Do ads work on you?

[RCBH928]

I have almost never seen an ad that convinced me to buy a product, which makes me think why are all those companies paying huge amounts of money for advertisement especially on tv. Most people do not want to watch ads, so forget about convincing them. The only thing an ad works on me is if I learn that product/service X exists, then I make my opinion if I want to buy it or not. Does not matter what they say in the ad, they won't convince me or manipulate me into buying it. And I hate "American" tv ads which usually directly address the viewer in almost "giving orders" way explaining to the viewer how this product will make your life better and you should go and buy it now. This has reverse psychology on me, the more you tell me to buy it the more I will NOT buy it. It has a very "capitalist" corporate dry sense to it.

Although, I have to admit this is due to the internet. Pre-internet times there was no other source of researching or gaining information except via official media and I used to trust the media and businesses. If Atari puts an ad in GamePro magazine saying that Jaguar is the greatest most powerful most fun console in the world, then the Jaguar IS the greatest most powerful most fun console in the world because if it was not they wouldn't dare to make such a statement on an official magazine. Yes, I was naive. When I was younger and pre-internet, ads worked on me 100%.

[samsonlonghair]

I have almost never seen an ad that convinced me to buy a product, which makes me think why are all those companies paying huge amounts of money for advertisement especially on tv. Most people do not want to watch ads, so forget about convincing them. The only thing an ad works on me is if I learn that product/service X exists, then I make my opinion if I want to buy it or not. Does not matter what they say in the ad, they won't convince me or manipulate me into buying it. And I hate "American" tv ads which usually directly address the viewer in almost "giving orders" way explaining to the viewer how this product will make your life better and you should go and buy it now. This has reverse psychology on me, the more you tell me to buy it the more I will NOT buy it. It has a very "capitalist" corporate dry sense to it.

Although, I have to admit this is due to the internet. Pre-internet times there was no other source of researching or gaining information except via official media and I used to trust the media and businesses. If Atari puts an ad in GamePro magazine saying that Jaguar is the greatest most powerful most fun console in the world, then the Jaguar IS the greatest most powerful most fun console in the world because if it was not they wouldn't dare to make such a statement on an official magazine. Yes, I was naive. When I was younger and pre-internet, ads worked on me 100%.

Imagine you’re a fisherman on the sea. You find schools of ten thousand fish. You cast your widest net over the biggest school of fish. 95% of those fish escape your net, but the 5% you caught are more than enough. You return to shore with 500 fish to sell at the market. The other 9500 fish wonder why you bother with that silly net in the first place.

[racketboy]

I think ads that are effective brand awareness work.
And online ads (mostly on social media probably) somewhat frequently pitch me ads of stuff that interest me -- many of which are brands that aren't on my radar or I hadn't previously thought to buy from. I'd say a lot of targeted ads can work fairly well.

But I don't watch ads on TV (we do streaming only and I pay for Ad-free solutions -- even on Youtube)

[MrPopo]

Ads have made me aware of things I was not aware of before, so in that sense they succeed. In terms of why I should prefer Colgate over Crest, they don't do anything.

[Anapan]

Targeted advertising works way better. That is Google's modus operandi. If you do a broad search for a product or service, they will make sure you have a hard time ignoring a paid advertiser's link over what google's own search engine finds to be the most appropriate otherwise not paid result.

I block all ads I can with customized rules. I refuse to wait through any ad, and I regularly reconfigure my ad-blocker to maximize the web pages I regularly visit so the blank space where an ad was is now filled with the content I want. I also pay to get rid of any ads I cannot block otherwise.
I'll download or stream with no ads every piece of entertainment I consume.
Now, I enjoy using Amazon and their Alexa AI regularly, and it is even more devious.
It's kinda scary that my mom mentions bread over a speakerphone call and Amazon out of the blue recommends I buy a rustic bread making cookbook 1 hour later when it only ever suggests video-game and manga related books.
Actually, Amazon picks my christmas and birthday gifts really well. I usually end up buying what Amazon suggests and I'm constantly told I get the best gifts. I pay very little relatively, and usually don't even try to guess what I should buy anymore.
Yeah, I embrace our new robot overlords, as long as it doesn't interfere with my uninterrupted consumption of entertainment media.


Why is he screaming at chicken?

[racketboy]

Ads have made me aware of things I was not aware of before, so in that sense they succeed. In terms of why I should prefer Colgate over Crest, they don't do anything.

I think in the Colgate vs Crest situation, it's a case of brand war where they both feel like they have to advertise because of they don't, the other will have more mind share over the long term. We probably all pick one based on what we grew up with, but I'm sure packaging design has something to do with it as well (even if its subconscious)

It's going to be interesting how this evolves as more people get away from advertising where these consumer staples don't advertise as much --- or will we see them move to advertising on Facebook, billboards, or other places they haven't much in the past.

Why is he screaming at chicken?

That's a really odd ad.

[RCBH928]

[imagine you’re a fisherman on the sea. You find schools of ten thousand fish. You cast your widest net over the biggest school of fish. 95% of those fish escape your net, but the 5% you caught are more than enough. You return to shore with 500 fish to sell at the market. The other 9500 fish wonder why you bother with that silly net in the first place.

I get it, but when you hear the absurd costs of ad campaigns I wonder if the "500 fish" is enough. A 30 sec on SuperBowl costs $5.5M, a password manager company called Dashlane made an ad. They need to signup 140K customers for 1 year contracts just to pay for that ad time.

I think ads that are effective brand awareness work.
And online ads (mostly on social media probably) somewhat frequently pitch me ads of stuff that interest me -- many of which are brands that aren't on my radar or I hadn't previously thought to buy from. I'd say a lot of targeted ads can work fairly well.

But I don't watch ads on TV (we do streaming only and I pay for Ad-free solutions -- even on Youtube)

I have been 12 years on this forum, I think this might be the first time I talk to you. I thought you might be a myth I am honored.

and I agree, brand awareness ads work better for me that ads that try to talk you into buying their product.

Targeted advertising works way better. That is Google's modus operandi. If you do a broad search for a product or service, they will make sure you have a hard time ignoring a paid advertiser's link over what google's own search engine finds to be the most appropriate otherwise not paid result.

I block all ads I can with customized rules. I refuse to wait through any ad, and I regularly reconfigure my ad-blocker to maximize the web pages I regularly visit so the blank space where an ad was is now filled with the content I want. I also pay to get rid of any ads I cannot block otherwise.
I'll download or stream with no ads every piece of entertainment I consume.
Now, I enjoy using Amazon and their Alexa AI regularly, and it is even more devious.
It's kinda scary that my mom mentions bread over a speakerphone call and Amazon out of the blue recommends I buy a rustic bread making cookbook 1 hour later when it only ever suggests video-game and manga related books.
Actually, Amazon picks my christmas and birthday gifts really well. I usually end up buying what Amazon suggests and I'm constantly told I get the best gifts. I pay very little relatively, and usually don't even try to guess what I should buy anymore.
Yeah, I embrace our new robot overlords, as long as it doesn't interfere with my uninterrupted consumption of entertainment media.

I am kind of ok with a service suggesting something based on my use like Amazon suggesting a case if I buy a laptop, but what I don't accept is when I tweet about how communism does not work then see a suggestion in Amazon Video of a documentary titled "The Fall of the USSR"

[racketboy]

I have been 12 years on this forum, I think this might be the first time I talk to you. I thought you might be a myth I am honored.

and I agree, brand awareness ads work better for me that ads that try to talk you into buying their product.

Ha! I feel honored that you're honored! I admit, my attendance can be spotty sometimes

BTW, if we're taking the big budget TV ads like Superbowl commercials, some have said that the big campaign that Wal-Mart did to push their curbside pickup may have been somewhat beneficial ahead of this unforeseen COVID situation.

[RCBH928]

Influencers are probably the most efficient ads nowadays, human billboards/e-celebs in one package.

There are other forms of marketing that work as you have mentioned especially product placements and paid reviews praising a product(which I think should be illegal because they pay you to lie). I was talking about tv ads like this Ford ad and those internet boxes and banner ads that you see on internet news websites.

[Anapan]

They don't work on me, but an amazing number of my friends and family fully believe those fake news blurbs placed in between real news stories to subtly praise a bogus health or beauty product. Some spent so much money!
They truly can't tell the difference when it's so clearly a product or supplement advertisement.