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2-Second Ads Catch People By Surprise

By Michael Stelzner

As you hear the end of the song “Hotel California,” your radio blurts out “Iced coffee at McDonald’s” and then Billy Joel goes on to belt out a familiar tune.

Welcome to the age of nano-ads—ultra short spots designed to present themselves when you least expect it.

“Let’s face it, we’re an ADD (attention-deficit disorder) society.” said Dave Pugh, the head of eight Clear Channel radio stations in the Washington area.

As a recent article in the San Diego Union Tribune explained:

Way back when, radio commercials were 60 seconds. Eventually, it begat the 30-second ad, which begat the 15-second ad. More recently, some spots have shrunk to five seconds. Now, “Iced coffee at McDonald’s” is part of the vanguard of radio commercials that take this trend to its obvious next diminution: the two-second ad.

The article revealed some of the marketing ideas behind these ads:

[These ads] are the radio equivalent of the take-you-by-surprise school of marketing. For years, Web sites have flashed pop-up ads at computer users. TV networks are increasingly plugging upcoming shows with text-and-animation messages that appear at the bottom of the TV screen at the start of a new program (“CSI: Later tonight on CBS!”). These kinds of ads proceed from the assumption that the audience is essentially captive and won’t – or can’t – switch away before seeing the sponsor’s message.

Is this a sign of fragmented consumers or clever marketing? Do such nano-ads cross the line for consumers, approaching the realm of subliminal advertising? What say you?

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This entry was posted on Thursday, June 21st, 2007 at 8:00 am and is filed under Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

  • Hi Michael
    Its very true what you say, I think I remember reading something similar with TV, a split second image of a beer can or soft drink bottle, is enough to get people to get up a walk to the fridge, anyway would you believe we run 5-10 second ads, not on the radio or tv, but on a network of publishers web pages. Some frown on the idea, some like it. We are aware of the trills and spills of such advertising methods. Perhaps some day you might hear one of our clients ads, it would be very interesting to read your views...
  • Some ads trick are very cleaver, the ones that based on psychological person side.
    And it's very annoying when ads interrupt live sport translation.
  • Nek Strebor
    There was an advertiser here that did this very effectively. What was neat was that they used little puns and wordplay and kept having new ones. After some weeks of hearing these nano-ads, then I started hearing some longer spots for the company. By that time, somehow the longer spots were less annoying of an interruption.

    I don't think peoples' attention spans have diminshed. I think we just have a lower tolerance for ads that interrupt the programming.
  • Instead of clever marketing, I must say it's annoying. In Malaysia, we had to seen them everyday, from the news, dramas and in almost all forms of entertainment you can find here. I don't listen radio much so I don't really notice any of 2-seconds advertisement - yet. Am I surprised with those ads? No. I'm annoyed and I doubt people will like it.
  • Wouldn't this be a case of fragmented consumers? Effective advertising for a specific audience, not-nearly-so-effective for the public at large? Just-the-facts-ma'am ads are all some audiences need ("CSI: NY...Next!" or "Numbers...This Friday 10 p.m."). Others need more.

    Are those 2-second ads so much ads as they are the TV equivalent of Outlook reminders? Could they really convince a viewer to watch CSI for the first time? Or do they mainly serve to remind existing viewers not to, say, switch over to Grey's Anatomy on the other network? (Not that the majority of CSI viewers need to be reminded...)

    It's interesting that you wrote this when you did. About the same time, Andrea Learned over at the Huffington Post wrote the following in an article about conceptual age marketing:

    "...as consumers, we are looking for more of that which is above, beyond and around those straight, linear facts to help us make purchase decisions. We still need the logic, certainly, but with so many choices we are now freed up to prioritize the non-rational, more emotional side of things. For instance, since all cars in a given price range have the same basic features, there need to be a few more emotional, "other" reasons that sway a buyer in the direction of one brand over another. That might be a storyline in an ad campaign, the way the salesperson treats the buyer or what friends have previously said about the car, for example."

    You can read the whole post at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrea-learned/marketing-to-women-and-m_b_53255.html.
  • It's getting harder and harder to get the attention of customers. Consumers are becoming more and more intolerant of in your face advertising. Standard advertising works but creative advertising works better.
  • I think the delayed gratification post is a good example of the bandwidth of an engaged audience.

    My thinking is simply this; engage with people their around passions and values (publish a novel marketing technique in a community of passionate marketers), and the reader's bandwidth expands.

    Try to "grab" their attention for a short time by startling them (with ultimately hollow content) and their bandwidth is exceptionally narrrow.

    Not much to say that engages with a customer? You're left to zapping them with two-second radio spots.
  • Mike,

    I think the number of responses to that blog post was due more to the controversial nature of the subject, and not its size.

    Jonathan
  • Hey Jonathan;

    I would agree.

    However, the post I wrote over at Copyblogger.com was 1000 words and it got the most response (50 + comments) I have seen in such as short period of time.

    Of course we don't pull stuff like that every day.

    Mike
  • Definitely fragmented consumers. Time has become a valuable commodity and patience is a virtue that many desire but few are willing to invest.

    To address Tom's point, blogs ARE an example of the shortening attention span today. When have you ever seen a blog post that is longer than a few paragraphs? If a blogger were to publish a 1000 word post every day, they would probably lose their core audience pretty quickly.

    Jonathan
  • Hey Tom;

    Great point!

    This is why I say the message must be valuable.

    Had the ad said "Egg salad on sale at Jack's Deli" I do not think it would have had the same impact.

    Only a recognized brand could get away with this.

    Mike
  • It's a good illustration about the ongoing failure of standard interrupt marketing techniques -- and why so many companies are now looking for ways to engage with customers instead.

    If the populace's attention span has collectively fallen to the point that even a 15-second spot is too long, then why are blogs such a fast-growing marketing channel?

    Brands that have little to offer (in terms of alignment with a customer's passions or even differentiated benefits) are already suffering at the hands of those who do, and no amount of two-second radio spots will change that.
  • Hey Brent - Thanks for your comments. I think on a hot day, an add for Cold Stone Ice Cream might grab me. - Mike
  • Brent Applegate
    I read this in the Union-Tribune as well...

    I think it is super creative! You can avoid a banner ad with your eyes, but you can't realy turn off your ears! Neat use of people's increasingly fragmented attention span. And further, ads are all about getting you to do something without thinking about it. Imagine the subliminal power of a Starbucks billboard showing a velvety smooth latte.

    I love the creativity of making 2 seconds a valuable advertising commodity!
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