The New TV Strategy?

Consumers are becoming increasingly good at avoiding most traditional, and in some cases, untraditional forms of advertising. Agencies must continually be on the lookout for the next big thing that can catch the eye of a consumer in this media-saturated world. 

Television advertising is obviously one of the most developed media vehicles out there in this day and age...but that does NOT mean that it should be written off as in the past. When DVRs became popular, many advertisers began moving to a "product placement" method, forcing people to watch advertisements in the shows themselves rather than during commercial breaks. Since the introduction of this tactic, companies are always looking for different ways to put their product directly in the show without being as "obvious" as many product placement moments are. Some shows have even been entirely devoted to a product with the story line centering on that good/service. 

One of the most popular ideas for 2010 so far is featuring the product on a talk show. Shows, such as The View,  David Letterman, and Ellen Degeneres have all been utilized in order to promote an item. It definitely is one of the easiest ways to contact a very large portion of your target audience in one swoop. 

Recently, Procter & Gamble featured their new Pringles Xtreme crisps on Jake Sasseville's show, Late Night Republic. The talk show is also hosting an "Inner Xtreme" video contest where viewers can send in their own comedy sketch, showing off their Inner Xtreme for the Pringles' product. Now this late night show is one of the less talked about; however, this strategy perfectly demonstrates how other advertisers are feeling about this new market. The following video is a clip from one of his shows featuring the new Pringles. Pay attention to the way in which he promotes the product in comparison to how Jay Leno may react to it...

Jake Sasseville's Pringles Entry: Late Night Republic



More companies are opting for the smaller approach when using TV, spending their ad bucks on larger promotions rather than attempting to compete with American Idol or Grey's Anatomy. It makes perfect sense when you think about it - why spend more money to advertise on the larger networks where ads are skipped over repeatedly when you could spend your money on "less-prevalent programming venues" where your ads may actually be watched (AdvertisingAge)? 


Consumers are getting tired of the same old - same old. Even the new shift to utilizing talk shows will get old after a few products. By forcing their product to be the star of the show on Sasseville's Late Night Republic, P&G may have caught a few eyes in their target market. How long will this craze last? As long as consumers are willing to sit through shows that feature specific products, I believe this method will ride out its popularity. As of now, the "product shout-outs" aren't interrupting consumers' lives too much but advertisers must learn to either feature the item in an interesting and interactive way or only take up a few seconds of product endorsement before moving onto the show! Us consumers are quite impatient you know :)