You’d have to live on Pluto to not know about the phenomenal popularity of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Survivor and other reality-based shows now populating the network television landscape—and the Internet, via 24/7 Webcasts. Survivor currently ranks as the most-watched summer primetime series in modern TV history. Millionaire, the multi-million dollar mega-hit which started it all, has changed television economics, turned programming priorities on its head, and, in dizzying fashion, spawned a whole genre of shows that star real people.
What’s going on here? Millionaire’s executive producer may have put his finger on things, saying his show’s success has almost nothing to do with striking it rich, and almost everything to do with the fact that it features ordinary Americans.
He’s certainly on to something. But at the risk of patting the ad industry on the proverbial back, the reality-driven networks are actually playing catch-up to their advertising brethren, who for years have tapped the potential of ordinary Americans, to create memorable real people testimonial campaigns.
Our company has been fortunate to work with agencies on powerful real people advertising, such as one for Kodak, where a proud papa reflects on his about-to-be married son; and for Philip Morris, where kids talk about why they don’t smoke, and how to be cool without lighting up. And, testimonials have also effectively featured ordinary people in the not-so-ordinary role of product endorser, for everything from heartburn remedies to weight loss drinks.
What makes this real people advertising so believable, and in my mind so enduring, is the power to convey simple "truths" through everyday experience. We naturally connect with the honesty of someone who has "lived it"; we identify with their problems—cheer their triumphs—and often buy the products that have made a difference in their lives. And all in 30 seconds!
What advertisers have raised to an art form, what reality shows have only recently come to appreciate, much to their economic delight, is that we Americans like watching and rooting for people on television who are much like us. It’s everyman—or woman—as television hero. But that’s where the similarity between reality programs and real people advertising begins to break down.
While testimonials capture real people reacting to common life circumstances both large and small, reality shows tend to place real people in very unreal, or at least highly unusual situations. (When was the last time you were stranded on a desert island with the chance to win a million bucks?) While testimonials elevate the everyday experience of people, placing implicit faith in what they say and feel, reality shows tend to put real people to the test—for dramatic effect and sometimes sheer shock value.
Reality shows are certainly a mega-ratings bonanza, but the jury is still out on whether we’ll at some point tire of learning who was just voted off the island on Survivor, or who just cashed in on a cool million from Regis. On the other hand, real people advertising has proven that it’s built to last. Maybe that’s because instead of pitting ordinary people against extraordinary circumstances, like its real-TV cousins, it captures them right smack in the kind of real world that most of us inhabit.
This is the world I try to tap into as an interviewer for real people commercials. It’s a place where people talk face to face about things that could happen to you and me, and probably have happened to you and me. When it’s done well—when the art of interviewing opens the door to something genuine and fresh, advertising can acquire a life-force that is hard to match. You feel as if you’ve stepped into someone else’s shoes—and that they could be your shoes. When the shoe fits, as it often does with testimonials, you also feel connected to people and products. Pretty good way to reach out and touch consumers. Pretty good advertising formula. It’s why real people advertising will never go out of style.
