February 3, 2013. We all know what day that is. It's the day that six-tenths of the American population will be sitting on their couch watching an amazing Super Bowl performance, while the other four-tenths of us will be on someone else's couch watching an amazing Super Bowl performance. Ha! Yeah right half the people watching the Super Bowl are just in it for the commercials (these are completely made up statistics mind you). The Super Bowl has made quite a reputation for having the greatest, and also funniest, commercials of the year. Advertisement companies know this of course and are now banking on it as they create new ways to get just a little more out of every video. Any video game players will know their new technique well and you'll be able to testify to its effectiveness: trailers and competition.
When a new movie or much-anticipated video game has been announced the people making the product don't rely on just the good name and reputation of their company to sell the product, they use trailers. The point of these trailers is to reveal just enough about the game or movie to make you hungry to know more, they make you think it's going to be interesting and amazing to raise your anticipation for the finished product. Unless your product is Call of Duty, your reputation doesn't sell merchandise, anticipation does. That's what the trailers are for, they raise are anticipation for the new game or movie to the point where we know that we absolutely must have it. It would seem that commercial industries have figured that out and are now releasing commercial trailers (or commercial previews). That's right, commercial trailers, it wasn't a typo. They're giving you a trailer...of a commercial. How does that work you ask? It's simple really, and extremely effective so far. Instead of just releasing the full commercial the night of the Super Bowl as in the past, they're using the worlds multitude of social networking systems to start competitions. Many companies such as Doritos and Coca-Cola are going to show fan made commercials along with their professionally made commercials at the Super Bowl. They're deciding which video to put on the air primarily through popularity, which commercial gets the most votes. This voting system is hilarious really, because it's free advertisement. The very fact that you vote for a video, means that you watched the video, and whether you know it or not watching it made you want whatever it was selling. For instance the "Goat 4 Sale" Doritos commercial. Who didn't want Doritos after watching that?
So now you know what all those YouTube and Facebook videos are all about. They're plots to control your mind and make you watch the Super Bowl commercials with just a little more vigor. I'm quite positive that it'll work too, even after you've read this. But please, I implore you to give your opinion on the matter, and maybe even say what the best commercial is so far.
Original article: http://m.nbcnews.com/business/super-bowl-ads-its-go-viral-or-go-home-1C8119016
I found this article very intriguing and yet amusing. I agree with you in that commercials do influence what we buy, but I wouldn't go as far as saying that it "controls our minds" necessarily. I understand that they were only examples, but you mentioned Call of Duty selling itself. What about Doritos or Coca-Cola? Are you implying that they couldn't reach their current status without clever Super Bowl commercials?
ReplyDeleteI am not sure I would go so far as to call this "controlling your mind" (in the sense Obi-Wan Kenobi's "These aren't the droids you're looking for"), but it is definitely a viable market strategy. What better (and more cost effective) way is there to advertise a product than to say to the millions of people who love that product to make a video expressing their love. First of all it is 100% free-they will do the advertising for you, all you have to do is get them to start doing it. Secondly, the biggest fans of the products also often have the best ideas to advertise it. In a sense, you are getting the best commercial possible without having to hire a research/ creativity team. This idea is pure genius, and the advent of social media and YouTube make it more viable to do than ever before. Again, this is not quite mind control, but I know that I am far more likely to buy something if it has a cool Super Bowl commercial, and I definitely cannot wait to see what the companies have come up with this year.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to see how commercials and other forms of advertisement have influenced our culture today. More and more do companies have to think of new ways to advertise their product in a way that will make them stick out and let their 30 seconds on the air stick with you for another 2 days making you crave for their product. Some result to imagery (Apple), others to comedy (Insurance and Doritos), and yet still others to mystery (Movie Trailers). It's a pretty big deal to. Companies pay millions of dollars to get their commercials on the air during special television events like that of the Super Bowl.
ReplyDeleteThe world of advertising is evolving right before our eyes. With social media an ever present factor in all of our lives, companies have taken advantage and found ways to advertise to us there, too. And it's because we're teenagers; we spend the most money on pointless junk because we're old enough to have jobs, but not old enough to have to pay for our own living expenses. It's an interesting dynamic. I can't wait to see what advertising will become in 30 years. I mean, who knows? Maybe Willy Wonka was onto something when he invented a T.V. teleporter that sends chocolate bars to one's T.V. right at home for them to try.
I think these comercial trailers are rediculous. Commercials are already only around 30-45 seconds. There doesn't need to be trailers (condensed showings) for them. This is however a great marketing ploy. And i am sure it will work out marvelously for the companies. I know when I listen to songs on YouTube I wanna buy them, and when there is an especially good commercial I want the product. No matter what.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite commercial was the Mercedes-Benz Devil Contract one. It was pretty great in my opinion! Plus my favorite super hero is spiderman. And the devil was green goblin in the first spiderman.