In 1999, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, a world-shattering precedent was set.
Two products with simple premises were launched, and with their introduction to the public market came a ground-breaking new concept with the power to change everything…
…The concept of ad-free television.
Today, with Netflix and Stan and torrents and everything else, the idea of ad-free viewing is pretty common.
But it all started somewhere, and on that fateful day, TiVo and ReplayTV set the stage for a world where people could watch TV without having to sit through advertisements.
Little by little, people grew less tolerant of ads and scheduled viewing. They grew less and less tolerant of having anything other than total control. Now, 16 years later, we’re living in a world where complete control of our viewing experience is just something to take for granted.
But of course, we still live in a consumer society. We still work to make money, and use that money to buy things that help us solve a problem. The right message about the right product to the right people will always lead to sales…
But how do you get the right message across in an ad-free world?
Steven Wolff, author of “Television is the New Television: the Unexpected Triumph of Old Media in the Digital Age”, suggests that modern advertising is about “moving the cash register closer to the consumer.”
What he means is that while old advertisements focused on influencing consumer demand, modern advertising is all about using technology to make transactions easier and smoother.
But as it happens, we’re experts at communication, so if that’s a pressing question you’ve asked yourself recently, get in touch today!