Only 20% of TV commercials are fully viewed...
If you view television like me, when a commercials interrupt the program I’m watching I grab my mobile device and start checking social feeds, the news, email…anything with more compelling content than the advertisement. The issue is the interruption of the story I was engrossed in. And since the interruption is not replaced with something of similar interest, I reach for my other screen and dial-up something I am interested in.
According to a 2014 study by the Harvard Business Review, “the percentage of ads considered fully viewed and getting high attention has decreased dramatically, from 97 percent in the early 1990s to less than 20 percent today. This is a dramatic decline spurred by the proliferation of social media and a decrease in the use of story-craft in advertising.
In December, Comedy Central addressed this issue with the release of branded content ‘shorts’ designed to hold viewers attention while branding a sponsor. Instead of airing a series of 30 or 60-second commercials they are airing what has been given the name ‘linear commercial pods’. They really are well constructed stories with a fancy name.
By reconstructing the media buy advertisers now have more freedom to create meaningful stories that position the brand in a more engaging manner. Rather than pitch product benefits we can now launch a character on a journey, allow him/her to overcome obstacles, reach a satisfactory resolution - all while positioning the product as a facilitator of the journey. The first of these linear commercial pods aired on Comedy Central in December. Titled Erik Gets Crabs, its the first in a series called Handy and will feature a ‘ commercial short’ for Zales.
When we break down the elements of this ‘short-story’ we discover an engaging character, (most likely he represents the target audience demographic) who is faced with a series of challenges (cracking the crab- representing the product) who solves the challenge in a humorous (human) manner. All this takes place on the set of a commercial being filmed for Joe’s Crab Shack which may actually be a Joe’s Crab Shack.
Certainly, this is more engaging content than most 30-second spots for anything. It uses story-craft in its best form to brand the sponsor in a human manner that viewers can relate too. Its message is you will have fun at Joe’s Crab Shack. And, since we live in the era of social, viewers can share the fun as well. Something television advertisers didn’t have just a short time ago.
