📘 Part 3: Advertising

This episode's vocabulary

voice their displeasure (verb phrase) – to express unhappiness or dissatisfaction. → Many customers voice their displeasure with pop-up ads.

avenues to get attention (noun phrase) – ways or channels to make people notice something. → Social media provides many new avenues to get the attention of potential buyers.

down the drain (idiom) – wasted or lost. → All the money spent on the failed marketing campaign went down the drain.

return on investment (noun phrase) – a measure of the profit or loss generated on an investment. → The company was pleased with the high return on investment from its latest advertising.

flaunting their wares (verb phrase) – showing off products in a proud and obvious way to attract attention. → The market stalls were full of vendors flaunting their wares.

give it the time of day (idiom) – to refuse to consider something because you do not think it is important. → If you have no interest in the product, you're unlikely to give the ad the time of day.

banal (adjective) – boring, ordinary, and not original. → He found the film's plot to be completely banal.

meh (exclamation, informal) – used to show a lack of interest or enthusiasm. → When asked about the new restaurant, he just shrugged and said, "Meh."

stand out from the crowd (idiom) – to be very different and easy to notice. → In a competitive market, your product needs a unique feature to stand out from the crowd.

plethora (noun) – a very large amount of something, especially a larger amount than you need, want, or can deal with. → There's a plethora of information available on the internet.

mutually beneficial (adjective) – helpful or advantageous to both parties involved. → The partnership was mutually beneficial, with both companies seeing increased profits.

irksome (adjective) – annoying. → The constant interruptions during the movie were irksome.

endorse (verb) – to appear in an advertisement, saying that you use and like a particular product. → Celebrities are often paid millions to endorse a brand.

put people off (phrasal verb) – to make someone dislike something or someone, or to discourage them from doing something. → An aggressive sales pitch can often put people off buying a product.

break your immersion (verb phrase) – to disrupt someone's deep mental involvement in something. → Constant pop-up ads can break your immersion when playing a game.

Questions and Answers

Maria: Rory, which is more effective, online advertising or offline advertising?

Rory: Well, I suppose it must be at least partially effective regardless of where it is, because companies keep doing it, even though people don't like it and frequently voice their displeasure with it. I suppose online might be better just because there are more ways to reach people through the various apps they're using on their phones, which they're constantly on, as opposed to the TV, which you have to sit down and find the time to watch.

Maria: And what evidence do you have for that?

Rory: It just seemed like the most logical conclusion I could come to. People seem to spend more time online than offline these days, and so there will be, and there are, more avenues to get their attention. I don't know any of this for a fact. It's just, logically, deduced.

Maria: Is advertising important for a company?

Rory: Oh, well, it has to be, otherwise they wouldn't keep at it for very long. You can't just throw infinite money down the drain without some sort of return on investment, can you?

Maria: Has that always been true?

Rory: For as long as we've had advertising, I suppose so. Companies have always been flaunting their wares in various ways.

Maria: Why are some advertisements boring?

Rory: Well, if you have no interest in buying the thing in the ad, you're unlikely to be willing to give it the time of day, are you? Another thing could be that the tone is too banal or the product is just a bit meh.

Maria: Could you explain further?

Rory: Yeah, I probably should. I mean, if the product doesn't really stand out from the crowd of others in the same market, then people aren't exactly going to be enthusiastic about buying it. There's only so many black rectangles you can display as phones before they all start to look the same.

Maria: What's the most important factor in an advertisement?

Rory: I can't say for sure because I've never been an advertising executive or gotten an MBA or something like that. But at least for me, it's whether it grabs the attention of the customer and displays something that's useful or demonstrates that. For me, it's that simple. I imagine there is a plethora of other things, but I couldn't tell you what they are.

Maria: Do you think that can change?

Rory: I imagine it could if advertisers found some other way to make their ads more effective, but I've no clue what that might be.

Maria: Why are many products endorsed by celebrities?

Rory: Well, it's mutually beneficial, isn't it? The celebrities catch the eye of the customer and they get paid for the privilege of doing so. So, no wonder so many of them want to do it.

Maria: How useful do you think celebrities are for this?

Rory: It's hard to say really. I suppose if there is a direct relationship between the celeb and the brand or product being advertised, then that makes sense. Like, Venus or Serena Williams advertising sportswear. That's kind of a logical connection. But Andre Agassi and kitchenware? I just don't see how customers are meant to make the connection.

Maria: What are the advantages of advertisements?

Rory: Well, they at least raise awareness of the products on offer, which is good for alerting customers to certain or possible choices. And they could maybe reach people who otherwise wouldn't have heard of the products or the companies. Another plus point might be that there's a variety of ways to do them, which is handy.

Maria: And what could be the disadvantages?

Rory: Well, they can be annoying, can't they? Especially the ones that pop up in the middle of doing something like trying to listen to a video or during a game or something like that. It can break your immersion, which I suppose is the point, but it doesn't make it any less irksome. So you could end up putting people off your product before they even give it a chance.