Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Watching TV Commercials

I am not a TiVo owner. So, I don't have intimate knowledge of the experience. But, as a marketing professional all I hear about from my ad/marcom peers is their fear of viewers opting out of watching their hallowed commercials.

Cut to viewing some videos of Japanese TV shows.

.....and here I am actually waiting for and watching the commercials. Nobody is fast forwarding the tape. Why?

Curiosity and creativity. Most TVCF's [as they are called in Japan] are entertaining, informative [Japan loves their "feature/benefit" visuals], and possess a storyline mystery of what will come next.

So, maybe the TiVo threat is best countered with commercial creativity and editorial intelligence. "Incent" the viewer to want to watch.

.....And then you can get the product placements out of the show content and let me enjoy my TV viewing time, again!