Who still loves ads?November 12th, 2008 View Comments |
Forrester Research: Who still loves ads? (Subscription required)
Amid the increasing consumer disdain for advertising, there is one glimmer of light: 6% of US adults — a group Forrester calls Ad Affirmers — like advertising and are valuable marketer targets. Not only do these consumers trust ads, but they also give and receive product recommendations, pay for convenience, and buy products based on ad content. Smart marketers will: 1) leverage Ad Affirmers to help spread the word about their products, and 2) at last embrace a conversational approach to marketing that involves listening, supporting, and embracing consumers.
My burning question: Is it really worth the effort, time and money to identify, segment, target and capture that specific sliver of the US population that “wants ads”?
Does it matter if they’re “extremely receptive to advertising” if you can’t find them? While the outlook towards ads between Ad Affirmers and Ad Detractors are very different, the demographic, technology usage or behavioral characteristics are not substantially different, other than the simple fact that they pay attention to a lot more ads across all marketing channels.
How are you going to target them? How efficient is it to spend to reach 40-80% of the US population in order to find that 6%?
November 12th, 2008 at 09:36
Wouldn't that time/money be better spent talking to/finding people who love/need what you're actually selling?
This is so weird!
Do these people “affirm” advertising that doesn't have anything to do with them? Men who love tampax commercials? Aren't people's needs pretty heterogeneous? “Give me advertising, any kind of advertising will do!”
Did you read the actual report? I'm going to reserve judgement, because at face value this is just epically misguided.
(((i took the bait)))
November 12th, 2008 at 10:46
Of course I read the entire report: and I didn't even skew or misrepresent the report, they're serious. The report doesn't even ask the simple question of why or how to target the 6% of people that “like ads”…
November 12th, 2008 at 11:45
I love the academic-y contrarianism of this report (just skimmed it) but the
practical value of this is virtually nil.
As you've noted, identifying these “ad affirmer” bozos is more trouble than
it's worth.
November 12th, 2008 at 11:52
Isn't the real answer to “who still wants ads” the same as it's always been: nobody?
November 12th, 2008 at 11:57
Ya, I just read Doc Searls's “Markets are conversations” and he makes the
point that there has NEVER been a market for “messages” (i.e. ads).
Like Umair says, if people really did like ads, FIRMS WOULDN'T HAVE TO PAY
FOR THEM.