Advertising

Event Advertising: the good, the bad, the boring

Event Advertising seems to be the big thing in adworld. By event I mean an ad that is foreshadowed by a lot of advance publicity, prior to its initial broadcast. See my post on avoidance strategies for more on these ad’s and what FOX in the USA is doing to ensure the marketing message is getting through.

These TV ad’s become an event in themselves. Advance publicity carries their broadcast details, what time, what channel and why we should watch. The ‘why’ for these ad’s is often the concept; live advert (Honda, 11850) or viewer involvment (Wispa). The ad’s are broadcast infrequently, in the case of the Wispa Ad its been broadcast twice on TV since December, as announced on their Facebook page. Increasingly the ad’s are also branded to highlight their production values such as ‘A Glass and A Half Productions…’ Thanks to the likes of Youtube these ad’s can be viewed forever, at no cost to the product or consumer.

So far its Concept + PR & Publicity + Brief TV Broadcast = Youtube Immortality + higher profile (and lower cost?) campaign.

This weeks event advert was Lastminute.com Mexican Thumb Wave. The concept was a three minute ad split into three equal parts, broadcast in sequence over three different TV channels. The ad’s concept is somewhat limited and shows none of the imagination of last years Stansted Airport viral. I was amazed to think people were expected to watch and follow the advert across three channels when it lacks any sense of engagement with the viewer. It’s a shame as creative advertising is always welcome. Perhaps this is a glitch, a ‘Lastminute.com Presents…’ own ‘trucks‘ and are about to hit us back with something bigger and better.

Related posts:

1. Digital Music Event Marketing (1)
2. DrinkAware.ie Rag Week Ambient Advertising

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