Invasive Marketing

I just read about a new plan Internet phone service provider Jajah has just announced. Apparently, users will be given the option of hearing a 15 second commercial before their call is connected. In exchange for “opting-in” users will (supposedly) be given a discount.

At first blush, I’m confounded by who would actually take Jajah up on this offer. After deeper reflection I’m even more perplexed as to what advertiser would want to do this. According to a recent study, the average American is exposed to 3,000 commercial message per day. Yet, The American Association of Advertising Agencies, a person can process no more than 100 messages per day. I can only assume that an advertiser thinks that by gaining access to a “captive mind” they’ll break through the clutter. I can’t imagine that it will pay-off in the long-term.

Think about the people who are going to take advantage of this offering. The deal is a consumer is willing to pay with their attention to get a lower cost on Internet calls – which are less than $25 per month. How good a customer can this be? Wouldn’t it be more effective to develop an offering that people want to pay attention to?

My final thought was a realization that those companies that cannot afford to have an advertising budget are in a far more advantageous position than those companies that can. If you can’t afford advertising, you’re only choice is to do something remarkable – and that’s quite an advantage.