By Mark Levit
Critics conclude that entertaining or “creative” commercialssell better than those that are bland. But liking the commercialmay not really be that important in the scheme of things. It alldepends on the needs and preferences, motivation and financialreservations of the customer. The question isn't whether peoplelike the advertisement or not, it’s whether the advertisement iseffective in selling.
Often, people who are irritated by certain campaigns don't fallwithin the intended target market. In 2000 Budweiser ran its''Whassup?!'' campaign. Ad Track reported these commercialsscored best with 18- to 24-year-olds; 52% of the surveyparticipants said they liked them ''a lot'', while participants65 years old and over didn't understand them, or didn't want to;61% disliked the commercials. Yet, it's highly unlikely thatBudweiser was trying to reach the 65+ market.
When Toys R Us launched their campaign featuring Geoffrey thegiraffe to promote the revamping of all Toys R Us stores, 38% ofwomen rated the advertisements highly compared to 16% of men.Since the advertiser's goal was to get moms back into thestores, that low rating from men was meaningless to Toys R Us.
Pier 1 started running its commercials featuring Kirstie Alleythis year. Twenty-seven percent of the people familiar with thecommercials didn’t like them, and only 6% thought that they wereeffective. That comes as a surprise to Pier 1 because same-storesales rose 17% in February and foot traffic is up 12% sinceOctober! The goal of most advertising is to increase sales. So,if people buy, the advertising is effective—no matter whatcritics may say.
Let's look at some other factors that contribute to theeffectiveness of "irritating" or "disliked" advertising. Mediaweighting has a lot to do with response to advertising. It'simportant the media plan is developed to accurately reach itstarget. Just the right amount of frequency has been proven toincrease recall, recognition and even persuasion. So a focusedand targeted media schedule with effective frequency is a majorinfluence in selling a product.
Familiarity with the product plays a role in increased sales ofa brand with an "irritating" advertising campaign, too.According to the Journal of Advertising Research, customers’knowledge of, experience with, or loyalty to a brand arecomponents of familiarity—and familiarity is the most importantfactor in the effectiveness of advertising. Since customers tendto give greater attention to advertisements of a familiar brand,and may attach their experience with the brand to theadvertisement, customers are likely to accept the message andrespond to the "irritating" advertisement with a purchase.
International Brand & Advertising Research conducted a test todetermine if "feelings of liking or disliking commercials arethe motors that drive brand attitudes and sales." In the study,251 30-second commercials were aired, representing six majorproduct categories: food, confectionery & desserts, beverages,household products, personal care products and automotive. Ananalysis of the 251 commercials showed that there was no"robust, empirical evidence to suggest that either liking ordisliking are reliable predictors of a commercial's performancein relation to sales-validated, evaluative measures." In fact,liking or disliking accounted for "no more that 11% of thevariation on any of the major evaluative measures."
A "well-liked" advertising campaign does not always mean anincrease in sales. Just like an "irritating" advertisingcampaign does not always suppress sales. The fact of the matteris that effectiveness depends on factors other than"likeability", and what may be "irritating" to some may not be"irritating" to the intended target. At the same time, what maybe "well-liked" by one group may not be received as well byanother. It’s up to the advertiser to determine the most likelytarget and the best way to reach that market to make a campaigneffective.
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