Soap Opera Selling: The Magic of Storytelling is Back and Smart Advertisers Are Paying Attention
Soap operas. I remember my dear grandmother looking forward each day to listening to her favorite soaps on radio. Later she would watch them on television.
Grandma got her housework done early in the day so she could sit in her big easy chair and listen to Stella Dallas and Helen Trent and Guiding Light. They were a big part of her life. They were a big part of the lives of millions of American women for many decades.
And they sold a lot of soap and many other products.
What exactly were soap operas in those days? They were 15-minute infomercials. That's right. Infomercials. Oh, they weren't called that. In fact, I'm not sure there was such a word in those days. Nonetheless, that's what soaps were.
The characters sold SOAP and other products that would be purchased by women. Not only was it sold during the commercials but soap was sold in the story itself. The characters found ways to bring the product into the story line.
Did soap operas sell soap? Oh, you bet! Soap and many other products.
The secretary of an ad agency in the thirties asked, "Shall we entertain, and in entertaining hope to sell; or shall we continue to sell as in the past, and make use of entertainment as one of the several techniques of selling?"
The answer came soon. By 1931 the ad agencies had gained full control of radio program production from the radio networks. In exchange for a 15 percent commission on gross costs, the agencies hired writers, directors, actors and announcers; they supervised scripts, wrote commercials, booked air time, came up with premium offers and totally oversaw the broadcasts. They had their cash cow.
The soap opera goes back to the very first days of radio. The soap opera radio format was especially critical in the thirties. Even though a depression was going on --- a very deep horrible time in our history --- the soap opera breathed life into everyday existence.
According to an article in The Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 22, No. 1, called Creating Consumers in the 1930's: Irna Phillips and the Radio Soap Opera by Marilyn Lavin, "The 1930s have emerged as an important moment in consumer history, even though the decade presents somewhat of an anomaly. The thirties witnessed the widespread want and deprivation associated with the Great Depression, and, at the same time, those years were the occasion of rapid advances in mass consumption."
Lavin goes on to say that the soap opera, which originated in the 1930s, was ". . . well suited to play an important role in encouraging mass consumption. First, serial programming turned individual housewives across the nation into a mass audience that faithfully turned into each daily episode. Second, soap operas provided role models of 'real life' families who overcame adversity and successfully attained the American Dream of middle-class well-being and happiness."
These characters, like those in today's television soaps, became friends and experts.
The great Irna Phillips was one of the first originators of the soap opera. And she was perhaps one of the first real great copywriters as well. The first soap opera was called Painted Dreams and was written by Phillips. The first network soap was also written by her. It was called Today's Children.
Phillips developed characters and plots that would appeal to the sponsors and the listeners. The plot would sell the products.
Early in 1932, Irna Phillips wrote, ". . . any radio presentation which is sponsored in order to be of utility to its sponsor, must actually sell merchandise; otherwise the object of radio advertising has failed."
If you want to read about this exciting time and this wonderful woman, you should look for books about her.
The respondents to a 1930s survey of soap opera listeners indicated their dislike of direct advertising commercials during their shows. They "took time away from the story" but they reacted positively to the incorporation of the sponsor's product into the plot.
But let's revert to today. Geico is bringing the old time infomercial back. The cavemen will soon be in a sitcom on television.
Advertisers are quickly learning that people are turning off ads. They're turning them off on radio and television and even print and direct mail. For example, there are bills pending in several states to start an opt-out of direct mail program. So far it hasn't passed any state legislature. But someday, it will.
I've said in this space that advertising should not be entertainment. I stand by that statement. But I have to be honest and say that if advertisers are to succeed, they must now consider trying to trick the target market by entertaining them.
That means that copywriters are going to have to learn to write dialog. They're going to have to learn to be more creative, to tell a story.
Are we ready to do this in every case? No. Should we do it in every case? No.
But the fact is, storytelling has always helped to sell products. And it always will.
When you watch Sex in the City, you will see Perrier Water and other products being used by the popular characters. Those companies pay to be on those shows because by just being there they sell to the viewers. They sell without trying to sell. It's passive selling.
So consider all this in your own marketing. Soap operas will never die. People will always turn to them. People will always buy what they sell.
Tell a story and sell a product.
Think about it.
Susanna on 03.14.07 @ 07:40 AM CDT [
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