TV Marketing Blog
Two Things to Include in Every Anchor Intro
Pay special attention to the first and last line of the anchor intro. This critical story element should start strong, then give an enticing taste of what’s to come. The first line of your package should be the strongest of the piece. It should grab your attention, leaving the viewer curious for explanatory details. As you’re reviewing scripts, pay special attention to this critical beginning. It should contain the most interesting and...
read moreAvoid Promising Expected "Reaction" in Teases
“A child molester caught in Smithville. After the break, we’ll have reaction from local residents.” Is this “reaction” really teasable? There are lots of facts in this story that viewers may want to hear, but how the neighborhood will react is not one of them. Is anyone sitting on the edge of their seat wondering if the neighbors will welcome a molester to their community? Of course, everyone is going to say...
read moreHow to Tease Health Stories
Most health stories can be broken up into three distinct categories: 1) Cool new ways you can stay healthy. 2) Gee whiz stories about medical breakthroughs and research. 3) Sad or inspiring stories about people dealing with health problems. Each of these health stories requires a very different teasing strategy. When teasing the first category, useful health stories, make sure the story is actually useful to a majority of your audience. Far too often I...
read moreMajor Advertisers to TV Ad Agencies: You are a Fossil
In last week’s article, I laid out 11 trends motivating the future of the cable TV ad business. In this week’s article, seven more. If you would like to read all three parts of this article, click here. Dynamic ad targeting is the great hope for the future of cable TV. Just as Google delivers custom ads designed to the user’s personal tastes and desires, the cable industry is building a new generation of hardware and software solutions...
read moreDynamic Ad Targeting – Cable TV’s Vision of the Future
In last week’s article I laid out five trends motivating the future of the cable TV ad business. In this week’s article, seven more. If you would like to read all three parts of this article, click here. Dynamic ad targeting is the great hope of the cable TV future. Just as Google delivers custom ads designed to the user’s personal tastes and desires, the cable industry is building a new generation of hardware and software solutions to...
read moreCable Advertising’s Plan for the Future
I spent last week attending the CTAM cable advertising summit in Denver. The people at this conference are working their big brains to the bone figuring out ways to increase advertising revenue for MSOs and cable programmers. In my next three articles, I will be sharing some of my takeaways from the conference and the developing trends that I see motivating the cable TV ad business. Dynamic Ad Targeting is the future of the cable business Just as Google...
read moreExtending the Life of Your Station Marketing
If you hope to sway a viewer to watch your news, your timing must be perfect. You must catch her with a breakthrough message, when she has a need for the information. For example, I may see the ad for your whopper doppler, but if I want to buy your product, I must: be near a TV or computer, have the free time to watch, have a need for weather...
read moreTeasing Actionable Components in "How to" Stories
Good actionable information is a big part of most newscasts. Health and consumer stories are usually packed with specific tips that viewers can use to improve their daily lives. Problem is, many "how to" stories never really provide the viewer with truly actionable information. We tell viewers about that new breakthrough product to cure acne, but never empower them to actually use it. Too often the focus is on the medical procedure, as opposed to the viewer's clearer complexion.
read moreWhat Budweiser’s Failure can Teach Us about News Branding
The Bud Light "drinkability" advertising campaign has become one of Madison Avenue's biggest disappointments of the year. After decades of beer spots devoted to fun and product identification, Bud's agency decided to try a more cerebral product-feature approach. The goal - to convince beer drinkers that Bud Light had substantial product differences that made it a better food companion. But the campaign never connected and sales dropped. Few were convinced that Bud Light was any more drinkable than other light beers. Bud Light is backing off on "drinkability" and is heading back to its more familiar fun approach.
read moreAvoid Obvious "How You Can Help" Teases
Enlisting public assistance is fine for a news story, but teases should never be used to make a plea for help. For example, a family loses everything in a fire. The promo promises, "how you can help this family get back on their feet." Of course, the viewer expects the answer will be "give money."
read more
Receive Our Weekly Episodes
