>Is it really wasted though? Back when I still bothered to watch TV with ads
The world was a very different place back then. Where the majority of "housewives" (as in the person who makes the decisions - and bought - all house purchases) were actually the wives, and ad jingles was part of the soundtrack of our existence. Attention was less split and focused mainly on TV, and fewer players had access to it.
And you're right, it did have a brainwashing effect, and I bet to this day you still know the lyrics or you can hum songs from jingles, or you know brand claims by heart. People underestimated that.
But still like you, hundreds of million of people never consumed, became customers, recommended or influenced any decision for a lot of those brands - but for those brands it was still worth it. It was part of their business model - mass media + a big share of shelf in large retailers. Coca Cola Company, P&G, Mars, and many other mammoths grew with this.
>I mean if it wasn't, would we see so much product placement in movies and TV?
The problem is that TV is different from the Internet, still to this day. Just because they share the same type of media (video), it's different how you watch and how you manage your attention.
A banner in a website is very different from a spot in break on a TV show. Even a preroll on youtube is different from a tv spot - because if you're not watching the tv spot and you're fiddling with your phone, the sound is there, and it grabs your attention for a fraction of time.
I'm not saying that high frequency doesn't work - it does work very well! Does wonders! But wastage makes it expensive, and it works differently depending on the media..
The world was a very different place back then. Where the majority of "housewives" (as in the person who makes the decisions - and bought - all house purchases) were actually the wives, and ad jingles was part of the soundtrack of our existence. Attention was less split and focused mainly on TV, and fewer players had access to it.
And you're right, it did have a brainwashing effect, and I bet to this day you still know the lyrics or you can hum songs from jingles, or you know brand claims by heart. People underestimated that.
But still like you, hundreds of million of people never consumed, became customers, recommended or influenced any decision for a lot of those brands - but for those brands it was still worth it. It was part of their business model - mass media + a big share of shelf in large retailers. Coca Cola Company, P&G, Mars, and many other mammoths grew with this.
>I mean if it wasn't, would we see so much product placement in movies and TV?
The problem is that TV is different from the Internet, still to this day. Just because they share the same type of media (video), it's different how you watch and how you manage your attention.
A banner in a website is very different from a spot in break on a TV show. Even a preroll on youtube is different from a tv spot - because if you're not watching the tv spot and you're fiddling with your phone, the sound is there, and it grabs your attention for a fraction of time.
I'm not saying that high frequency doesn't work - it does work very well! Does wonders! But wastage makes it expensive, and it works differently depending on the media..