Here is a post in which I finally managed to put in some of the stuff I discovered during the last couple of years at B School. In this one I’ve tried to talk about the single most important reason for which I’ve watched TV in the past couple of years: Commercials!
For me, the earliest memory of television commercials dates back to the mid-nineties of the last century. The Cricket World Cup had come down to the Indian subcontinent for the first time and I remember very short films with good looking people endorsing colas and cooking oils, being aired after every couple of overs bowled during those matches. A six-foot Ian Bishop coolly holding up the classic bottle of Coke or much smaller Sanjay Manjrekar roughing it up on a whitewater raft endorsing Four Square Cigarettes are some of the very vivid images that come to my mind when I look back at the TV Advertisement scenario of the 90’s.
More than a decade has passed and the advertising scenario has only become far more complex. With the number of brands with footprints in “cross-media” advertising growing exponentially, the TV commercials segment has only grown to become fiercely competitive. A direct consequence being the exorbitant increase in the amount of money charged by some of the leading TV channels for the slots available for commercials.
Prime time slots are now way out of reach of small or medium sized businesses. Only the major players can afford to air their commercials in these overtly coveted slots these days. With the pay-TV subscribers’ count crossing 70 million Indian homes, coupled with their ever increasing market dominance (both in terms of their Top lines as well as Bottom lines), these major MNCs hardly seem bothered by the sky rocketing advertisement charges charged by some of the TV channels.
In fact, the alarming thing is the fact that if you did the Math right, the “exorbitant fees” charged for these TV commercial slots would only seem justified. For example, a prime time 10 second slot during an India-Pakistan Cricket match is likely to cost anything near 5 Lacs. Now, even if the number of viewers is only 150 million, the net charge per run of the commercial per thousand viewers comes to a meager 3 Rupees and 30 Paise, a win-win for both the company and the TV channel.
Historically, the NFL’s Super Bowl in the US has been home to the most high profile TV commercials. In fact, a 30 second slot in this year’s Super Bowl is expected to cost around 2.6 Million USD. CRAZY!
But what drives Companies to shell out 2.6 Million USD for a 30 second advertisement slot? Simply put, it is the sheer aura created around the finals of arguably the favourite sport in the US. Being one of the most widely watched events, the Super Bowl is watched by not less than 90 Million US viewers. In fact, such is the stage created that these particular Super Bowl commercials are a created to be a spectacle in themselves. Created on humongous budgets and often directed by Hollywood veterans, these specially made commercials belong to a class of their own.
One such Commercial was the one aired during the ’84 Super Bowl finals by Apple, introducing the Macintosh to the world. This particular commercial is considered to be the most renowned and successful Super Bowl Ad ever. And hence, it obviously has the most fascinating story attached to it. Created on a budget of 800000 USD in 1983, this one had been directed by none other than Ridley Scott. Although this ad was all set to become a show- stealer at the ’84 Super Bowls, only a single 60 second slot was booked for it for a price of 800000 USD. And even though being made at such a huge budget, the executives on Apple’s Board were dismayed when it was shown to them. In fact, they advised the management NOT to air it at all. But, finally when the time came, the decision to air the ad was left to the VP of Marketing William V. Campbell and Executive VP of Marketing and Sales E. Floyd Kvamme. Luckily for us, they decided to go ahead with it. The Mac Ad was aired during the first commercial break after the first second half kick-offs and the rest, as the cliché goes, is history.
But, the most fascinating thing about this particular Ad is the fact that it was aired nationally only ONCE!
And the Deal: A crunch situation in the Super Bowl finals, 90 Million viewers watching, Apple introduces The Mac in style, all yours for only 1600000 USD, and only 60 seconds of fame…….I’m sold! Gone in Sixty Seconds flat!
PS: Do watch this one when yuo have the time .. just search "1984 Superbowl Apple Macintosh Commercial" on Google and you'll get the link.
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