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Since then it’s been used by many marketer to launch their brands like: AIRCREW, Volkswagen etc. And re- launch their brand (Avoidance) in the market. Previously it was understood that roadblock advertising are successful only in Television but this myth is broken by Volkswagen using The Times of India 16 pages to launch their Jetty, Pascal in the market, today Internet is emerging as a very good tool for advertising ; roadblocks are blocking the advertising way on the internet as well through various social networking websites, etc.
Roadblock may refer to: * Roadblock (barrier), a temporary installation set up to control or block raffia along a road * Roast rook (“obstruct the road” in Hindi), a commonly practiced form of protest in India * Police roadblock, a roadblock operated to check traffic along a road What is the jargon used to describe the manner in which your favorite channel on the idiot box is bombarded with ads after ads after used to explain the ads of the same auto brand plastered all across the first few pages of your daily newspaper? Is known as roadblock advertising.
ROADBLOCK ADVERTISING: according to Wisped, a roadblock is a temporary installation set up to control or blocks traffic along a road. On immemorial television, the term is used when an advertiser buys up all the advertising on a channel for a given length of time like a full day (vertical roadblock), or across a band of channels at a particular time, say an hour (horizontal roadblock), thus preventing any other advertiser from being present at those times. The vertical and horizontal roadblocks are explained later in the paper.
Roadblock advertising implies blocking a particular media vehicle (it could be a Television Neuron, a particular newspaper or magazine, a radio station or even a particular Internet Site) for a particular period of time to maximize the outreach and frequency Of the communication message. Historical data however suggests that Roadblock advertising is mostly used on TV. The very first roadblock to be attempted on Indian television was way back in 1 994 when a small fire extinguisher making company decided to use 9 different commercials to launch its diversification into keepers kitchenware.
A creative Indus elegance that a smart media planner chose to capitalist upon by acquiring the telecast rights of a full-length feature film and airing only these commercials in every break, so that the viewer got the whole message about he range at one go. That roadblock worked magic for the media planner’s reputation but did nothing for the sales of the brand. Every Brand needs a strategy, in order to win results. It wasn’t until the fall of 2007 that the roadblock re-appeared with a big bang.
Avoidance reportedly spent upwards of RSI 10 core to announce its name change to the world, using a range of short and long commercials exclusively in all breaks, both vertically and horizontally. The jury is still out on whether the exercise was an overkill or not, and whether it really required all that money, especially when an arguably more effective way would have been to welcome every subscriber to the new service with a simple and free SMS, which purportedly the company did not do!
Axis Bank changed its name around the same time as Avoidance did, using a more extensive and ‘normal’ media and scheduling strategy. As far as awareness of a name change goes, however -?? no doubt Avoidance was more successful. If anyone knows how to make a vertical roadblock work, we have to say it’s M TV. They associated with Monika on Independence Day last year, promoting the launch of the new NON through Freedom of Expression. Not a single aroma commercial was used.
Instead the entire day was peppered with celebrity vignettes branded by the NON, teasers showcasing the features Of the product, interactive scrolled offering special mobile downloads of the national anthem, and so on. Why does a marketer need Roadblock advertising? 1 . It’s a simple but expensive way of aggregating eyeballs and creating a buzz. In principle they want consumer to talk more about it…. Even after the roadblock is over. 2. Roadblocks do a brilliant job in breaking the clutter as they make your product stand out in the crowd. . The whole concept Enid road roadblock advertising (irrespective of which channel of communication is chosen) is to ‘dominate’. The idea is to create high impact communication, so that repetition can be done away with. Industry fatteners feels that roadblock advertising works best in two situations (a) When there is major shift in the communication strategy of a brand; (b) When a new brand (product or service) is launched or when a brand enters a new market.
The best example of roadblock advertising in the first case (that is to convey change in communication strategy) was the campaign to announce the branding from hutch to Avoidance in September 2007. The day-long roadblock advertising that run across 30 channels on star network brought in 92-95% brand recall for avoidance. Similarly, in March 2009 RACER roadblock on the day of launch of it’s services on RED FM (Iambi) was memorable as far as adding the spice of innovation to this practice goes.
There was a complete overhaul of the station format, to fit within the brand template; for instance the usual ‘OFFICIO eke char gannet chips eke’, becomes “AIRCREW eke paunch gang chips eke” along with Aircrew’s launch campaign tag line- your oral of possibilities. Similarly, the best example for the second case(when a new brand (product or service) is launched or when a brand enters a new market) was the aforementioned print roadblock VOLKSWAGEN in the Times Of India, with each of the sixteen editions of XII featuring Volkswagen ads and Volkswagen on the D-DAY.
Justifying the cash spent on the advertising war front, as result we have witnessed a huge rise in the awareness for the Volkswagen brand with in a very short time periodic the country’ post the campaign. A part from increasing the sales of the new beetle, Torture the lagoons brand receive a huge number of internet hits, which clearly signifies the rise in the brand awareness for the Volkswagen brand in India. Infant, the campaign has also resulted in huge motivation amongst the dealers and employee of the company. Road block advertising can be segregated in to two broad categories- a.
Vertical roadblock b. Horizontal roadblock Vertical road block is when a particular media network (a channel or a newspaper) is blocked by the marketers for a single day, it can take the form of ‘day associations’ to work wonders for a brand and its essence, thus levering impact not just by hogging up all the inventory, but also by fitting in with what the brand stands for. Bingo worked with MAT to sponsor April Fools Day this year, turning it into a Baker Din, so much in character with the brand’s irreverent whacko persona.
All commercial breaks were exclusive to Bingo of course, but beyond that the content itself was recreated to showcase the brand and its ‘no confusion, great combination’ message. Fake cricketers, spoofing Vic’s , all paid ‘tribute’ to the brand as ‘foolishly’ as possible! Another example of vertical roadblocks is the one on Victim 18 MAT stand out. Take caduceus “Emmett ha khan SAA Phil theatre ha” campaign. Catbird tied up with MAT for launch of this campaign.
The TV channel created two videos- one was HIP HOP and the other, a pop version of the original commercial. On July 1 SST,2009, the day campaign broke out on television, MAT aired only this aforementioned Catbird commercial the entire day. I short, it was Catbird, Catbird and only Catbird that day, for all MAT viewers! In these cases roadblocks were not limited only to ad-spot buys but were smartly integrated as part of the content too. Horizontal roadblock is when different media outworks are blocked for single time slot by particular brand.
Of-course while both have their own advantages, the company should be extremely careful about it’s choice in the regard; after all air time in either the vertical or the horizontal plan can not be just bought with a few precious dimes! Therefore, which amongst the two should be used depends completely on the objective one wants to achieve from the campaign. Experts says “Vertical should be used when you want to maximize frequency of your advertisement(s) and Horizontal Is to be used if you want to maximize the out reach of your mass immunization”.
An example of horizontal roadblock advertising is Kirk’s film My name is khan which is the first film to use ad roadblock advertising If big- spend advertisers such as Hindustan Milliner Limited (HULL), Monika, Catbird India and Avoidance have used the advertising roadblock strategy, My Name is Khan will mark the first instance of a film using such a tack, whoso trailers block 11 star India channels including star plus, star one, star gold and Channel V on December 16, 2009 at 10 pm to telecast a 3 minute trailer of the film.
Now that’s marketing the king khan films in king sized style. Road block ads work well for a brand, but not for a company which use it for multiple brands. Talking about the evolution of the Roadblock in Indian media, we do expect some innovation in the format overtime; one possibility is we may see a road block on a channel wherever the anchors and characters in the various shows, talk about the particular brand the entire day, but in the present time, the very difficulty of implementation and the cost associated with the plan pose a huge challenge to marketers.
Convincing the client for the roadblock in very difficult because it need lot of muscle since a 100-200% premium on aroma ad-rates need to be spent to block a media vehicle. Roadblock advertising on Internet When advertisers and advertising agencies are tasked with reaching mass audiences online, many undertake roadblock advertising because its an effective tactic for gaining user attention and engagement. Roadblock advertising allows advertisers to own 100% of voice for a given period, usually a day.
In other words, an advertising campaign would run exclusively across all the advertising units on a page reinforcing the advertising message. Like all forms of advertising, roadblock advertising can be run with mom options of targeting such as day-part targeting and gee targeting ensuring that you don’t waste any of your advertising budgets. One of the strategies when undertaking roadblock advertising is to develop a campaign where each ad unit works in concert to deliver a unique and powerful rich media advertising experience.
As the ads are delivered concurrently, these coordinated ad placements can interact with each other in a myriad of ways. By creating engaging and attention catching campaigns like this, will reinforce the message. Roadblock advertising campaigns are typically booked by date or even a week ND given their exclusive ownership are typically priced higher than buying one or two media placements. TENANTS TO USE ROADBLOCK ADVERTISING: audiences online, many undertake roadblock advertising because it’s an effective tactic for gaining user attention and engagement.
Add to this when run across an advertising network, roadblock advertising provides a wide reaching media buy with similar metrics to those of TV media buy. Here are ten ways to use roadblock advertising; 1 . Branding campaign The most commonly used reason for running a roadblock advertising campaign is for branding purposes. Undertaking deadbolt advertising for branding purposes will definitely lift the profile of the product in the market place. The key here is pick your day and the time that you run the ad. 2.
Cookbook Launch When launching a new cookbook onto the market it’s important to make an impact quickly to drive sales. Most publishers reserve advertising budget to promote their well know authors and roadblock advertising can really create awareness driving sales online and offline in bookstores. 3. Shopping Sale No matter if you are undertaking a shopping sale in store or online, running a roadblock advertising campaign ill gain attention to your sale either driving consumer to your store or your online store.
Its important in your advertising messaging to communicate the saving consumers can expect as well as when the sale finishes. 4. New Wine Release No matter if it’s a new wine label or wine vintage, reaching millions of wine consumers online can have a massive effect on sales. Imagine if your new vintage wine release sold out within days of being released onto the market. By undertaking a roadblock advertising campaign around the new wine, why it’s different, how it tastes would definitely create brand awareness f the product. 5.
Consumer Packaged Goods Luau inch When launching a new product onto the market it’s important to undertake wide reaching media to capture the attention of consumers and most importantly your product evangelists. So if it’s a new dishwasher detergent, tomato sauce or cooking oil which you are launching roadblock advertising is a great way to get the message across. 6. TV show In the hours leading up to its airing of a new TV show or a well know returning season, roadblock advertising online can be used to create awareness with possible viewers Of the show.
This is a retreat way to lift the initial TV ratings and capture new viewers. If your campaign is about a TV show, then make sure one of your ad units includes a trailer or teaser for user engagement and interaction. 7. Popular Shopping Days Own the day (and the days before), make it yours. No matter if it’s Republic Day, Independence day or Dalai having a roadblock advertising campaign on these popular shopping days will generate sales online and consumers into stores. . Gifts Sales Campaigns Key gift giving days like mother’s day and valentines always generate sales of gifts online, so its important to ensure your target audience spends with your online store. By running a roadblock advertising campaign will drive traffic to your online store and sales. Consider giving them an incentive to buy with you on these key gift giving days. 9. Movie launch Every movie that a studio releases is ideal for a roadblock advertising campaign.
The launch of a movie these days is extremely important, as the first weekends takings are a clear indication of how successful the movie will be and how long it will stay in cinemas before being available on DVD- 10. Clearance Sale If you’re having a clearance sale r need to move stock at towards the end of month, then running a roadblock advertising campaign will gain attention to your sale either driving consumer to your store or your online store. No matter if you are undertaking a shopping sale in store or online, it’s important that your clearance sale advertising communicates the products which are on sale and the discounts available.
When running a Roadblock Advertising campaign one should remember to use some sort of campaign targeting options such as day-part targeting and gee targeting ensuring that they don’t waste any of your advertising budget. Creativity in Roadblock Ads on Internet Media buyers have recreated this online, snapping up all Of the home page inventory on numerous major sites and portals on a single day, so a user is confronted with the same ad on numerous sites. Online roadblocks are able to mimic the effects of a roadblock in this manner by exposing their ad to massive home page audiences and expanding their reach beyond a single site buy.
The ultimate objective, of course, is to obtain 100 percent share of voice. This is very useful for advertisers who need to promote something significant and timely, like the arrival of a new film in theaters; the series premiere of a popular TV series; a major political, entertainment, or sporting event; or the launch of a new product. For this reason along with the ability to show video and employ rich media with a large page footprint, and their sizeable price tag roadblock campaigns have been particularly popular among entertainment companies and big-name brands.
Ad networks are a good choice for advertisers interested in running roadblock campaigns as well because they make it easy for media buyers to place the ads across multiple sites. Advertisers like Toyota have used local site ad network and technology reviver Centre to easily place their new model auto ads on 140 different sites across the Web. The modern-day roadblock can also be limited to a single site, and even a single ad on a page just as long as it provides complete share of voice.
Recently, pizza chain Papa John ‘s ran a roadblock ad on Backbone promoting a free pizza for every user who became a fan of the brand on its Backbone page. Thanks to the home page ad and an associated e-mail campaign, Papa John’s garnered 131 *000 new fans in a single day. As of March, it was the second fastest-growing brand on Backbone after Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps. Always ready to deliver with great home page campaign creative is Apple, and the brand didn’t disappoint with its March roadblock for the new 17-inch Macho Pro on Anytime. Mom. As reported by Click, the ad was a study in page integration while managing to grab the user’s attention. That it coincided with related new TV spots was also a savvy move, creating a cross-media roadblock that effectively alerted consumers to the just-launched product and generated excitement about its features. Roadblock ads leave the door wide open for advertiser creativity and when you’re catering to millions and delaying their access to site content n the process, your stuff had better be darn good.
A great place to start conceptualizing your ideas is by visiting gaming and video sites, which are known for their elaborate home page campaigns. A roadblock promoting the game “Tomb Raider Underworld” as created by Blaster that appeared on SIGN. Com invites the user to participate in the ad and affect its outcome, while Break. Com this week featured the game “Punch-out!! ” on its home page with a combination of wallpaper and video clips. The somewhat distasteful notion of “blocking” consumers aside, roadblocks serve a valuable purpose in their ability to capture users’ attention when they first arrive at a site.