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Advertising Is Content, Content Is Advertising, I'm On A Horse
from the hello-ladies dept
For anyone watching the Olympics lately (despite the efforts of NBC -- really, NBC? Why air one of the most anticipated events of the games on MSNBC?! ), you may have seen this engaging Old Spice commercial where a man is magically transported from his bathroom, to a boat, and finally to a horse. The commercial was actually interesting enough for me to stop my TiVo and replay it twice when I first saw it.
The commercial itself has garnered over 2.5 million views on YouTube -- and that's just for the "official" version, there are many other accounts that have uploaded the commercial, which Old Spice has wisely not asked to be taken down (yet?). This serves as a fantastic reminder of a point that we've illustrated here before: advertising is content, and content is advertising. When you make a fantastic commercial like Old Spice did, not only do people actually seek out your commercial to see it, but they discuss it as well. I know personally that I have had no less than 10 discussions amongst my friends about the commercial. In fact, Leo Laporte's video, where he interviews the creators of the commercial about how it was done, has gotten over 100k views.
The big question is, however, how effective this ad was for actually increasing the sales of Old Spice.
The commercial itself has garnered over 2.5 million views on YouTube -- and that's just for the "official" version, there are many other accounts that have uploaded the commercial, which Old Spice has wisely not asked to be taken down (yet?). This serves as a fantastic reminder of a point that we've illustrated here before: advertising is content, and content is advertising. When you make a fantastic commercial like Old Spice did, not only do people actually seek out your commercial to see it, but they discuss it as well. I know personally that I have had no less than 10 discussions amongst my friends about the commercial. In fact, Leo Laporte's video, where he interviews the creators of the commercial about how it was done, has gotten over 100k views.
The big question is, however, how effective this ad was for actually increasing the sales of Old Spice.
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Old Spice Commercials
That said, I hate the scents.
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Re: Old Spice Commercials
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Re: Old Spice Commercials
If this is what we consistently got between segments of TV shows, we'd happily be watching them.
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Still won't buy that crap
Great commercials do not make a great product. Who wants to smell like their grandfather (during his post-life period)?
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Re: Old Spice Commercials
Personally, I neither want to smell Old or like Spice.
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Reminded
We'll see if I am riding a horse by the end of this, but hopefully I'll still have a fiance at the very least.
Effective? Yes!
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Seriously...
They should have had a running order: "If it's close, we'll cut to it for the last 5 minutes of the game in prime time."
And who has MSNBC in HD? Nobody I know. What a horrible programming decision!
Why does the NHL "partner" with these guys. They're certainly not doing them any favors.
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NBC MSNBC Really You Have To Ask?
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free advertising for providers?
When Gary Coleman did the ads for CashCall...I promptly put them on Youtube because, hey, that's funny right? I also expected someone to come along and take them down...but to this day...it's still up...and has been linked by everyone.
I can't say all my advertising content is still up...some of it has been pulled...it all depends on the company that owns it.
My opinion is with a lot of the adverts that do manage to stay up on YouTube...it's essentially free airtime for them. They want the ad to reach as many eyes as possible..and if people are going to put them up...that's still eyes having viewed it...even if it's just as entertainment value..it's still somewhat affecting what they do.
Besides, the profit channels are different.
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Re: Seriously...
No matter who won that game, it was a good 'un! :)
On topic: that ad made me chuckle, and I hate ads generally ('cause they're done badly). My dad wore Old Spice, rest his soul. Scent's a very strong memory inducer and invites some serious effects. Probably a good thing we don't have scent-o-vision.
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The whole point of whacking ads out there is to get bucketloads of people to see them and hopefully convert some of those eyeballs into money.
These people *pay* to get people to see their ads. If they issue takedowns against a service that's giving them more exposure for no extra outlay, they're crazy.
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Lawsnick’s Mac
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Re: Eyeballs Into Money
Pax wrote:
Funny, that’s the point of a lot of the content released on the Internet too.
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Re:
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Re: Seriously...
I also notice that NBC has been a ratings juggernaut, exceeding the ratings for winter Olympics all the way back to 1994, and they may yet go even further back. Indeed, NBC frequently has an audience exceeding the other two networks, COMBINED. Wow.
NBC is capitalizing on their MASSIVE ratings wins by upping their internal goals. They may still lose money on the Olympics, but the way things are looking right now, they may end up losing a lot less money than they originally anticipated as people tune in prime time in droves.
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Advertising is not content, and content is not advertising.
Advertising CAN BE content, and content CAN BE advertising.
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The big question is, however, how effective this ad was for actually increasing the sales of Old Spice.
plus comparethemeerkat.com is now a very succesful website on its own - I guess they've made a useful bonus on the merchandising.
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Re: Lawsnick�s Mac
It did for Comparethemarket.com - see below.
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hey
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