Spotrunner.com Versus Personalized Advertising

I was catching up on some past episodes of one of my favorite technology podcasts, This Week in Tech, last night when I came across their discussion of the online 'personalized' advertisement creation service Spotrunner.com. Let's see if the service is a good substitute for a truly personalized ad.

We've all heard the phrase "You are what you wear", and so it follows that you personalize what you wear (i.e. brands, cuts, colors, styles, accessories and a number of other things) to make your attire your one of the ultimate modes of self-expression. In the end, every brand gets associated with a certain type of social group and has to market itself to that specific group. For example, the people shopping at Abercrombie are different from those shopping at Armani, who are different from those shopping at Eddie Bauer.

Because of the above mentioned process, each company's marketing literature and advertisement campaigns are highly focused with a very specific audience in mind. The question in my mind is can Spotrunner offer the same level of personalization that these companies get from actual advertising agencies?

As an example, I visited the site and surfed to the Industry - Clothing & Accessories - Custom Clothing & Accessories section to view the four ads available there. I 'randomly' clicked on the lingerie ad there and as expected, I was disappointed by its generic nature. The ad costs $499, "[and] features a woman showing off her fantastic lingerie. Your customers don't need a special occasion to get it at your shop", and has the following voice over:

For your honeymoon, for a special occasion, or if you just want to give a special, intimate gift; we have a wide array of classy, luxurious lingerie. [Insert Company Name Here]. We have something for everyone.

Now compare that generic ad with the following lingerie ad, and you tell me, which one is more appealing?

While Spotrunner is marketing themselves as a service that helps you 'personalize' advertisements for television, what they're actually doing is mass producing generic ads and just inserting names in there. Quite the opposite of personalization if you ask me. Of course we must also keep in mind that they are probably not looking for high-profile clients, rather looking for new start-ups or companies trying to establish themselves. In which case, they shouldn't be marketing personalized advertisements, rather should be going after the low-cost, ready-made advertisement seeking customers.

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Reader Comments (9)

Zach Katkin, March 27, 2007

Although its not COMPLETELY custom, it is customized, like say a modified wordpress theme... the average person/consumer can't tell the difference (although like the Victoria's Secret commercial there definitely is one, in terms of production, aesthetics, and the "feel!"). The ad is professional and well voiced over.

I think the internet revolutionized marketing in two ways, primarily targeting (which perhaps spotrunner does fall short), but a close second, entry costs. As a small business owner the fact that i can pay $0.05 per click for certain things and potential drive thousands of targeted customers to my web sites door is absolutely amazing. Spotrunner lowers the entry fee to conventional media, which still a very powerful medium. (and a bit of tongue twister)

Doug Karr, March 27, 2007

Honestly, does anyone really want a Victoria Secret ad personalized with their wife in it?

Sorry... couldn't resist.

Mike Bogo, March 27, 2007

I can't see the service succeeding in the long run because television commercials are already failing for their cost. Only the truly unique and humorous commercials catch attention, and creating generalized commercials is just like throwing money at a wall. Throw enough money at it, and you'll be able to get over it, but it would have been cheaper just to buy a ladder.

Andrew Ferguson, March 27, 2007

Wait, it's only a customized version of a generic ad?

I always thought they let you fire your own ads out over the airwaves. I should've done my homework; this is much less cool.

I was willing to spend $79 to tell people in rural missouri that Angela Lansbury was going to "beat them like red-headed stepchildren". Alas, my life is one of sadness.

Nomadishere, March 28, 2007

Hey man, "We've all heard the phrase "You are what you where", and so"... (sp) "are what you wear" (I hate making simple mistakes like that and really appreciate it when people point it out, so I thought I'd return the favor).

Nomadishere, March 28, 2007

Agreed, "the low-cost, ready-made advertisement seeking customers" are a different bread than people shopping for seriously personalized campaigns. By trying to market themselves to the personalized ad seeking customer they are both missing their target, and coming off... well, as a joke.

Garrett, March 29, 2007

[Agreed, "the low-cost, ready-made advertisement seeking customers" are a different bread than people shopping for seriously personalized campaigns. By trying to market themselves to the personalized ad seeking customer they are both missing their target, and coming off... well, as a joke.]

@Nomadishere: Since you like correcting people...I think you mean "breed," not "bread." :)

Crispy, April 8, 2007

Saying that TV advertising is failing, or that this company you mention has the answer, is just web hype, plain and simple. I took a look at both ads. Of course there's NO comparison. The ad on the SR site really, really sucks. Yuck. Besides, the SR ad only STARTS at $499 - if you want new voiceover, text, and other stuff, then the (mystery) charges start to mount.

Spot runner? More like spot ruiner!

You are right -- this spot ruiner agency really turns out an ad that looks so generic as to be ineffective. Actually, the first international web-based TV ad agency, called Cheap-TV-Spots.com, produces and airs true custom commercials for less than the SR guys. The Cheap TV Spots ads are custom-made for a flat rate and have won many national and international awards. They have no minimums, no long term contracts, and can be aired over broadcast, satellite or cable TV, and their web versions can be e-mailed or posted anywhere. Totally unlike the company in your example, which may restrict airings and which will give your "personalized" ad to you direct competitor should you ever stop paying them to air it.

Cheap-TV-Spots.com also doesn't pad the air time rates (like your spot ruiner mentions they can or will in their online documentation). Cheap-TV-Spots.com airs their award-winning TV ads across the entire USA for as little as $15 per 30-second airing to an audience of at least 10 million households. National airings for $15! Not coincidentally, Google and a few VCs have been sniffing around their door. They've produced for high tech co's, and have done some cute trailer ads for the film industry, like the last Anna Nicole Smith movie, and something for Sylvester Stallone. They do funny stuff and very serious financial sector ads. You can't do this quality with spot ruiner templates. You regularly see Cheap-TV-Spots ads on Bloomberg and CNBC. Cheap TV Spots can mount an entire national TV campaign from coast to coast for $5K - including production of a custom commercial, a web version and an e-mailable version. They also produce in Spanish, French, German and Chinese for domestic and overseas broadcast.

Smoscartwee, April 9, 2007

If you have an ad budget like Victoria's Secret, then you can make a great ad. You are comparing apples and oranges. What spotrunner is doing is bringing the ad market to the "long tail", those medium- and small-sized businesses that do not have the cheddar to proffer up to a proper agency. As for quality, I work for the world's largest single ad agency in the world on a global beverage brand you have likely heard of, and their deep pockets notwithstanding, it's still difficult to make a compelling ad simply because of the political climate on the client side. We spend millions and end up with yawners, a function of the excess of chefs standing around the soup pot. Somebody is spending five bills on a hot blond in her skivvies, thus the cost-performance there is really unbelievable. Someone will see it and remember it.