Does advertising actually work?

[Disgustipated]

I've heard talk that it's a huge waste of corporate money. On the other hand I do like that it keeps things free. I just got to thinking after seeing an advertisement on youtube (which has become overrun by advertisements lately). It was for a product I don't care about, and honestly I don't even remember what it was. I ignore over 90% of advertisements.

I do admit there have been times advertisements have caused me to want something, and sometimes buy something. But for items I do not need, advertisements are 100% ineffective. Seeing an advertisement for coca-cola doesn't make me want to go out and buy coca-cola. In fact, I think advertisements for well known products are completely useless. I already know coca-cola exists, why tell me about it? As I mentioned above, sometimes they will work if it's for a product I have never heard of that that I can use.

Most advertisements for web based content like youtube or news site videos I ignore. Vary rarely do I even pay attention to what is being advertised. Very often it's for some business related item, and I don't work in the business world, so why do I care.

 

[Synobun]

I don't think I've ever bought anything because of an ad. I usually only buy things that I come across in a store that interests me.

Advertising could be effective for more obscure things, but big brands simply don't need the ads as everyone already knows about them.

 

[galdre]

I hate advertising - I have never had an advertisement make me want to buy something, but I have had many that have made me decide to never buy certain products.

 

[Cutlass]

It absolutely works. Just not all of it. In general it works pretty well. But many specific instance of it do not. As a whole it has managed to change consumer buying patterns, and it does affect political campaigns.

 

[Ajidica]

Advertising would be far more effective on me if I wasn't so stingy when it comes to spending money.

 

[downtown]

Of course it works. The object of each ad isn't necessarily to make you buy the product right then...it might be to get you to increase awareness of the brand, or what the product does. Nobody picks up the phone and gets auto insurance right when they see the commercial on TV...it's for when they switch in 4 months and go "hmmm, who are some other auto companies? Maybe I'll check GIECO..."

Some ads, of course, suck though.

 

[warpus]

I don't think I've ever bought anything because of an ad.

So you think. A good advertisement will work on a subconscious level. When it works, you won't even realize it..

 

[Synobun]

So you think. A good advertisement will work on a subconscious level. When it works, you won't even realize it..

It is not often that I see an ad of something I don't know about already because all the major brands take up ad time on TV and Youtube, all of which I have known since a very young age. If I happen to buy their product, it isn't due to their advertising as it is quite often that I simply don't watch a video or mute the commercials because of how irritating I find it.

As I said in my first post, I could see advertising being a positive thing for new companies and new products, as their exposure would be minimal and it would make sense. Advertising Coca Cola or the new Call of Duty is just overkill as everyone already knows about it.

 

[bombshoo]

Advertising can change long term buying substantially. Especially if you remember that most large companies do advertising in campaigns. It's not just the single advertisement that gets you but the series of slogans, logos, characters that are all recognizable and connected to a product. This creates subconscious reminders for products (Like a Polar Bear making you think of Coca-Cola) as well as guarantees awareness on multiple levels. Product awareness is a big deal. People always want the product they have heard of. If Coca-Cola stopped advertising or having consistent logos and slogans, Pepsi would overtake them in product awareness fairly quickly I imagine

 

[Murky]

That is silly question. It's like asking does the smell of good food make you hungry? Of course it does, that's the point. Corporations wouldn't spend billions of dollars on it if they didn't expect to get a larger return on their investment.

 

[warpus]

As I said in my first post, I could see advertising being a positive thing for new companies and new products, as their exposure would be minimal and it would make sense. Advertising Coca Cola or the new Call of Duty is just overkill as everyone already knows about it.

So you think.. It's easy enough to say "Oh yeah, I don't listen to advertisements, I just buy whatever I want", but there's a reason coca-cola advertises

 

[Kozmos]

So you think.. It's easy enough to say "Oh yeah, I don't listen to advertisements, I just buy whatever I want", but there's a reason coca-cola advertises

To inform the newer generations? I buy with my taste buds, if it tastes good then its good. A company might get me to try something if its new and interesting but quality makes for return customers.

 

[Cutlass]

I recall back in the 80s, the automakers in the US were switching from rear wheel drive cars to front wheel drive. The reason the automakers were switching was because they were trying to meet higher fuel efficiency standards and in smaller cars FWD allows a much better interior layout for more space. But the public was skeptical. Someone came up with these advertising campaigns "Front Wheel Drive is better in the snow", "Front Wheel Drive is better in all weather", "Front Wheel Drive is better performance and handling". And you know, by the middle 90s by and large the American car buying public believed these things. And then the automakers started in on the "need" for All Wheel Drive and SUVs for safety and security and all weather driving. And by the middle Aughts SUVs were half the new car market in the US.

But my rear drive car got me to work on time in bad weather, and their SUVs and FWD cars did not.

 

[Disgustipated]

Advertising can change long term buying substantially. Especially if you remember that most large companies do advertising in campaigns. It's not just the single advertisement that gets you but the series of slogans, logos, characters that are all recognizable and connected to a product. This creates subconscious reminders for products (Like a Polar Bear making you think of Coca-Cola) as well as guarantees awareness on multiple levels. Product awareness is a big deal. People always want the product they have heard of. If Coca-Cola stopped advertising or having consistent logos and slogans, Pepsi would overtake them in product awareness fairly quickly I imagine

I could agree on some products. But let's just take the coke vs. pepsi example:

Advertising does nothing. I like the taste of one over the other. No amount of advertising is going to change how it tastes. What I buy is determined solely on taste (or in some places they only offer one or the other).

 

[GenMarshall]

It does work. That's the component of marketing.

 

[History_Buff]

Of course it does.

There's the notable example of Russian Standard Vodka; after Putin banned prime-time alcohol ads, the founder created Russian Standard Bank with the same logo, which could be advertised at will. The vodka remains enormously popular (I think it wound up gaining market share), and the bank is now the largest consumer lender in Russia.

 

[madviking]

Those damn Headon commercials made me buy like 20 tubes of that stuff.

 

[warpus]

To inform the newer generations? I buy with my taste buds, if it tastes good then its good. A company might get me to try something if its new and interesting but quality makes for return customers.

A lot of advertising works on subliminal, subconscious and under-the-radar levels. You can't just make yourself immune to advertisements by proclaiming that you are.

 

[Leoreth]

I think where ads really fail is when they don't sufficiently mention which product they advertise. That's especially true for product groups where every company uses the same concept in their advertising; ads for cars, or not to mention perfume, are completely interchangeable and if I don't consciously pay attention to the brand I've forgotten it right when the ad is over.

Same thing with high concept ads that are only confusing and don't even allude to the properties of the product. Apple TV ads for the iPad etc. demonstrate how it should be done: demonstrate what your product does by letting it speak for itself.

 

[NickyJ]

Those damn Headon commercials made me buy like 20 tubes of that stuff.

Me too. And those ScamWow commercials really got to me too! I got about 50 of them.