Get to Them By Making Them Come to You

Sneaky sounding title right? Well being sneaky is what this article is all about. I am referring to the trends that marketing agencies are starting in an attempt to get to consumers in today’s atmosphere of the internet, DVR, satellite radio and the many other facilities consumers have that allow them to avoid tried and true advertising techniques. The New York Times and The Washington Post have both run similar articles in the past few months regarding ad campaigns run by several large corporations that have focused on consumer created ads. Possibly the most famous of these was the Doritos’s ad campaign put together by Frito Lay during the run up to the Super Bowl. They held a contest for regular people to create 30 second commercials and posted the best 5 on their web site. They then directed people to their website through a number of means (I interestingly enough first found out about this campaign through an article in The New York Times Business section, nice job getting some free advertising Frito Lay) and let them view all five ads and vote for their favorite. The winner was to be aired during the Super Bowl, but I think I remember seeing more than one of the ads during the game.
This was an effective campaign for several reasons. First of all, I am still thinking about it and letting you folks know about it several months after the campaign began and they spent the $2.6 million per 30 second ad during the Super Bowl. (This seems like a good time to offer a link to their web site: http://www.doritos.com/). I also should let you know that I just went to their site to get that html address and was made aware of their new campaign to name a new flavor. Something that I am thinking I should go back and check out when I am done with this blog. Another reason this is a successful campaign is because they practically cut out their production costs. If regular people are making commercials for them and submitting them for air time for free Doritos only continues to save money. Finally, there is an argument to be made for the idea that the people who are creating these ads may better understand the Doritos demographic as they are probably a part of it themselves.
Another interesting attempt at dealing with commercial free competition comes to us from a Clear Channel radio station in Dallas, TX. They are starting a commercial free station that will have companies sponsor hours of broadcasting during which the DJ will incorporate their product into his regular on air talk. This will make up only two minutes of air time an hour, as opposed to the usual 12-16 minutes of air time that are normally devoted to commercials on regular commercial radio.
As an independent artist, this talk of marketing makes me once again ponder the notion of self marketing. While I agree that the internet and many other new technologies make it possible for independent artists to get themselves out into “the market”, whatever their market might be. However, it always seems to me that someone, or some large company is benefiting from your work and I have a hard time coming to terms with that. A perfect example of that is the My Space phenomena. I am often asked for “my my space” when I am out DJing and have gotten some really strong reactions from people when I tell them that I don’t have a My Space account. Just last week a woman huffed and walked away muttering something about “free marketing”. I can’t help but think that it is not totally free because from my understanding of My Space (limited no doubt) any time art work is posted on a my space page, the artist gives up some rights to My Space. Additionally, any time you are sending someone to a myspace, you are only directing eyeballs to their advertisers and at times I have trouble with that. Even though I know I do that every time I recommend a television show or any other medium that makes its money from advertising it seems different. Why? I’m not really sure. I think it has something to do with an overplayed sense of ownership and freedom that comes with things like my space. While I enjoy the opportunity that things like satellite radio offer the modern consumer in terms of personal choices and the ability to avoid commercialism I get nervous when I feel like people think they are getting more for free than they really are.


Hope I didn’t come off too angsty, still got a little 16 in me I guess.



Putting the I in Advertising - washingtonpost.com… http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/07/AR2007050700035_pf.html

In Dallas, Commercial Radio Without Commercials - New York Times… http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/23/business/media/23radio.html?ex=1334980800&en=670c621f965488ef&ei=5089&partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss

Multiplying the Payoffs From a Super Bowl Spot - New York Times…
http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70B15FF3C5B0C758EDDA80894DF404482&n=Top%2fNews%2fBusiness%2fSmall%20Business%2fMarketing%20and%20Advertising