When people hear about a product or a service, it is often through advertisement. Whether it is through radio commercial ads, television ads, or even online ads, you can get the information that you need to decide whether or not you want what is being sold. However, now there are people who judge and test products on the internet, radio, or TV and give their recommendations. Reviews of products have always been out there, but since the spread of YouTube and social media, there seems to be a glut in the market. The question becomes: how many of these people are actually reviewing rather than advertising?
Reviewing vs. Advertising
It used to be that the difference between reviewing and advertising had a very clear line. Newspapers, radio, and TV had segments in their news programs with a congenial person telling you which movies to go see, household products to buy, or even the best places to take a vacation. Those that reviewed were believed to have journalistic standards to keep them from actually advertising these products.
The Celebrity Endorsement
Around or after midnight, you would see a somewhat faded star on TV letting everyone know that the skin cream they were holding in their hands was the best. People that once had talk shows or sitcoms came on the radio and talked about their favorite golf clubs. They would argue that this wasn’t radio commercial ads; they were just informing people. Soon, many saw through the ruse, so advertising had to change tactics again.
Nowadays, companies have become much cleverer about how they spread their messages. In many instances, things like radio commercial ads now sound less like commercials and more like something interspersed with the news. With the advent of the ability to fast forward or skip commercials, advertisers now have to use new tactics to tell people about the products they want them to buy. They accomplish this by giving information on their products and having it be more like a feature news item rather than a commercial.
The Modern Infomercial
People want to buy things, so advertising is something that people need and often enjoy. Receiving information on products that may interest them is a way people often want to learn about products. If an advertiser can construct a way to give potential customers what seems to be just information, they may be more inclined to buy. They don’t need endorsements, but rather, they have to make a customer want to shop. Boiling down a radio commercial ad to the best features of a product can do a lot more to bring in customers rather than a fun jingle.
