Life After the 30-Second Spot

In March of 2005, the Pepsi-Cola Company announced that they would be reintroducing Pepsi One diet cola with one major twist-no 30-second spots. Instead the campaign would include events (see Chapter 14), online films (see Chapters 11 and 15) and other alternatives to traditional advertising such as trading cards.

Traditional advertising-led by its poster child, the 30-second television spot-is dead, dying, or in dire need of a shot in the arm. Take your pick, depending on which point of the spectrum you find yourself. And if none of the choices apply, you may very well be in a state of denial. If so, then you'd better read on.

It's true. The times are changing, and the tried-and-true media strategies that advertisers have used for decades no longer work quite so well. Old-school ad campaigns focused mainly on print, radio, and, in particular, television aren't nearly as effective as they once were. You can blame it on too many TV channels, the Internet, TiVo, empowered and savvy consumers, or anything else that sounds good. But if you're an advertiser, you'd better find alternatives to traditional media-or find an alternative profession.

This is the blueprint for anyone searching for fresh, revolutionary ways to get their message out beyond traditional media. Life After the 30-Second Spot reveals how today's brightest marketers are using new tactics to engage consumers and new avenues to take the place of TV, radio, and print. New Marketing guru Joseph Jaffe looks at what works and what doesn't, and covers hot topics like on-demand viewing, viral marketing, gaming, branded entertainment, and experiential marketing. Proactive and prescriptive, he offers real-world solutions for advertisers struggling to master the new rules of the ad game.

Jaffe begins by examining what's wrong with media today and reveals why the 30-second spot is presumed dead. But media isn't the only thing that has changed; consumers have too. Smarter and more suspicious than ever, they tune out advertising and change the channel at the first note of a jingle. Jaffe looks at what some marketers are doing to connect with these new consumers, and reveals what the new marketing reality means for branding, advertising, and the advertising agency itself. Finally, he explores in depth ten new nontraditional approaches that are changing the face of advertising, and provides commentary on each tactic from some of today's brightest marketers and advertisers.

The 30-second spot is on its last leg, but advertising isn't. Life After the 30-Second Spot challenges marketers and advertisers to reinvent themselves for marketing's new reality, and provides unique, practical, and actionable solutions that really work. There is a firm line between surviving and thriving-on which side will you find yourself?