Opt-out advertising on cable
What if cable advertising had a “bank” of commercials and advertisers could choose to be on level 1, 2, 3 or a, b , c whatever. Point is, that there would be a hierarchy of ads and, using the interactive remote control, consumers could “opt out “of certain ads, ala Pandora radio. Consumers would still be “forced” to watch 120 seconds of ads per15 minutes of programming, but you would only see the ads over and over that you liked or had relevancy to you. The cable provider could independently stream ads to you that other households that liked what you liked selected, ala Pandora – make sense? Then, advertisers would know exactly how many people were actually watching or cared about their ads, cable systems could charge for viewership, advertisers would be forced to create compelling (or at least interesting ads)(which could slow down channel surfing) and me, well, I wouldn’t have to watch those ridiculous Bob Dance commercials with what appears to be an ego-maniac and exploited little girl anymore.
Your post touches upon something very important which all marketers and advertisers need to pay close attention to. Your audience and (in this case) television viewer, no longer wants to be “forced” to sit through messaging that is not relevant to them and is seem as intrusive. Instead, they are the ones that are controlling content and are today’s real marketers by taking relevant messages to their network of friends who then tell their friends and so on. You get the drill.
The secret is to first create ads that are more then just compelling or creative. they need to be relevant and perhaps even provide an inherent benefit to the viewer through some type of call to action. What’s in it for them or is it all about the brand? If it’s the latter, rest assured that the viewer isn’t watching or listening.
So, I think you’re on the right path here and with television merging with computers, I think the future is almost here. Just don’t forget that advertisers need to remember that the marketing landscape has changed and their audience wants to be engaged with relevant messaging and a personal dialogue. Just as my friend Max Lenderman says, they want to be spoken with, not spoken to.