Saturday, April 26, 2008

Comcast or the Other Guy

I recently saw the last TV ad for Comcast. What came to mind was that the ad did not promote products, services, or savings. This was a relief over the last several rounds of ad runs. Previously, Comcast has actively promoted their broadband products over its competitors. Better service and less money, at least for the introductory offer – you need to read the fine print. I think these ads could be easily viewed evening, at least once. They became tiring to me personally. Back to the newest ad - I do not know what Comcast has named the ad; I would think something as simple as “Money’ would work. These ad shows a late teenager/early 20’s male riding a bicycle through an urban neighborhood, soon people from the sidewalk, doorsteps, etc. begin to greet him, his name is Money. The greetings are every day greetings, in the variety that we greet are friends. Money does not say ant lines, just smiles while riding his bike. What is message here? The same one that was active marketed on the previously ads albeit a different method full of linkages. Everyone loves money; and since you love money, you must want to save money. Without viewing the previous ads would not have link the message back to Comcast and saving money though. Yes, I like money, but saving it by having Comcast services is not the firt thing that comes to mind. Guess all that was missing, was having Money pedaling to the local bank and making a deposit. Another thought was, what if you have not seen the previous ads, would you understand the message or just write it off to a weird ad? I know there is not anything new here, several ad campaigns have run a commercial series that told a story from ad to ad, how successful are they?

What are your thoughts?