Tivo and the future of advertising
You know how the TV industry went bonkers back in 1999, when the Tivo came out and let people fast-forward through ads?
TV execs put so much pressure on Tivo that the company removed the way-popular "30-second fast-forward" option. (Actually, there's a simple hack that restores that option, but whatever.) Tivo users are thus left with the normal-speed fast-forward -- which renders ads visible, albeit in super-fast jerky-action mode. TV execs still aren't too happy with that, since they're understandably worried that most ads will lose their impact when seen that quickly.
But apparently they don't. A recent study by Procter and Gamble found that Tivo users who view ads on fast-forward speed have the same retention rates as those who view them at normal speed:
The surprising research has led at least some P&G marketing executives to conclude that TiVo may not pose the threat to TV advertising that many predict, according to executives close to the company. A P&G spokeswoman declined to comment on the research, saying, "We have nothing we can share publicly on TiVo."
Of course, this may not be good news for TV execs and advertisers, because the logic works both ways. Maybe the point is that retention rates are so crappy that nothing could possibly make them worse:
"That's probably not an unusual finding based on the way people recall things," Mr. Schar said. "People hardly recall anything."
I think I have a weird relationship to TV ads. I actually don't like fast-forwarding through them. Partly, it's because I find it can disturb the emotional ecology of the experience; television shows are, after all, scripted specifically to use the commercials as dramatic breaks. That's not such a big deal if I'm watching a comedy, but if I'm watching a very intense show -- like Firefly, a particularly spooky old X-files, or a blood-and-guts episode of E.R. -- then the ads serve an important restful function, slowing me down enough to actually enjoy the next blast of narrative face-shredding. When I fast-forward through the ads, it's just too intense. But maybe I'm a wuss.
The other point is an old one -- that the ads are often the best-crafted things on TV. Advertisers spent tons more money per minute than actual shows (something like ten times as much, actually), so they usually showcase the most intriguing early experiments in TV cinematography, special effects and music. But again, I may be in the minority on this opinion.
Here's an even better idea: I think advertisers should adopt a steganographic approach -- and hide commercials inside commercials. Why not create a commercial that produces one coherent visual message when it's viewed at full speed, and another one that emerges when you view it in fast-forward mode? I mean, how insanely cool would that be? And talk about buzz-producing! You just know Tivo users would hunt through their shows in hopes of seeing "the commercial everyone's talking about."
Which is really the lesson of all new technologies and the marketplace. When something comes along that appears to challenge you, don't quash it. Figure out a way to elegantly hack it -- and turn it to your use.
Posted by Clive Thompson at April 12, 2003 07:01 PM
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That's a great idea. Tivo has 3 speeds of fast forward, so in theory you could have 4 different presentations, one for normal speed and 3 hidden ones for the 3 fast forward speeds.
This idea reminds me of books that have small "flip book" pictures in the corners of the pages (what is the official name for that?). So if you read the book normally they just look like pictures, but if you flip through the pages rapidly it creates a small animated sequence.
So what you could do is put a portion of the ad (maybe in its own "window") in slow motion so it would appear normal spead when you fast forward through it. The drawback is that for full effect you'd have to make the ad much longer, which would cost more.
Posted by: Tom at April 13, 2003 12:18 PM
That's not a bad idea either!
Posted by: Clive at April 13, 2003 2:13 PM
If commercials are retained just as well at triple speed, shouldn't they just take existing commercials and compress them to about 10 seconds? You could show 3 times as many commercials in the same amount of time.
Maybe the effect is that Tivo users watch a lot of TV and have reached the saturation point for most commercials -- I find it hard to imagine that a brand new commercial for a product you never heard of wouldn't be less effective on fast forward. However, I probably already know a great deal about P&G products and my marginal rate of learning is probably close to zero no matter what. The obvious control for an experiment like this is to give the same test to people who don't watch commercials at all.
Gearing commercials to the viewer watching on fast-forward is a fantastic idea, by the way. You should really start a company to develop and patent some basic techniques.
Posted by: Franco at April 14, 2003 5:21 PM
Yes, your point about well-recognized brands is good; the retention-rate for commercials viewed on fast-forward is highest when you already know the brand, and/or have already seen the commercial.
As far as patenting techniques go -- I'm not enough of a video/camera geek to wrap my head around that. But I'd love to see someone who good in that area take a crack at it!
Posted by: Clive at April 14, 2003 5:31 PM
Does anyone remember the "blipverts" episode of Max Headroom? The plot was that advertisers compressed a whole ad into one second, and this super-rapid information went directly to the viewer's subconscious. The idea was that the ad was so quick that the viewer wouldn't be able to react quickly enough to change the channel. But the side effect was that the blipverts caused a few very obese viewers to literally explode. This was covered up, and Carter investigates . . .
We may be headed in that direction :-)
Posted by: Tom at April 14, 2003 8:21 PM
Good lord, that's an eerie parallel!
Posted by: Clive at April 14, 2003 10:40 PM
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That's a great idea. Tivo has 3 speeds of fast forward, so in theory you could have 4 different presentations, one for normal speed and 3 hidden ones for the 3 fast forward speeds.
This idea reminds me of books that have small "flip book" pictures in the corners of the pages (what is the official name for that?). So if you read the book normally they just look like pictures, but if you flip through the pages rapidly it creates a small animated sequence.
So what you could do is put a portion of the ad (maybe in its own "window") in slow motion so it would appear normal spead when you fast forward through it. The drawback is that for full effect you'd have to make the ad much longer, which would cost more.
Posted by: Tom at April 13, 2003 12:18 PM
That's not a bad idea either!
Posted by: Clive at April 13, 2003 2:13 PM
If commercials are retained just as well at triple speed, shouldn't they just take existing commercials and compress them to about 10 seconds? You could show 3 times as many commercials in the same amount of time.
Maybe the effect is that Tivo users watch a lot of TV and have reached the saturation point for most commercials -- I find it hard to imagine that a brand new commercial for a product you never heard of wouldn't be less effective on fast forward. However, I probably already know a great deal about P&G products and my marginal rate of learning is probably close to zero no matter what. The obvious control for an experiment like this is to give the same test to people who don't watch commercials at all.
Gearing commercials to the viewer watching on fast-forward is a fantastic idea, by the way. You should really start a company to develop and patent some basic techniques.
Posted by: Franco at April 14, 2003 5:21 PM
Yes, your point about well-recognized brands is good; the retention-rate for commercials viewed on fast-forward is highest when you already know the brand, and/or have already seen the commercial.
As far as patenting techniques go -- I'm not enough of a video/camera geek to wrap my head around that. But I'd love to see someone who good in that area take a crack at it!
Posted by: Clive at April 14, 2003 5:31 PM
Does anyone remember the "blipverts" episode of Max Headroom? The plot was that advertisers compressed a whole ad into one second, and this super-rapid information went directly to the viewer's subconscious. The idea was that the ad was so quick that the viewer wouldn't be able to react quickly enough to change the channel. But the side effect was that the blipverts caused a few very obese viewers to literally explode. This was covered up, and Carter investigates . . .
We may be headed in that direction :-)
Posted by: Tom at April 14, 2003 8:21 PM
Good lord, that's an eerie parallel!
Posted by: Clive at April 14, 2003 10:40 PM