Localized Ads and the Holiday Season
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
As the never-ending slew of massive corporate Black Friday advertisements begin their impending invasion upon us, I can’t help but be thankful this year for something I never thought I’d utter around this year’s turkey feast: local ads.
Yes, you heard it here first. I, Tamara Parker, will be thankful this year for more local advertisements. Crazy? Well, allow me to explain.
In an economy where the majority of mom and pop shops are suffering under the weight of a sagging economy, it’s easy to notice the decline in local advertisements, particularly the smallest of the small shops. And being an eager advocate of supporting the local market, it disappoints me when my favorite bistro or neighborhood coffee shop can’t afford the massive budget for print advertisements, especially when they rarely see the ROI they expect in return for their life savings investment in this week’s penny saver.
So where do these local shops turn to? Television. And with products like RGB Network’s Broadcast Network Processor, cable operators can easily offer this local advertisement service without a huge mark-up and with a promise of much greater ROI.
The BNP’s ad insertion and real-time digital overlays enable operators to easily insert ads into programming and to further customize these ads in real-time with the addition of locally relevant information that ‘localizes’ them. So when you sit down to watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade, instead of only large, corporate commercials you might be seeing more neighborhood coffee shop specials taking place at 5PM and deals at the local art gallery all day Friday- all of which are relevant to YOU and based upon YOUR area code.
Just to clarify, I take no personal issue with the corporate commercials, but I do find myself getting irritated when I watch said commercials and either their locations or their products are nowhere near me. Local ad insertion is a win-win for three parties: you as the consumer receive relevant ads, the cable operators are making more money off of advertising, and the locally-owned and operated shops are getting their name out in a far more effective advertising campaign.
So ‘tis the season to be relevant! Cost-effective! And most importantly…local!
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