TV viewers harder to reach than ever

With Ads Easier to Dodge, Companies Eye New Ways to Get Out the Message Naomi Aoki, 08.30.04, 11:10 AM ET BOSTON --

It's a brave new world for advertisers. With digital recorders like TiVo, video-on-demand services from cable providers, and the nation's biggest cable company, Comcast, introducing cable boxes with built-in TiVo-style recorders, people can watch whatever they want whenever they want, gleefully fast-forwarding through every commercial break. Already struggling to capture people's attention, advertisers are placing commercial messages on human foreheads, sidewalks, scoreboards, subway tunnels, and construction scaffolding. They're paying to insert their products into television shows, movies, even video games.

What's next? The Globe asked advertising executives for their predictions. Here are excerpts: Steve Moynihan, executive vice president of ad firm MPG's Boston office: Clearly, the consumer is in control. As marketers, we have to market to them in ways they want. We've got to make our messages interesting and compelling so people don't zap through them. You'll still see TV ads.

There's no other medium out there that lets you reach as many people at once as quickly. But you'll see advertising on a variety of platforms rather than just on TV. The trick is to find places where consumers are receptive to marketing. In the subway, for example, people stare at their feet to avoid staring at other people. You put a TV-style ad in a tunnel, you're giving them an alternative that's better than the status quo. Allie Savarino, senior vice president, Unicast Communications Corp., an online advertising firm: Online advertising is an increasing part of the mix. People are on computers at work, at home, so it's a great way to reach an audience.

Advertisers can now run TV-type spots online. How do you make someone watch them? The same way you make sure someone won't switch away from a TV ad: Good Creativity and relevance. Honda is running an ad online right now that shows a full-screen video and next to it options for finding a dealer, getting a close-up of the inside of the car, getting more information. It's on ESPN.com, and pops up as people flip from one page to another. Eventually, I expect online advertising to become more of the constant ad message supported by product placement in movies, sponsorships, and other types of ads. Marc Gallucci, president of Boston marketing firm Fort Franklin: Branded entertainment started with soap operas back in the 1950s. Laundry detergent companies created dramatic shows for a specific audience -- women who were at home doing laundry. The idea is to make people seek out the advertiser, not to intrude on their space anymore.

The only way to do that is by developing quality entertainment that is wrapped around the brand. Think about the movie "Cast Away" with Tom Hanks. FedEx paid to be in that movie -- it was a FedEx plane that went down; the beach was littered with FedEx boxes. It was clumsily written into the story. But Wilson -- the ball -- was perfectly written in. Ironically, the sporting goods company didn't have anything to do with it. Wilson became a character, and you actually felt something for a ball.

The problem is that there are too many delivery devices for mediocre content. We don't need more places to put ads. People are tired of being interrupted and invaded.

Steve Mooney, general manager of Jack Morton Worldwide in Boston, the event-marketing firm that is helping Greece orchestrate the Olympics' opening and closing ceremonies: Nobody is saying TV advertising is dead. But CEOs want to add other dimensions to the mix. They want face-to-face interactions with customers. That means inviting people to events to raise money for causes that are meaningful to your customers, sponsoring concerts, after-school programs, and community events, and driving people to websites with promotions. People are receptive to it as long as it's relevant. If it's not, they'll just walk by. Messages are brought to where people work, live, and play. But the future isn't advertising everywhere all the time. You can kill a consumer with commercial messages. Tom Simons, president and creative director, Boston advertising agency Partners + Simons: I don't think we'll see a rush to sidewalk drawings, forehead ads, and posters plastered everywhere, because that's an unwanted kind of pollution.

We'll see advertisers gravitate towardprograms with more immediacy like news and sports that are less likely to be TiVo'd. We'll see more product placement. But I'm increasingly interested in alternatives where people already have control, like the Internet, in creating ads that look like TV spots in hopes that something magic will take place and people will pass it on to their friends. Terry Clarke, chairman and founder, Boston ad firm Clarke Goward: There's always going to be bad advertising. There will always be new places to put ads. But people learn to tune it out. You've got to become known for good advertising, like the Super Bowl, so people tune in to watch. Advertisers have to stop shying away from doing something good or risky. Naomi Aoki can be reached at naoki@globe.com. Editor Notes:(For use by New York Times News Service clients) New York Times Syndicate c.2004 The Boston Globe