WHY are there so many car insurance commercials?!

[enyawd72]

Seriously...I started keeping track, and literally seven out of every ten commercials on TV are either Flo, the Gecko, the Pig, that Farmers guy, E-surance, Nationwide, State Farm or the General.
WHY do these guys advertise so much? It's driving me crazy. I am just sick to death of ALL of them.

I mean, there's only so many people who drive out there...

[thunderbolt]

guess because everyone has to have it to drive. Even better are the hospital or cancer center ads. Really the lowest of the low there.

[Hedji]

A better question is, why so many pharmaceutical commercials? (especially during the nightly news hour) Does advertising the drug to joe schmo really make it more likely to be prescribed by joe schmo's doctor? Have you ever "asked your doctor about" any of them? I haven't.

[SentientApe]

State laws have been getting more severe regarding mandatory car insurance. In Illinois, you cannot technically obtain license plates without proof of insurance. Consequently (Economics 101: Supply and Demand), an incredibly large number of cut-rate minimum coverage (i.e.: useless) insurance companies have cropped up. Of course, they all need to advertise (heavily) and you might be watching television during the specific timeslots when advertising time is low enough that these companies have calulated a fair trade-off for their advertising dollar.

[madmarva]

It's a super competitive business, and it is difficult to get someone to change unless he is having an issue with his carrier. When a client has that issue, the insurance company wants its name or brand to be the first to come to mind. Familiarity can breed a certain degree of trust. It's somewhat of a long game with branding, but the commercials also offer the possibility of short-term results.

[boss]

It's called a pull strategy and it works better than you think.

http://www.marketing-made-simple.com/articles/push-pull-strategy.htm#.U7Al-Ym9LTo

A better question is, why so many pharmaceutical commercials? (especially during the nightly news hour) Does advertising the drug to joe schmo really make it more likely to be prescribed by joe schmo's doctor? Have you ever "asked your doctor about" any of them? I haven't.

[enyawd72]

It's funny, because annoying, repetitive ads have exactly the opposite effect on me...they're such a major turn-off I'll make a conscious effort to NOT buy whatever it is they're selling.

[boss]

The unfortunate thing is that mass marketers are not concerned with individual opinions regarding the popularity of their advertising campaigns/and or spokespeople. If something works (as in increases their sales), they'll run it into the ground in an effort to build brand even if it's annoying to some. They're interested in top of mind awareness when the time to buy finally comes up with their target market(s).. good or bad.

[jwyblejr]

A better question is, why so many pharmaceutical commercials? (especially during the nightly news hour) Does advertising the drug to joe schmo really make it more likely to be prescribed by joe schmo's doctor? Have you ever "asked your doctor about" any of them? I haven't.

And then six months later you get the lawyer ads telling you that you need to sue them for taking the drug.

[Hector]

Why so many fast food commercials?

[Mikey]

Ever notice you hardly ever see tampon or maxi pad commercials anymore ?

Back in the 70's they ruled the TV spots

[SentientApe]

Ever notice you hardly ever see tampon or maxi pad commercials anymore ?

You are clearly not watching television shows aimed at that demographic. Try watching anything on the Lifetime Channel, or Oprah's (OWN) network. Also daytime soap operas.