CW Shatters the TV-Ad-as-Usual Mold

Filed in archive Announcements on August 7, 2007

One of America's most important economic foundations is the 30-second television commercial. OK, that might be an exaggeration, but it is the bedrock of about $70 Billion each year in the U.S. And for all the print about the Internet, display advertising only just recently clocked in at around $10 Billion.

Anyways, I digress. The real point of this posting is that CW (the fifth network) is proposing to change the fundamental forces of nature. Starting the August 10, it will let marketers buy 10-second TV commercials! Oh, will the republic be able to survive?

Ever the spin-miesters, Alison Tarrant, CW's senior VP-integrated sales and marketing, says 'cwickies' are a good way to get the attention of her network's young, hard-to-reach audience. Just in case you missed that hot press release, too, that is what CW is calling its radically new format: cwichies.

But that's not all (as they say). The cwickies will be sandwiched by "isolated" ad breaks. For example, when Electronic Arts airs its commercials during Wrestling, this is what will happen. One commercial, near the wrestling program's start, contains only a 60-second EA spot. The last, near the end, consists solely of a 90-second EA trailer. Everything leading up to the trailer points to that end piece, where video-game junkies can see never-before-viewed footage from "madden nfl 08." Thanks to the innovative use of ad lengths and positions, EA can be well assured its commercials will stand apart from the rest of the 30-second pack that evening.

If any of you watch these, drop me a comment and let us all know if they really do stand out.