Are there any statistics or what not that show how effective product marketing is?

[bozack]

I was just wondering as I was watching some TV and listening to the Radio lately and with the holliday blitz of advertisements I began to wonder just how many people are truly influenced by some of these commercials? I mean if I see something that interests me I will typically go online and do some research on it and then decide whether or not to buy, but it is almost as if many commercials target those who just watch the ad and then believe everything said word for word...maybe I am a pessimist.

The worst IMHO are the ads for the Jewelers, especially Jared, where they have the one guy who goes on and on about no matter how much he tells his wife he loves her it doesn't mean anything until he buys her a lavish gift from there....I imagine this stuff must work or else they wouldn't push it so, but I was wondering if there is any hard data that supports just how many people buy into these types of tactics...

Also any other stories of distasteful marketing would be appreciated, thanks.

 

[jmcoreymv]

I dont think it has much of an effect on me. Even for commercials I've seen a thousand times, I can never remember what they are advertising for. I usually just guess its for a cell phone company.

 

[bozack]

Originally posted by: jmcoreymv
I dont think it has much of an effect on me. Even for commercials I've seen a thousand times, I can never remember what they are advertising for. I usually just guess its for a cell phone company.

I remember some of them and generally the ones I remember are those which I feel are just so horrible or so distasteful that I will never shop for that product or in that store...

I just wonder how many people see stuff like this and think "wow what a great idea" or "gee that seems like a wonderful place to buy"...to me being someone who doesn't think like that it makes no sense...

 

[dullard]

I have two pieces of data for you.

1) Think of every national brand and every national chain that you know. Guess what. Every single one of them spends millions of dollars each year on advertising. That is the only stat you need to know: 100% advertise. The extent of the advertising varies greatly, but they all do it in some form or another.

2) I know personal stories are meaningless, because they usually aren't applicable to everyone. But I bet mine is. I worked at Arby's for several years. Every week or two the manager would switch the largest picture on the menu above the counter to a different sandwich. There was no special on it. There was nothing different about it. There was no reason for people to switch to it. A picture is all it was. Guess what. Sales on that item would tripple while the picture was there. Money didn't matter, taste didn't matter, nothing mattered but the fact that the customers saw a picture and sales would tripple.

Yes, many, many people see ads and immediately buy the product without further research.

 

[bozack]

Originally posted by: dullard
I have two pieces of data for you.

1) Think of every national brand and every national chain that you know. Guess what. Every single one of them spends millions of dollars each year on advertising. That is the only stat you need to know: 100% advertise. The extent of the advertising varies greatly, but they all do it in some form or another.

2) I know personal stories are meaningless, because they usually aren't applicable to everyone. But I bet mine is. I worked at Arby's for several years. Every week or two the manager would switch the largest picture on the menu above the counter to a different sandwich. There was no special on it. There was nothing different about it. There was no reason for people to switch to it. A picture is all it was. Guess what. Sales on that item would tripple while the picture was there. Money didn't matter, taste didn't matter, nothing mattered but the fact that the customers saw a picture and sales would tripple.

Yes, many, many people see ads and immediately buy the product without further research.

Your arbys example is really scary, to think that people can be that easily influenced to do whatever...hopefully more people will start doing research but unfortunately I doubt it...