Stay to the End

Okay, this has been bothering me for a while now. The basketball universe is broken. The powerhouse franchises of the NBA are in Cleveland and Oakland? Los Angeles is a basketball wasteland, and Boston was just happy to be in the same building with LeBron James during the Eastern Conference Finals.  Do you really expect me to believe the Chicago Cubs are the reigning World Series Champions?

Something is definitely wrong.

This disturbance in the force is even more unsettling when you look up and the Warriors and Cavaliers are battling in the NBA Finals. Again. For the third year in a row.  Major League Baseball at least has catchy names for their classic championship clashes:  The Bay Bridge Series or the Subway Series come to mind.  But, Warriors vs. Cav’s will go down in history as the Groundhog’s Day Series.  You tune in for some NBA action and all that comes to mind is, ‘Haven’t I seen this one before?’

Advertising campaigns can be like that. You feel like you are sending the same message out to your audience over and over and over again. You begin to fear that the primary response to your marketing materials is not increased awareness or brand reinforcement - but, boredom. Or even worse, indifference.

The Warriors breezed through Game 1 and Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Their average margin of victory was 20 points. The games weren’t even competitive.  Pundits are not giving the Cavaliers much of a chance in this series.  After watching this level of ‘competition,’ you’re probably thinking, this has got to impact TV ratings and ultimately league revenue. Right?

You are absolutely right. 

Ratings were up 8 percent over Game 2 from last year.   That’s right – they went up! Increased ratings means increased audience share which leads to greater exposure for advertisers which creates the potential for increased revenue - for the network and the advertiser.

Stay the course with your advertising. Your perception that the audience is tiring of your message is not reflecting reality.  Remember, you hear your messaging all day every day as you seek to build your business.  However, your audience is sifting through myriad of messages from a multitude of sources which inundates their lives daily.  The consistency of your messaging throughout the advertising cycle, from your introductory ads all the way through your on-hold program will reinforce your image in the mind of your audience members.

Two years ago Golden State beat the Cavs in six games to be crowned NBA Champs.  Last year, the Warriors won the first two games of the series and everyone thought it was over.  Cleveland came back and won the series in seven games.  That’s why you stay to the end. You never what will happen – and that intrigue keeps you engaged to experience what happens next.

At Woodstock Media Group we specialize in on-hold programs that make you want to stay to the end. Our programs are creative and designed to help you engage your captive audience. Listen to this one:

You don’t have to settle for boring. In basketball or in on-hold advertising.

Well, maybe in basketball. Definitely in soccer.

Tom McTee, Super-Genius