Target Marketing
In the pre-internet age, television was best suited to reach a large audience. Marketers had an idea of where people would be sitting (in front of the tube) and could guess at the programs their target audience was watching. It was/is a very impersonal, top-down exchange of information.
Now the rules have changed…dramatically! Instead of creating ads that are acceptable by everyone and offensive to no one, companies leverage powerful tools to reach specific audiences. Instead of marketing to everyone, smart companies like Activision are zeroing their focus on people that talk, spread the message, and do the marketing for them. Introduce the message and let the consumers bounce it around.
The below video is a brilliant example! It’s had over 1.3 million views in less than a week. If I were a Guitar Hero fan, I’d be sharing this with my teenage buddies. The ad is inappropriate for mainstream, but it’s just right for Activision (and cheap). If GH is cool enough for Heidi Klum to play in her underwear, it’s pretty cool, period! And if you find the video offensive, don’t worry, they’re not talking to you.
November 11th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
KT–Good blog. It’s very interesting how audiences are becoming smaller but more homogenious. This ad is a perfect example. The audience for it is small–who’s going to see it? Guys who surf websites like “SpikeTV.com.” But, who’s going to appreciate it for its dual assests (and no, there is no double entendre there) of (1) a classic reference to the movie “Risky Business” that thirty somethings will recognize and (2) a hot girl in underwear? The exact same audience. No need to show the ad to an entire country if I can show it to the people who will pay attention to it. That’s what it’s all about my friend, and always has been to some degree, cater to yoru target audience. That’s one thing that law shcool was actually right about: you should write differently based upon your reader. The same prinicple holds true for ads. Cheers, Brad