What is really even more heartbreaking is the way in which the channel and the advertisers themselves are killing the potential they could achieve from the game.
The same ads, in the same sequence, are shown before the start of the game, during the break and after the game; therefore, an avid viewer like me gets to see each advertisement three times for every game. We have five teams playing, so I view five games every weekend; this means that I see each ad 15 times in two days.
There is no media strategy that suggests 15 exposures in two days is a good idea!
Each of the teams in the Super 14 has to play 13 other teams, which gives me 13 weeks of getting 15 exposures of each ad. Guess what I do now? I run out of the room when the game clock is at 39 minutes and then again when it is at 79 minutes.
I thought Jan (Vodacom's Player 23) was amusing and even enjoyed watching the ad a few times. To see a guy in CNA sneeze into a book and place it back on the shelf 15 times in two days is not only really just gross, but I checked and he uses the same book every time - one would have thought it is getting a bit full!
Not only will the new rules make rugby lose viewers, but it seems that the advertisers and the channel are really working hard at irritating viewers into doing something else during the ad break.
I understand that an advertiser would feel it has spent so much money on buying a package that there is nothing left over to make more than one commercial. I understand that it is easy for any medium to sell packages that simply flood the channel (or Super 14 in this case). I understand that it is easy for the media agency to buy such a nice bulk deal, all in one transaction. I understand that it is easy for the broadcaster to make one reel that is played 15 times without having to rotate the reel.
What I don't understand is why I should want to look at this.
We are now going to have the Confederations Cup, Tri Nations, some other sport and then 2010. I really want to watch these events without having to keep an eye on the game clock so I can run away before the ads start.
Sport sponsorship, or even just the opportunity to advertise around sport events, offers one of the best chances to make enjoyable ads; the audience will be in a frame of mind that allows this.
It should be the responsibility of the marketers and the media to make sure that this is maximised and not waste the opportunity for very high frequency against a large but specific target market, by making ‘just another ad'.
I remember Famous Grouse had a campaign which showed ads being rotated, and it was interesting trying to remember the punch line each time. This was clever advertising. It made real creative use of the type of viewing that sports attract.
Besides the Famous Grouse ad, I particularly liked the Castle ad with all the stars from the national teams, most of the Vodacom ads around its sponsorships, the Coca-Cola ad for the soccer season. I regularly use these ads to demonstrate points in conference talks around the world (the last one being the IEG sponsorship conference in Chicago with 2000 attendees).
Millward Brown's ADTRACK system has been tracking all television advertising in South Africa for the past 23 years. If there is one lesson it has taught us, it is the importance of making an advertisement an enjoyable experience. If the advertiser cannot make it enjoyable, then at least it should be an interesting experience.
