OMG! Ads Trgt TiVo Usrs + Txtrs

With technologies like TiVo and text messaging taking over the world, marketers are being forced to rethink their approach to advertising.

The New York Times writes that NBC is hearkening back to its roots by moving beyond the 30-second commercial to form bigger, longer-term relationships with advertisers. The network will work with Liberty Mutual to create a pair of TV movies under the banner “Libery Mutual Presents,” reminiscent of old sponsored shows like “Colgate Comedy Hour.” The movies will take on themes of personal responsibility, complementing Liberty Mutual’s “Responsibility, What’s Your Policy?” campaign.

The sponsorship model is intended to make advertisers more TiVo-proof. With people zapping through the commercials, advertisers are looking for new ways to get their messages across. Since Liberty Mutual is developing the scripts for the movies, it’s guaranteed its brand messages will get in there.

The notion of an advertiser actively in the writers’ room may cause you to gag, but Ed Zwick, co-creator of thirty-something and quarterlife, made an interesting point during a talk at the recent Future of Television conference. Zwick said that ever since networks became involved in producing shows, they’ve given copious story-altering notes. Swapping a media conglomerate for a consumer-packaged-goods conglomerate was no big deal in his mind; it’s just the reality of modern production.

Speaking of notes, marketers are also dropping vowels in their commercials and using txt msg speak to reach younger audiences. The Wall Street Journal reports that McDonald’s, Cingular and even Doritos have adopted text messaging lingo into their ads. The Cingular ad (embedded here) featuring a young girl talking about her “BFF Jill” has been viewed over 1.3 million times on YouTube. But other attempts, like the “gt2kno Jack” campaign for Black Pepper Jack Doritos fell flat.

At some point these these two new ad strategies will merge and you’ll see “2 nite @ NBC, Librty Mu2L preznts…”