There’s a piece in the New York Times today about TiVo creating a new technology that flashes a piece of text when a viewer pauses a show that “suggests” to them to view an ad; this technology also can place a static image on the screen when a viewer tries to fast-forward through a commercial, an image which “suggests” ad content to the viewer.
Wow, talk about not getting it.
When will ad agencies and media outlets learn that the horse has left the barn on this one. Sure, thrusting new platforms and technologies and “branded suggestions” in front of audiences may result in a few more sold units, but what are you willing to sacrifice for them? And how many other people will you piss off doing it?
In acts like this, I can feel the desperation of agencies and marketers as they try to squeeze the last drop out of aging platforms. First newspapers went south. Next TV. Soon radio. Eventually, ad agencies themselves will go the way of the do-do. Before you thrust your marketing message onto audiences, think first of the damage you may cause to your brand in doing so and how you might create something that draws customers to you. Sure, it’s much harder, but it’s better than eventually being out of business.
