#ads #advertising #marketing #BuyingDecisions #AdsAndTheEconomy
There are some TV ads of the past that were so good, you remember them to this day, but don’t remember what they were advertising.
If you look at today’s insurance ads on TV, for example, you can remember the company name, but do they make you want to buy the insurance?
Insurance is something most people buy based on the best deal, and/or the appropriate coverage. Sometimes, over time, as insurance companies raise premiums, one shops around. If one doesn’t want to bother shopping around, he or she stays with the same company – higher premiums and all.
It’s hard to conceive one choosing an insurance company based on a TV ad. One can pass judgment on the entertainment value of the ads, but they are hardly persuasive in terms of you buying what they are selling.
Cigarette companies, when they were allowed to advertise on TV, also had entertaining ads. So did automakers. But it would be hard to believe that either of those entities could correlate purchases with ads.
Marketing is a tough business. Marketers first aim for name recognition for the client, and cute ads can achieve that.
But just because one knows a company’s name doesn’t mean he or she buys the product(s) they are selling.
Most of us buy based on price and result, which, together, equal value. We learn that one company’s products may not fit everyone.
Most of us do our own research when looking for a car, or insurance policy etc. Sometimes, one goes to a specific agent, or dealer, who help him or her decide which product would best suit him or her. Do the TV ads get people through those agents’ doors? Perhaps some. But most of us, if we go through an agent or dealer, choose that person based on local knowledge, or a friend’s recommendation.
However, advertising is large part of the overall economy. So many businesses depend on companies wanting to advertise.
Yet, in the case of many ads we all see, it’s tough to envision them translating into sales for the company that bought the ad.
Many of us love to buy things. Most of us hate to be sold things.
Some products are bought because people are shown the value, and they see it.
No fancy ad. No big-time pitch. No convincing. No coercion.
Person X has a product, shows it to Person Y. Person X would love Person Y to see the value in the product, then buy. But, Person X doesn’t care if Person Y doesn’t see the value, or doesn’t believe it’s for him or her. Person X knows that if he or she keeps looking, they will find the right people.
So, the next time you watch, or read, an ad, ask yourself: is it making me want to buy what they are selling? Chances are, if you NEED or WANT what they are selling, you’ll not buy based on the ad alone. But if it gets you to do research whether that product or service is right for you, then the ad was a success.
Know, too, that the show or publication that featured that ad is benefiting from that ad being there. If you enjoy the show, or publication, be thankful for those ads.
Peter