Hey Everybody,
Just read this article in Ad Age. And I totally agree. It is not the programming that makes people skim the program. It is the ads. Intrusiveness (once our goal) is now associated with the idea of Spam. We have got to do better. Hopefully this article will be the straw that broke the traditional camel’s back for some more advertising people and we can see some more engaging initiatives instead of interrupting.

It’s the Ads, Stupid

MediaWorks Viewpoint: Viewers Are Avoiding Ads, not Programs. The Networks Get It. The Ad Agencies Don’t.

By Gene DeWitt

Published: May 16, 2008

As I think back over the last four decades of TV advertising that I’ve experienced as an advertising professional, one thought predominates: A key aspect of the phenomenal power of the medium is that in the past even mediocre ads could effectively sell products and build brands.

We called this intrusiveness. Before the remote control, it took quite an effort for a viewer to get up and to flip the dial, standing around hoping for a better program alternative. Today of course the audience has a great deal more control over the ad exposure and is increasingly exercising it to zip by commercials or avoid them entirely.

Read the Rest on Ad Age.

Talk to you later,

William Flavell