Every now and then someone will take me to task for “not giving consumers enough credit” or “underestimating the intelligence of consumers” when it comes to their responses to advertising.
This occurs when I point to specific radio commercials or TV ads that fail to anchor a firm connection between the story and the sales message.
Most recently this happened in response to my critique of the Chevy Cruze television commercial:
“I think the writers of the spot are giving consumers the credit for being smart enough make the connection that you’ll rarely visit a convenience store for fuel when you own a Chevy Cruze.”
It’s not a matter of consumers being “smart enough” to make the connection. It’s a matter of whether television viewers care enough to make the connection…and they don’t.
Viewers prefer not to watch TV commercials at all.
I know my saying that will spark retorts of, “What about that great X commercial or Y commercial??” — to which my response is, “Check the latest statistics to see what percentage of DVR users don’t skip past all the commercials.”
A broadcast commercial is intrusive. It interrupts or temporarily impedes the delivery of the programming the viewer has tuned in for.
Viewers don’t want to “figure out the connection for themselves.”
They’re not looking for a puzzle to solve; they’re waiting — often impatiently — for their television program to resume.
To whom is it more important that the consumer understand the connection between the story and the sales message — the consumer, or the advertiser?
Obviously, it’s more important to the advertiser.
That’s why it’s the advertiser’s responsibility to do whatever is necessary to deliver the entire message to the targeted consumer.
Expecting the consumer to do any of the work required to complete that delivery is naive and unrealistic.
