Consumer Behavior: Building Marketing Strategy 13th Edition by Delbert Hawkins, David Mothersbaugh

Exercise 14

Living in a DVR World
DVRs allow for digital recording of programs and "time-shifted" viewing. Currently some 40 percent of U.S. households have a DVR and that number is expected to grow. 12 A major concern for marketers is increased ad avoidance. DVR viewers of prerecorded content skip ads at more than twice the rate of those who view the same content live. And 50 to 90 percent of DVR users fast-forward through at least some commercials. 13
Other research is more optimistic. Several studies point out that most viewers who zip through DVR commercials still "notice" the ads and, in fact, will stop and view commercials they are interested in. 14 And Inner-scope Research recently found that DVR users who fast-forwarded through TV ads were more "engaged" with the ads than those who did not. 15
Clearly, marketers need to think beyond traditional models as DVR technology transforms how consumers watch TV. One strategy being tested is compressing ads so consumers see a shortened version of the ad, which plays in real time during fast-forwarding. 16 With such a strategy, research suggests that the key is simplicity and having key brand information in the center of the screen, where it is most likely to be noticed. 17 Other strategies now in use include the following: 18
• Still-frame ads. This strategy keeps the visual relatively static for 30 seconds, giving marketers a chance to present their package, brand, and logo and have it visible even during fast-forwarding. Brotherhood , a show set in Providence, Rhode Island, used the cityscape focal visual. When fast-forwarded, the clouds move and the audio is made to be quite dramatic.
• Hybrid ads. Hybrid ads mimic the show the audience is watching. These tie-ins to shows seem to be particularly effective at staving off ad skipping. Guinness used a hybrid to mimic Mythbusters , the show in which the ad aired. This ad yielded 41 percent higher recall than a regular Guinness ad!
• Interactive ads. TiVo recently added an interactive "tag" icon that appears while the ad is playing, which takes consumers to more detailed brand information and additional ads. Sony has created ads with multiple endings that viewers select with their remote. Interactivity provides marketers with more freedom in a DVR context to deliver relevant brand information and content to consumers who want it.
• Dynamic ad placement. DirecTV is now using technology that allows "seamless insertion of household addressable ads into both live and recorded video content from the DVR hard drive." Such micro-targeting can offer consumers ads that are much more relevant to their needs and goals, a critical factor in attitudes toward advertising in general and attention to specific ads in particular. 19
Beyond such adaptations, networks are also eyeing alternative delivery platforms that would not involve the DVR. The goal would be to have such platforms replace the DVR. CBS did research that showed that many consumers would be willing to accept commercials in return for not having to pay $10 per month for their DVR. This would appear to be dependent on the availability of "anytime" viewing of popular shows and that is just the type of strategy being examined. According to a CBS representative:
I call DVRs a transitional technology. The DVR will be supplanted by streaming and VOD [video on demand] that will give the consumer the ability to watch the shows any way they want to and to do so in a way that is much more advertiser-friendly.
Do you think that later adopters of DVRs will be less interested in "ad avoidance" capabilities Will this change as they "learn" to use their DVR