Was talking to Bob London the other night about the changing nature of advertising.
He'd spent many years in traditional marketing/advertising and introduced me to the concept of "the advertising blockade."
What's a blockade?
It's when a company ran the same commercial at the same time on all three major networks.
What a great term to describe the height of arrogance of the interruption era of communication, when attention wasn't at a premium.
We will FORCE you to watch us by blockading you from doing anything else.
But, like the siege engine, that tactic (interesting how it put the advertisers AGAINST the consumers and not next to them) is a relic of a bygone era.
There are 6 billion channels. Good luck blockading anybody.
Comments
Adam said on 6.05.2008 at 3:39 AM
Good point Jer. And it's not just about advertising. It's a point about consumer choice and interest more generally. You can't really force people to do stuff anymore. Not enough to sustain a business. So stop trying to make money by forcing people. Find a way to make money by helping them do what they already want to do. They like downloading music? Find a way to make money off that (and it probably isn't the obvious like opening an online store). They like to install apps on their iPhone? Help them. They like to turn their Wiimote into something that has nothing to do with Wii gaming? Help them.
Working against gravity isn't usually smart.