MarketingInsideOut.com

Despite general perceptions that the DVR and video on demand were the nails in the coffin for the traditional TV model and the :30 spot, a new report from Nielsen Media shows that almost a quarter of the ads recorded by DVRs actually get watched.

I’ll admit it surprised me. I’ve had TiVo for years, and in my house we skip right through the commercials. But a Nielsen Media Research study showed that:

“During the first 27 hours after being recorded, primetime broadcast commercials gain 16% in ratings among viewers age 18-49 in households with DVRs, with the total increase reaching 22% after seven days. This compares to a 35% increase in ratings for broadcast programs during the first 27 hours after the original telecast and a total increase of 47% after seven days.”

So it’s not all gloom and doom for the traditional television advertising model, which is good news considering that DVRs are gaining in popularity.

eMarketer estimates that over a third of US households will have the devices by 2010.

Bank of America is ditching their branding approach and slogan (Higher Standards) and launching a new approach. It will be unveiled this Sunday during the Academy Awards broadcast.

Why?

From the New York Times:

“It was part of our DNA and a great foundation,” said Catherine P. Bessant, who introduced the “Higher Standards” tagline four years ago when she served as Bank of America’s chief marketing officer. But in the last year, the company, based in Charlotte, N.C., installed a new marketing chief and hired the Omnicom Group as its principal advertising agency.

New CMO and new agency…new stuff. Sad. But the peeing on the turf thing is nothing surprising, but how’s this for strange justification.

“The new slogan most likely reflects those changes, as well as the bank’s belief that the phrase had become too ingrained in the company’s culture and needed to be refreshed.“

Huh? Too ingrained? And that’s a problem how? Especially when the mantra was “Higher Standards.” When the most important thing a company can do is “live” their brand and deliver on that experience day in and day out with customers, how can there be such a thing as too ingrained?