All of which suggests that not only is the 30 sec TV commercial on its deathbed but that in time, no-one will watch live TV anymore.
I don't necessarily agree. Because, one day advertisers will wake up and realise that there is life beyond just spending a small fortune on producing an epic TV commercial, flighting it during commercial breaks and hoping that some viewers somewhere can control their bladders or the need to make a cup of coffee and hang around long enough to get the message.
Its a vain hope and in my opinion there is no doubt that there is a massive disconnect right now between the people who create TV advertising and the reality of an audience that simply doesn't have the time anymore to work out what an ad is trying to get across. Let alone wait around until the end to see what brand it is actually trying to promote. That this practice continues unabated can only be put down to the fact that there is a lot of money in producing epic 30 sec TV commercials.
But, that doesn't mean they are dead. Or, won't result in their demise if advertisers simply put two and two together and come up with an answer that is both measureable and efficient.
This thought came to me while watching live rugby on TV recently. Usually I record matches and watch them later when it suits me. But, the reason I have started watching rugby and a lot of other programmes live as they happen, is because of the dozens of people I can talk to while I'm watching.
No, they're not in my TV room, they're all over the place, all watching the same programme and all using Twitter to exchange comments, hurl expletives at the ref and quite literally and figuratively argue the toss.
Taking rugby as an example, some of the people with whom I have been watching rugby include John Smit and Bob Skinstad along with a host of others.
So now, if somehow advertisers could look at some way of turning bland, one-way 30 sec TV commercials into something interactive that could entice social media users into a conversation, not only would the efficiency and reach of the ad be measured but the impact of the message could roll on way beyond just 30 seconds.
TV is already doing this on news broadcasts where ordinary people can comment via social media. Not to mention the fact that social media is playing a bigger and bigger role in not only providing coverage of major global events but as has been the case in Tunisia, Egypt and now Libya - social media has actually been instrumental in bringing protestors together. It has proved to be one of the most powerful protest tools in history.
So, why not use it in a commercial sense? Why not create advertising that will spark social media conversations?
The numbers certainly make sense. What with tweeting and re-tweeting, I reckon that in South Africa the ordinary social media conversation can, if it is interesting enough, quite easily reach the hundreds of thousands in pretty much no time at all.
Maybe, social media applications - and I don't mean just having competitions and offering prizes, I mean opening conversations, debates, argument, discourse about brands, products and services - can put new life into the good old 30 sec commercial that would, in most cases, be a dead duck if there wasn't so much money in the production process.
