With TV viewers' growing more more discontent with advertising interruptions, some companies are going the way of creating their own shows.
As Gillette marketing director Steve Fund said, "We're seeing a blurring between advertising and entertainment. It's a new business model."
For Gillette itself, they're creating a NASCAR prime-time reality show for ABC (DIS) called "Young Guns." In it they've put together a number of race drivers (Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Jimmie Johnson, Jamie McMurray and Carl Edwards) to teach a dozen celebrities how to race a car.
What's great about this to me is that all racing fans are used to seeing the advertising logos all over the cars and fire suits. So when Gillette runs the series, they'll have their name all over the place when its filmed. They've even brought in secondary advertisers like Kroger and Sam's Club to bear the costs and benefits.
Guy D'AlemaOther than noticing the sponsors, viewers will consider it as part of the overall experience, rather than intrusive ads interrupting their experience.
Another benefit is that this costs much less than creating a regular ad as an average 30-second national ad runs about $381,000 to make, whereas some of the episodes by companies creating their own shows run an average of about $150,000.
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