Why Don’t People Like DIRECTV’s HDTV Commercials?
USA Today says few consumers like them “a lot.”
By Phillip Swann
Washington, D.C. (March 26, 2007) – During the past year, DIRECTV has spent more than $100 million on a TV ad blitz for its High-Definition TV service starring celebrities Jessica Simpson and William Shatner.
But one report suggests that the commercials may not be paying off, at least not with the majority of viewers.
USA Today writes today that Ad Track, which surveys consumers on their attitudes towards commercials, finds that just eight percent of Americans like the DIRECTV HD ads “a lot.”
The newspaper says that the average for a TV commercial is 20 percent.
Thirty-eight percent of survey respondents say they “dislike” the ads, compared to the survey average of 13 percent. And only eight percent say they think the ads are “effective,” compared to the survey average of 20 percent.
The DIRECTV ads are doing better with men (11 percent say they like them a lot) than women (five percent say they like them a lot.).
But DIRECTV officials say the ads, which tout the satcaster’s upcoming expansion of high-def service, are working, particularly with males.
The company originally targeted both males and females with the ads, but discovered that males were more interested in high-def programming.
Jessica Simpson starring in a DIRECTV commercial.
“We started doing a lot of analysis about who is our most profitable customer,” Paul Guyardo, DIRECTV’s chief marketing officer, tells USA Today. “Our best quality customer is a family man, 35 to 54 years old, with upper income and who is better educated. We totally shifted our media-buying strategy to go after him. We didn’t spend more. We just spent it more efficiently.”
The heavy emphasis on males could be a reason why the DIRECTV ads have a low “like a lot” rating overall. Females apparently are particularly turned off by the spots, with just five percent saying they like them “a lot.”
After shifting strategy, DIRECTV moved the ads from morning shows to sports and other programs targeted to males.
USA Today notes that DIRECTV increased its overall subs by 275,000 in the fourth quarter of 2006, a 38 percent jump over the same quarter in 2005. DIRECTV’s Guyardo says the ads were a big reason.
“In terms of sales results, the ads all worked incredibly well,” Guyardo tells the newspaper. “It was just amazing.”