So I was reading AdNews yesterday when I came across the following quote. (It originally contained two typos, but that's modern subediting for you...)
When I think of some wonderful TV ads recently made - "Sony Balls", "The Big Ad", "Schweppes Burst" - I ask myself, my colleagues and our opponents, when was the last time a website sent a shiver down your spine?
Russel Howcroft
Not having heard the rest of Howcroft's comments, it's hard to say whether he is proclaiming the superiority of television commercials over websites or criticising the lack of creativity amongst digital marketers. Either way, it demonstrates that the marketing industry still sees a gap between traditional and digital advertising and doesn't consider them as part of the same beast.
It seems people are still having trouble separating the technology and specific communication channels from the creative and branding being broadcast. In reality, it is increasingly common for a great TVC to be backed up with related creative on the website, social media campaign, billboards and so on. A brand that doesn't coordinate its marketing strategies in this way risks looking fractured, inconsistent and off-message.
So it seems a little unfair to criticise a particular channel in this way.
But even beyond the need for consistency between channels, there is the importance of understanding the limitations of each format in influencing the consumer journey. What do I mean? Well, let's look at the Sony Balls advert mentioned by Howcroft, promoting the Sony Bravia range of televisions.
Sony 'Balls'
Fantastic ad. Great creative, no doubt about it. But based on the TVC alone, would I choose a Sony Bravia TV next time? Of course not. It contains no technical specifications, doesn't talk to me about compatibilities, screen sizes or features and never mentions prices or outlets. It doesn't even show me the product. Yup, there's still a lot left to discover before I could actually buy one of their tellys.
What the ad is seeking to influence is whether the Bravia telly enters into my list of products to research. The TVC is merely the brand's foot in the door, submitting Sony Bravia to the audience 'for your consideration'. Therefore, if the brand wants to have a consistent message that flows through from the TVC right through to the call to action in the store, the message and creative needs to be reflected, alluded to or reinforced in these other channels.
Speaking of which, let's look to another of Howcroft's examples - The Big Ad for Carlton Draught.
The Big Ad
Let's leave aside that - in a brilliant bit of post-modernism - it's ironically poking fun at it's own expense and the nature of modern TVCs. "Expensive ad. It better bloooody well sell some beer!"
Being a far less expensive product, The Big Ad has more chance of creating a consumer action by creating an emotional attachment to the brand capable of influencing a purchase next time the viewer is buying beer. The target audience is definitely going to remember it! But this ad is merely is the latest in a long line of irreverent and humorous campaigns in multiple channels. The Big Ad is just a particularly effective element in this long-running brand strategy across all their channels and technologies.
Multiple channels - one creative
When savvy marketers truly understand how TVCs and the web can work together within a single creative, some incredible things can happen. This is channel convergence!
Let's take an example. This web video for Philips' new line of widescreen tellys recently won the Film award at Cannes back in June - a category normally dominated by traditional television commercials. (Been wanting an excuse to use this...)
I'd definitely call that a spine chilling bit of creative. Yet this ad wasn't shown on telly. It was spread virally online and drove traffic to the campaign website - view it there for the full effect! The version on the website also contains additional embedded content and is designed for the viewer to interact with it by clicking on elements and moving back and forth. Now show me a television commercial that can do that!
This is a video made possible by web technology - different channels converging to produce a campaign far more effective, imaginative, interactive and memorable than many other TVCs.
Furthermore, the website that contains the fully featured video content is also home to the information that could never make it into a traditional commercial. It contains the specifications, features and information I would need to make a decision - something no other TVC for LCD screens could do.
One creative vision - multiple linked channels contributing to the overall effect.
Think 'And' not 'Either / Or'
The TVC and website are the same campaign! Why do some old-skool marketers insist on keeping different channels at arms length, continuing to evangelise TVCs as the pinnacle of advertising?
TVCs are limited in what they can achieve, regardless of how spine-chilling they are. The majority of TVCs - particularly the more creative examples - are mere branding vehicles without a clear call to action. More and more TVCs are part of a wider campaign including websites and more.
Marketing should never be about 'either/or'. The creative idea and the consumer process are the most important aspects, with the delivery mechanism being just that. Joseph Jaffe describes this as The AND economy: creative campaigns that involve TVCs and websites, or magazines and mobile SMS technology, or billboards and social media strategies. Or all of them together.
Jaffe has also written extensively about the death of the thirty second spot and the Carousel advert is an example of exactly the evolution that will see it gradually become extinct in the face of more interactive, more persuasive cross-platform campaigns.
A creative campaign needs to incorporate many channels, each with their own specialities, to maintain the conversation with the consumer from first contact to final sale.
