Joseph Jaffe: Desperate Times Call for Desperate Housewives

"New-marketing" Joseph Jaffe breaks down this week’s AdAge cover story. (I wouldn’t know because I don’t subscribe to print; only RSS.) The stories, titled, “Comeback trail” and “cancel the funeral: broadcast TV is alive and kicking harder than it has in years” are, of course, bullish on broadcast television. But Jaffe counters:

The article highlights strong season premiere numbers, with Grey's Anatomy for example boasting numbers which would have put it in the top 5, 10 years ago.

That said, it also shows a side-by-side comparison of the 2006 season versus 2005-2006, 2000-2001 and 1994-1995 and it doesn't take a genius to infer that all is not as rosy as the article suggests. One just has to look at exactly a year ago to see sharp drops across the board.

But moving beyond reach, Joe comments:

Where's the engagement factor? Where's the proof of view? Where's the ROI activation component which proves that consumers are watching, remembering, internalizing AND acting on said communication?

My fear is that the marginal (read: mediocre) marketers out there and the incremental (read: lazy) agencies are going to take this article as a huge sigh of relief that all is well in TV Land.

But it's not. Not by a long shot.

What we need to see is proof that TV as an advertising medium (interruptive commercials, product placement and brand entertainment), is worth its weight in increased CPM's (efficiency) and total dollar investment. We need to see proof that advertising still works (effectiveness) against marketing and business objectives.

Where's the research (not commissioned by an agency or broadcast/cable network) to prove and demonstrate that more (or enough) people are watching advertising, as opposed to CONTENT, AND that there is clear follow-through (cognition, investigate, intent, action) as a result?

Amen.