Tell Me a Story
Advertising used to be told in thirty-second increments, a barrage of information or imagery swallowed up in one short gulp. Not anymore.
Because advertising is consumed differently, marketers must communicate differently.
Hulu is a great example. More and more people are consuming television shows using this portal, and others like it, yet the commercials embedded within the shows are still spots replicated from the airwaves that don’t take advantage of the on-demand promise: instant storytelling.
When consumers log-on to Hulu, they’re seeking a specific show, if not a specific episode. They’re already in storytelling mode. The advertising needs to recognize that, and use the incremental placement (usually three spots per half-hour segment) to tell a story. The sequencing of the spot placements is perfect for this: set-up, continuity, and climax, in three tidy hunks. Yet most marketers are satisfied with placing the same spots they’re running on traditional television, sometimes the same spot in all three segments! That’s boring, and it doesn’t take advantage of the medium. As soon as consumers figure out a way to zap those spots, they will. In the meantime, marketers should consider addressing viewers directly, engaging them with a creative story arc, acknowledging the interruption and rewarding the thirty seconds of attention they’re demanding. Creative storytelling is present on other sites–blogsites and newsmedia pages, particularly; bringing the art of storytelling to embedded on-demand would make the commercials less of an interruption, and might even make them a welcome part of the experience.
