials are quickly becoming a thing of the past. Attention is at an all time low and if you don’t tell me now then I’m not listening. My point to my statement is putting any money into television advertising is pointing someone in the wrong direction. Neilsen just reported that over 50% of wireless subscribers own a smart phone which is up 14% from 2 years ago.

My point is that instead of pointing someone into making a commercial with that money. I think you should point them into the digital, mobile, and interactive route. This would be best for your clients long term growth and would catapult them above their competition.

Your comment says that TV is down. But recent Nielsen studies show that actually TV usage is UP and continuing to grow. Yes mobile and internet usage is up too, but Americans are also watching more TV than every before. The average American watches two hours more TV per month just comparing 2010 to 2009.

While yes, DVR usage is up. But still, only a third of viewers are currently watching timeshifted television. That leaves the remaining viewership to be watching live TV.

And a study conducted in October 2010 shows that television is still the most influential form of advertising. I was able to find numerous other studies supporting that.

Mobile advertising is currently a growing trend, and studies do show that it is more impactful than online banner advertisement, which has not shown to be as inspiring as mobile, print or television. I do believe mobile has merit but it is still an emerging form of advertising which requires some creative planning, and works better for some clients than others. As it is working out the kinks and developing into a legitimate, trackable form of advertising, there are hot ideas like Geo-based target marketing (location based marketing) that aren’t working as well in practice as they do in theory. Not to say that they can’t and won’t. But it is still a developing medium with few statistics to back it up as far as the impact it makes on the consumer and driving brand preference.

Fred, the point of my comment was not to say that my clients should do TV advertising before all other mediums. We have plenty of clients and television is right for very few of them. But merely to say that the television commercial is long from dead and that television is still a very persuasive medium not to be ignored.

If you look at the raw data it clearly shows that television and radio are DOWN….WAY DOWN. Commercials are rarely watched anymore.

Data shows that personalized and mobile marketing is now the way to market. If you have the funds in your budget to do a commercial….DO NOT DO A COMMERCIAL but rather spend those funds on something that has a trackable and proven return on your investment.

There have been some recent articles written by procurement officers that the traditional agency model is out dated, over priced with many grey areas that need to be transparent. I think the world of traditional advertising is now changing and it feels good to be part of the change that will offer clients a better deal, better creativity and value for money.

I agree, I have never enjoyed my work more than I do now and I know that rubs off onto the work that you present to clients and they want to be part of that ‘fun’ culture.

Keep in touch

Kind regards
Andrew