Post #12: The Gift That Keeps On Giving

For my last post, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss an advertising medium which is rich, robust, and instantly adaptive to change. This medium is a lot like you. In fact, it IS you.

Companies such as Under Armour, Adidas, Puma and others have ingeniously persuaded their consumers to wear shirts, shorts, hats, socks, bags and other apparel that spreads brand awareness. In postmodern society, many people define themselves and those around them by the images the consume. Wearing a Puma bag, for example, may be an attempt to tell the world "I play soccer. It's a part of who I am". 

By convincing their consumers to express themselves in this way, firms can actually make money on their advertising. This strategy also allows the firms' message to penetrate areas where traditional advertising could never go. A woman in a shirt or a man wearing a hat can go into places where TV, radio, and the internet cannot reach. 

Labeling their products in this way allows firms to double down on their apparel sales. They earn both the sales revenue from the initial purchase and the additional brand awareness achieved by widespread visibility of their logo and brand name. 

Post #11: Do Ticker Tape Ads Register?

Register tape advertising, such as the type featured in the image above, may be the most under-appreciated medium in all of marketing communications.

Firms such as Register Tape Unlimited, Inc. pull together advertisements from a variety of companies, bundle them, and pay grocery stores, pharmacies, and other retailers for space on their register tape. The idea is simple: "Everyone buys groceries. Advertising on register tape guarantees that your message will be seen by a steady stream of eyes every day."

This sentiment sounds good on paper, but the reality of the matter is that consumers rarely notice such advertisements. I will be honest, I only looked at the ads on my receipt from Pick 'N Save today because I thought it would be a good topic to cover for this blog.

So do these ads work? With no empirical evidence to reference, it is hard for me to make a convincing case that they do not. However, intuitively, the ads do not seem like they would  work in the Information Age. Many consumers now pay with debit cards, eliminating the need for paper receipts to track expenses. Many shoppers throw their crumple up their receipts and throw them away without even glancing twice at them.

As I said, I have very little empirical evidence to support my claims. I'd love to hear your comments, using the discussion posts as a small focus group. Do you ever look at register tape ads?