MAD MARKETING TACTICS™ !: Commercials

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Thursday, May 10, 2012

Commercials: The "FIVE TIMES RULE" - Douglas E. Castle

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How often have you watched or listened to a commercial that was either incredibly clever in its crafting, or sensationally-packed with sensory effects, only to forget the name of the product, service or brand being advertised?

There is an increasing prevalence of such sophisticated commercials, each memorable as a miniature work of art, but none which puts the brand into the conscious mind of the audience. And being remembered (as a product, service, brand or company) is what it is all about. Even with the load of subliminal messages and innuendo crammed into so many of these commercials, most of them still miss the mark -- the mark is to embed the name of the subject of the commercial into both the conscious and subconscious of as many viewers as possible.

Douglas E. Castle's FIVE TIMES RULE of Commercials (invented it myself, with the help of a whole host of advertising and behavioral sciences geniuses who came before me) is a start. Simply phrased:

"In order to be effective, your commercial must either mention (aurally) or display (visually and centrally, for more than 1-2 seconds) the subject [the product, service, brand or company name -- loudly, proudly and largely), at least five times during its play. One mention must be at the very beginning, and the longest, sustained mention must be 'hanging in the air' at the end." - Douglas E. Castle

In addition to the foregoing FIVE TIMES RULE, here are some other important ingredients to be included in the recipe of making an effective commercial:

1) If you combine both audio mentions and visual displays of your named subject, the commercial will be more effective, especially if those audio and visual are simultaneous;

2) When you mention the brand on your 'hanger' at the end of the commercial, make it simple direct and pure. Any message or slogan can be shown or mentioned in the moments preceding this grand finale;

3) Too much fast-moving, sensorially-bombarding stimuli can actually create messaging confusion, and can take the focus of the viewer or listener away from the subject. Beware of over-production!

Also, contrary to popularly-held belief, repetition is not necessarily the same thing as redundancy. Hopefully, I won't have to say this again...(grin)...

Douglas E. Castle for The Mad Marketing Tactics Blog

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p.p.s. Did I remember to tell you that this article is about the FIVE TIMES RULE?

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Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Value Prostitutions - Late Nite Infomercials!

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Yes: Value Prostitutions. These are different than genuine value propositions because they are all about 1) bargain pricing ("But wait.....if you order now, we'll send you a second drain unclogger absolutely free!) and a 2) false call to action ("Only if you call within the next 20 minutes..."). It is obvious that the "limited time only" is not an actual time limitation at all. You'll see the same ad and offer the following night if you are watching reruns of cable TV filler. Sometimes, they'll even say that the product (i.e., an electromagnetic, GPS-enhanced, tick and flea control dog collar) is in "limited supply!" Get YOURS while supplies last.

This type of value prostitution does lure a number of hyper-imaginative, ignorant and impulsive buyers (insomniacs with telephones and almost-maxed-out credit cards) to place their orders ["You'll want to grab a pen and write this number down!"] especially during its first few weeks of airing, the ultimate message starts to be:

These things cost us nothing, so we can practically give them away because our markup is enormous;
The quality is not that good. These things might look good on TV, but they're flimsy pieces of junk when you actually receive them. You'll need two for when the first one falls apart, melts, or disintegrates;
We, as the producers of this infomercial, think that you're stupid, and that you are easily persuaded by an offer that appears "too good to be true."

If you want to build a name for your product or your brand, you'll never, ever build it in this manner. Pile up all the bonus extras as high as you would like -- they are still like spraying cologne over body odor.

These opportunistic infomercialists never run a campaign regarding a product for very long. And now you know why. A value proposition lives longer and stays stronger than a value prostitution, which latter strategy is just a means of scooping up the "low-hanging fruit" in the consumer sector. A credible firm can destroy its brand with this type of bargain-basement hucksterism.

I would say more, but I am now helping my wife arrange our spices in this dandy new carcinogenic plastic-like spice rack. It's a real space-saver, and we got two of them! The second was free, except for a slight handling charge.

Bargains may initially appear magnetic, but in the longer-term, they can severely and often irreparably devalue your brand.

Douglas E. Castle

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