The Death of Advertising

For brands, getting their name out is no longer a simple task. Companies used to have it pretty easy– create an ad, pay some money to have it placed in a desirable TV spot for their target demographics, and know that those people watching that channel at that time would be bound to see it. Easy peasy. But that is not the case nowadays. Us consumers have become experts in avoiding advertising. We know how to escape becoming victims to the grip of ads on the TV, on the Internet and on the radio. Want to watch a show without the nuisance of ads? No problem! PVR it and simply fast-forward through the stuff you don’t want to watch. Or better yet, download it online and all the ads are taken out for you. Don’t want to have deal with those pesky pop-up ads? Simple! Get a pop-up blocker! Don’t want to listen to annoying radio ads? Sure! Download your favourite tunes and plug in your iPod. We have devised several sneaky ways to make sure that companies are not shoving their products in our faces and down our throats. So how should companies handle this? They have to get their name out there some how! It is, after all, about the bottom line people. They need for us to know about their product, why it is so great, why we absolutely can’t live without so that we want to spend our money with their company.

            In today’s Internet crazed era companies must become experts in utilizing these social media tools in order to create a successful business. Creating Twitter accounts and tweeting out cool videos is one way to approach it, or having a Facebook page where consumers can interact is another way. It is all about getting their name out there. An interesting way that I have stumbled upon recently is through the use of type-in verification tools. We all have experienced those sites where we are trying to get to some final destination webpage, or to a video we want to watch, and the site asks us to verify that we are indeed humans. The way that they want us to so is to type in some jumble of letters that are given in a font that is horribly impossible to read. It takes an insane amount of effort, and often a few tries to get it right. But the point is, it takes effort. We spend a bit of time to type in these letters in order to get us to the right page. So, what one company has discovered is that if you place a brand’s name, an aspect of that brand, a saying, etc. in place of the garble, perhaps the effort that consumers put into typing out those letters will mean that they retain or remember what they have just typed. This is what Solve Media is proposing. Go to a website, have the user be required to type in, lets say “Ice Cold Coke” into a type-box under an ad for Coca-Cola in order to continue on to their destination. Chances are, the user is going to remember having to type in “Ice Cold Coke” and perhaps that will resonate with them, and perhaps it will make them in the mood to go get an ice-cold bottle of coke. It is a very sneaky approach, but also a very clever approach. Force the consumers to have to pay a bit of attention to your brand, and it can seriously pay off! Many major companies have already signed on to this creative advertising, such as: General Motors, Volkswagen, Toyota, FedEx, UPS, YP, Campbell, Colgate, Dr. Pepper/Seven Up, General Mills, A&E, CBS, Relativity Media, Sony, Capital One, LifeLock, Aetna, American Cancer Society, McDonalds, Pizza Hut and many, many more.

You'll have Toyota on your mind all day.

Here’s the website for Solve Media. Check it out for yourselves and see just what their whole idea is about. Or better yet, go to Perez Hilton and try and watch a video. See how Solve Media forces you to think about their own company.