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Could the gore from a scene in "CSI" or
the salty language of "Southland" keep an ad for Pampers or a commercial for
Coca-Cola from making its point with viewers? According to new research
from a consortium of blue-chip advertisers seeking more programs that spur
family viewing, the answer is a resounding yes.
According to the study, 10.7% of the audience changed their opinion about
purchasing a product based on the content in which they viewed the advertisement
that promoted it. Indeed, brand equity attribute summary scores for all
commercials tested were negative when viewed in adult content, according to the
group's research. The Alliance for Family Entertainment conducted the
research by having 2,400 consumers - in 12 cells of 200 respondents - test six
different ads by watching them in program segments and on their own.
"I believe that for family brands, the kitchen logic is they need to be in
family content or there is going to be a disconnect" with consumers, said Jim
Bechtold, a former veteran Procter & Gamble executive who served as a consultant
to the group in devising the study. "Adult-oriented brands need to be in
adult context." The research suggests that advertisers may want to "give
up on reach rather than go into a mediocre program as far as it being
family-friendly," said Barbara Bacci Mirque, exec VP of the ANA Alliance for
Family Entertainment.
Indeed, one marketing executive said the research gives him tangible data to use
to fend off suggestions that his company's ads appear in content that might be a
little dark or sexual in nature. "When we do things in the family
environment, it's just that much more engaging," said Ed Gold, advertising
director, State Farm Cos.
Consisting of blue-chip advertisers ranging from Coca-Cola, IBM Corp. and
Walmart Stores to Procter & Gamble, General Motors, McDonald's, Verizon
Communications and Kraft Foods, the Alliance has garnered notice since its
informal inception in September 1998. At that time, a group of big ad
names gathered together as the "Forum for Responsible Advertisers" by former
Johnson & Johnson ad chief Andrea Alstrup to discuss steps they might take to
encourage the development of TV shows parents and children could watch together.
Among the programs the group has helped bring to air since that time are
"Gilmore Girls," "Chuck," "Everybody Hates Chris" and "Friday Night Lights."
Developing family-oriented content becomes more important as audiences begin to
spread out and graze on a wider array of digital content in addition to TV, said
State Farm's Mr. Gold. Marketers have a broader range of content to monitor, and
the ability of consumers and advocacy groups to express discontent is magnified.
"With the advent of e-mail and the advent of social networking, putting messages
out there to advertisers about what they like about what you're doing and what
they don't like about what you're doing has become that much easier," he said.
Microsoft's recent decision to back out of its plan to support a Fox variety
program featuring "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane, citing concerns about
ribald content, only serves to emphasize the concerns marketers have about
negative feedback. The software company had planned to have its new
Windows 7 operating system featured in the program itself, but learned the
popular but off-color producer intended to use material that referred to such
topics as feminine hygiene and the Holocaust.
The collective ad-spending might of the Alliance for Family Entertainment is
enough to raise the eyebrows of any media outlet. Should the research help
guide marketers' spending decisions, then certainly, TV networks and other media
might take notice.
"If more advertisers are willing to begin allocating greater amounts of money
towards this programming, the broadcasters will begin to put more of that
programming as part of their schedule and think a little bit differently about
what advertisers are wiling to buy and what may work on their networks," said
Marc Goldstein, president-CEO of WPP's Group M North America, a large
media-buying concern.
The trouble? Advertisers can't ignore where the masses are at present.
More often than not, large swaths of consumers are tuning in to programs that
contain elements of sex and violence, including ABC's top-rated "Grey's Anatomy"
and "Desperate Housewives," and CBS's humorous "Two and a Half Men" and its
powerful "CSI" franchise.
"To say that you're only going to be in family-friendly fare, however one
chooses to define that, you're probably running the risk of not being visible in
some areas that may have a lot of potential," said Tony Pace, chief marketing
officer of the Subway Franchisee Advertising Fund Trust. "For a brand as
big as ours, you need to reach consumers and there are going to be some
trade-offs you have to make between content and size of audiences," he said,
adding, "You're always trying to balance those two things."
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