Do we sound like the Olympic commentators?

Most people who watched the Channel 7 coverage of the Olympics for more than 30 seconds were amused or bemused by the bias of the Australian commentators.

In rowing, in the Final of the men’s eight, the Australian crew appeared to begin falling behind within the first 25 metres. But the commentators did not notice.

By the half way mark in the race, the Australians were well and truly at the back of the field. No doubt they were giving it their best shot but were being outclassed. There’s no disgrace there. After all, they reached the final six teams.

But the commentators continued to talk up Australia as a medal chance when it was obviously not going to happen. If you had listened only, without viewing, you would have been on the edge of your seat. You would have heard that the Australian surge was just about to leave the rest of the competitors for dead.

In fact nothing like this happened. The exhausted Australian team was well beaten.

As marketers, we must wonder, why do the commentators do this?

Equally, as advertisers, we have to ask, ‘do we annoy people?’ Do we lose credibility by the silliness of the things we say in our promotions?

There is no way of knowing the true answer to these questions while you sit at a desk. But you can get a feel for how people are likely to react by using carefully put together focus groups. Or one-to-one interviews.

As things get tougher in the economy, marketers need to be that much more targeted. In a buoyant economy, if 10% of your communication is being wasted, then you probably don’t notice. But in a contracting economy, where you have to make every post a winner, that 10% of wastage could drop you into the red.

For direct marketers, testing is always essential to ensure we learn from every campaign. But in a slowing economy, research, before you go to market, can save you from making statements or claims that don’t connect with people. Checking before you go to market can save you from losing sales.

Channel 7 had a monopoly on Olympics coverage (well almost) and maybe that’s why they did not care how silly the commentators were. But not too many of us are in that sort of market.
We want every promotion that we invest in to build the brand.

To build a brand in a challenging economy, you can’t afford to waste a dollar. Research is an invaluable investment to ensure that you are connecting with your chosen target markets. It can confirm for you that you are giving yourself the best chance of success.