From Zipping and Zapping to Clicking

Thirty years ago, advertisers were bemoaning the increase in zipping and zapping as consumers time-shifted their viewing habits and skipped the commercials. That was in the old VCR era. It continued into the DVR era, with media firms trying to find ways to put commercials in front of viewers, like it or not.

In more recent years, commercials have become a popular part of major TV events like the Super Bowl. Time recently published a list of the most influential Super Bowl ads "of all time." (That list was published before the Patriots won against the Falcons in February.)

For comparison, take a look at Entertainment Weekly's 50 best commercials list published 20 years ago, in 1997.

Now streaming has changed advertising, viewing patterns, and consumer behavior, again. And in an era when there are more choices (broadcast and cable channels, streaming services, YouTube, etc.) than ever before, many commercials are so entertaining that consumers voluntarily click to watch them.

Here's a link to YouTube's advertising leaderboard for January, 2017. Among the top commercials viewed on YouTube were several scheduled to air during the Super Bowl. No zipping, no zapping, but a lot of clicking to preview these ads before they air on TV.

* abbreviations: DVR = digital video recorder, VCR = videocassette recorder. To see what these gadgets used to look like, click on the links to check out their entries on Wikipedia.

The Year's Most-Watched Viral Ads on YouTube

The end of the year is fast approaching...and that means lots of lists like "the year's most watched ads on YouTube."

Adweek teamed with Google to post a most-watched list of ads for 2014, headed by:

• Nike World Cup Soccer ("Winner Stays" and "The Last Game") which were viewed on YouTube an amazing 171.7 million times
• Budweiser ("Puppy Love") attracted 53.4 million views

In Canada, the top ad on YouTube was from TD Bank ("Sometimes you just want to say thank you").

What makes these lists interesting is that people actually clicked, voluntarily, to watch advertising messages. Yes, the ads are quite entertaining and even inspirational or at least emotional.

But in the end, they're paid messages on behalf of a corporate sponsor. The very kind of marketing material that consumers often skip past when watching recorded TV programming.

Yet through word of mouth, these YouTube-leading ads went viral and attracted much higher viewership than could have been achieved via regular advertising channels. Food for thought at a time when marketers are trying to cut through clutter and engage customers and prospects digitally.

Worst & Best Ads of 2008 - Multiple Views

Happy new year! It's time once again for "worst & best" lists of everything in the public eye. Here, the NY Times, Slate, and Wall Street Journal discuss their picks in the world of advertising. What stands out, for me, is the urgent need to stand out in a cluttered media environment.

With the Super Bowl just weeks away, I'm sure we can look forward to seeing a number of new commercials that will wind up on the "best & worst" lists for 2009.

clipped from www.nytimes.com clipped from www.slate.com Ads We HateThe worst commercials on television. clipped from online.wsj.com