How would David Ogilvy save the economy? By getting people to buy things they don’t need.

Danny Klein, Creative Director of TVLowCost USA has been kind enough to pen an article for my blog. I hope you enjoy it.

The root problem with our economy right now isn’t a credit crunch

Beyond the credit crunch

or the disposal of toxic mortgage-backed derivatives. It’s the fact that a huge percentage of our economic output isn’t really necessary: much, if not most of our Gross National Product comes from people making, transporting, marketing and financing goods and services that other people don’t absolutely need.

What don’t you need. Just about everything. Does anybody really need a new car? Obviously, a lot of us think not, and new car sales are plummeting. Hell, most people don’t really need cars at all. Automobiles add tremendous convenience and opportunity to our lives, but few people would actually keel over and die if they didn’t own one. And the same can be said for most of the things we spend money on. Double half-caff Macchiatos. TVs. Spa treatments. Cell phones. Most of our clothing. Any shelter more elaborate than a pup tent and sleeping bag. All food intake over 1600 calories a day. And so on. Don’t believe me? Join the Army and take basic training – you’ll see how little you actually need to survive. In our current recessionary economy, people discover more and more things every day that they don’t absolutely need. So they cut back, causing a ripple effect for the people who make, transport, sell, etc. all the stuff we don’t absolutely, positively need. It’s a downward spiral with no clear ending – or at least, not until everyone lives in a pup tent. Remember that old buzzword “synergy” – when everything comes together for positive effect? This is the antithesis – call it dissynergy.

Advertising: from intellectual scourge to economic savior. What’s the solution? As David Ogilvy once confessed, it’s advertising. While he denied our industry’s culpability for a host of other societal maladies (including wasting our collective intelligence), in Ogilvy On Advertising he does admit that we are collectively guilty of one thing: tempting people to squander money on things they don’t absolutely need, much to the dismay of “left-wing economists” who are “ever eager to snatch the scourge of God.”(!) Today, of course, I think it’s safe to say that economists of all types would be tickled pink to see a little more needless consumer activity. And us ad guys are just the folks to make that happen. We know how to create that perception that this (whatever it is) is the one special thing that is missing in your life. That everyone who is anyone is clamoring to get it. That if you are the last kid on your block to have it, you will be doomed not only to an unhappy childhood, but to years of tedious psychotherapy thereafter. And it’s this not-so-fine art of persuasion that’s needed to get consumers spending again. The Treasury Secretary and his rocket scientist pals can fiddle all they want with credit markets; if people don’t feel a need to buy something, there won’t be a need for credit.

TV advertising: the quicker picker upper for consumer demand. So what kind of advertising is going to have the most immediate and positive impact on your company’s economic situation? Assuming there’s a decent-sized pool of prospects for your product or service, the answer in almost all cases is TV. Or as David Ogilvy called it, “the most potent selling medium ever devised in the history of mankind.” No other medium comes close to being able to deliver your message to so many people in so little time for so little cost per impression – and while the landscape has changed, this is still true today. And if you’ll excuse me for offering a ham-handed endorsement of my own product, TVLowCost is a great way try out TV advertising for not a lot of money at all. So if self-interested profit motive isn’t enough to get you to try it, I encourage all you marketers out there to do your duty as an economic patriot and try advertising your wares on TV. Preferably with TVLowCost. We deliver quality TV advertising, TV production and media at an amazing value. Ourlow-cost business model devlivers quality and security to our clients.  You can find out more about TVLowCost at our web site or Facebook

Danny Klein is the Creative Director of TVLowCost USA.

The “Great Recession” is the Right Time for TVLowCost TV Advertising

  

 

No matter what business you are in, this “Great Recession” has created turmoil and uncertainty in your business. But smart marketers must always keep one eye on the future and not forget where they want to end up.

FIND OUT ABOUT OUR NO OBLIGATION OFFER: CALL JIM LURIE @ 646-839-6239 or lurie@tvlowcost.com

Now is the time for your message to be heard!

TVLowCost’s 10 RULES for successful Challenger Brands

1. BREAK FREE … seriously out-gunned by competitors in marketing spend and vulnerable to adverse Trade manipulations, Challenger Brands [CB’s] get trapped. Profiles too low and left clinging on to shifting Distribution, they often then spend too much of their limited funds on marketing activities that “tread water.” Not good enough; get out of there!

2. WORK HARDER … when the going gets tough, the tough get going, right? In or out of recession, CB’s must toughen up and out-think, out-smart, out-maneuver key competition. On every level. Doing what the competition does with less spend doesn’t get anywhere. Raise your profile and sales by being ubiquitous.

3. THINK CLEVERER … choose people to work with who have long experience working directly with Challenger Brands. Some 30+ years in TVLowCost’s case. Seniors who have all the business, marketing and strategic/planning, analytical abilities, creative skills and with project management honed to perfection. Plus the ethos to think and act “low-cost” … to the CB’s ultimate benefit. Clever smarter solutions. 

4. AVOID HIGH AGENCY FEES … high-rolling brands can afford the known excesses of traditional ad agency fees but not CB’s. And really, the big brands are waking up too. Allowing small but hard-earned budgets to be “hoovered” up by “high-cost” agencies is criminal. CB’s need the max in the media! Why? Because they need to …

5. YELL LOUDER … if consumers haven’t heard of you, you can’t blame them for not buying you! And bigger guns will diminish the CB’s saliency and awareness. Somehow they have to punch harder …

6. USE TV ADVERTISING … even if you can’t afford to be on consistently, ONLY TV delivers this punch. Use it and once your CB has changed up a gear, other means can then be used to maintain levels until the next round of TV is affordable. But be clear, even in our hugely fragmented media world today no other media bears comparison. TV is watched avidly for 27 hours per week or more and nothing Impacts, Engages, Entertains, Persuades and SELLS like it. But TV costs millions, right, and production costs are always excessive? Not so …

7. SPEND WISER … TVLowCost’s remarkable All-in TV Package at only $500M breaks all traditional rules. Deliberately and about time. At last, we have made TV advertising AFFORDABLE! Crafted for deserving CB’s and representing the USAs Best Value TV Package, it includes: full Project Management, strategic analysis and Briefing … full Creative, Shoot, Editing [average 3 commercials] … Music and on-air costs … 2 Focus Groups upfront to check Ideas … AND a fully-tailored NATIONAL TV Media Plan. All managed all the way by grown-ups. And then on-air 8 weeks from Briefing. Repeat: 8 weeks. There is nothing like it in the USA, nor in the 11 other markets where the TVLowCost Network operates.

8. TARGET MEDIA TIGHTLY … CB’s need “rifled” messages out there and NOT the wastage of 12-bore shotguns via the easier to buy but hugely costly Prime Time TV. Small brands can’t afford this anyway. Happily, the TV market now has Channels and programs to suit every taste so consumers can be targeted so tightly – and cost-effectively – with minimal waste.We are talking about the networks you watch everyday. “Low-cost” entry levels and exceptional Value can be gained … as long as the will, expertise and commitment is all there. A bit more demanding than buying far fewer Prime; but worth it! 

9. LEVERAGE THE TRADE BETTER … apart from the sheer clout of TV with consumers, its effect on broadening and deepening Distribution can be tremendous. The Trade only gets out of bed for TV so, at last, you get their attention. Our TV Campaigns have directly contributed to significant gains. With a much broader business base, when the consumer “pull’ comes via TV the net extra benefits will be huge.

10. ENJOY RESULTS BETTER THAN EXPECTED!…irrefutably strong and consistent Results are delivered by TVLowCost Campaigns. Often with Payback for each Burst too. And more Clients are re-booking follow-up Bursts – the ultimate test of efficacy. Slimthru has enjoyed 2 Bursts so far, Primula now 2, Milton 3 and Sudocrem 4. Proof. Our $500k Package punches hugely above weight and defies all cynics. And take comfort too from our Network now completing 120 projects with 500 commercials and for CB’s from the likes of Heinz, Unilever, Wrangler, J&J, Superdrug, Campbell’s, Bose, Siemens and many others.  Now that speaks volumes.

 Challenger Brands take note …

TVLowCost’s pioneering and unique All-in TV Package HAS AT LAST MADE TV ADVERTISING AFFORDABLE … AND CONSISTENTLY DELIVERS RESULTS WAY BETTER THAN BEST EXPECTATIONS. All-in for only $500. Now what results did you get last year from your budget, and how much did you spend? 

Call Jim Lurie @ 646-839-6239 today and ask for the NO OBLIGATION OFFER

Your brand on TV for less than thought possible

How can you be on TV. With TVLowCost USA your brand can be. We bring the brains, processes that can not be duplicated, pre-negotiated production and unbeleivable value to our clients. And some of our clients are the biggest brands there are! Quality and low-cost TV production and media, what a needed combination for 2009!

Sacrifice nothing, except for the excess of typical TV. Find out more. Call Jim Lurie at 646-839-6239.