Feedback on DNW new TV SUCKS! campaign

[MikeD-C05]

I think tearing down your competitors to make yourself look better is juvenile , childish , and is overall imature approach. It is like saying " Dish is better than you are, Nana, nana, boo, boo. " Cable has been doing this against satellite for years.

When you consider Directv is taking the grand view approach of " We are launching 4 new hd satellites that can give our customers over 1500 hd channels" ", Rethink Tv". This is the more mature , visonary approach.

I am sure that Dish thinks that they are appealing to" Joe 6 pack " and his limited schooling vocabulary. All in all it is very condescending way to go. I think that Dish should be selling itself based on their superior picture quality on both sd and especially hd channels. They should be touting how many of hd channels they have and how many they will have in the near future. How any new cutomer can get a FREE dvr etc. This is how you can not only compete with the competition but sell your self on your best points.

Dish needs to take the High road on their advertising not the low common route that they think the common man would do. Can't we appeal to the higher ideals of mankind rather than the lower , baser instincts ones?

 

[riffjim4069]

When you consider Directv is taking the grand view approach of " We are launching 4 new hd satellites that can give our customers over 1500 hd channels" ", Rethink Tv". This is the more mature , visonary approach.

Yes, taking the grand approach of spreading misinformation regarding their HD plans:

Me: Hello, I am in interested in ordering DirecTV service since I am big fan of HDTV.
CSR: You have called the right place since we are in the process of rolling out 1500HD channels. DirecTV is the leading provider of HDTV.
Me: Could you please list some of those 1500HD channels before I order?
CSR: Well Sir, you will be receiving your local ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and perhaps one or two other local broadcast stations...oh, all in glorious 1280x1080i.
Me: Er...I already receive those free over-the-air channels with my antenna...oh, all in glorious 1920x1080i and 1280x720p. Can you tell me what terrific new national HD channels you will be providing.
CSR: DirecTV is committed to bringing you the most HDTV. Did I mention that we were in the process of making 1500HD channels available to our customers?
Me:

Very mature and visionary.

 

[David Dietzel]

The Direct TV advertising approach is pushing smoke and mirrors, as they have been doing for quite some time. That "1500 HD channels" ad pitch is an acknowledgement that Dish and some cable providers currently offer more HD content than Direct. Kind of like a software company that keeps promising release of their latest and greatest "vaporware" to keep folks from buying a superior product from a competitor.

I don't find the "sucks" ads from Dish as either low brow or high brow. They're just funny and enough on the edge to get and keep your attention and get you talking about the commercial with friends and colleagues (which is what effective advertising is supposed to do).

The Direct TV ads are not much better than the vacum cleaner salesmen who pitch a product that they claim will do everything, yet doesn't deliver on implied features. I feel the Direct TV ads are quite misleading.

As soon as MPEG4 rolls out and Dish beefs up their HD content, you can bet they will offer up advertisements that tout the "technical and practical" merits of switching to Dish -- not just that high cable prices and poor picture quality in many areas cause one's TV to "suck" (which is, of course, true and not misleading).

Go Dish! You bad boys!

 

[riffjim4069]

When you consider Directv is taking the grand view approach of " We are launching 4 new hd satellites that can give our customers over 1500 hd channels" ", Rethink Tv". This is the more mature , visonary approach.

Yes, taking the grand approach of spreading misinformation regarding their HD plans:

Me: Hello, I am in interested in ordering DirecTV service since I am big fan of HDTV.
CSR: You have called the right place since we are in the process of rolling out 1500HD channels. DirecTV is the leading provider of HDTV.
Me: Could you please list some of those 1500HD channels before I order?
CSR: Well Sir, you will be receiving your local ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and perhaps one or two other local broadcast stations...oh, all in glorious 1280x1080i.
Me: Er...I already receive those free over-the-air channels with my antenna...oh, all in glorious 1920x1080i and 1280x720p. Can you tell me what terrific new national HD channels you will be providing.
CSR: DirecTV is committed to bringing you the most HDTV. Did I mention that we were in the process of making 1500HD channels available to our customers?
Me:

Very mature and visionary.

 

[ocnier]

Yes, taking the grand approach of spreading misinformation regarding their HD plans:

Me: Hello, I am in interested in ordering DirecTV service since I am big fan of HDTV.
CSR: You have called the right place since we are in the process of rolling out 1500HD channels. DirecTV is the leading provider of HDTV.
Me: Could you please list some of those 1500HD channels before I order?
CSR: Well Sir, you will be receiving your local ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and perhaps one or two other local broadcast stations...oh, all in glorious 1280x1080i.
Me: Er...I already receive those free over-the-air channels with my antenna...oh, all in glorious 1920x1080i and 1280x720p. Can you tell me what terrific new national HD channels you will be providing.
CSR: DirecTV is committed to bringing you the most HDTV. Did I mention that we were in the process of making 1500HD channels available to our customers?
Me:

Very mature and visionary.

You forget though the problem with OTA is that it is by definition an ANTENNA!!!! and thereby a heck of a lot more unstable in regards to environment. I live in DFW, and I have a OTA antenna (very large in my attic). I like the local HD feeds through the OTA, but when it comes to recording HD I still prefer to record through the sat signal instead. It has nothing to do with quality and everything to do with stability. If you add in the fact that the 942 only has one OTA (which was big mistake IMO) then you have a real big hole in the HD offering for Dish. D* gives me the option of recording all the prime stations (abc, fox, nbc, cbs) through my sat and they give the capability to record TWO hd feeds through my OTA as well. Dish is totally lacking in this regard. All E* has to do is either a) offer national feeds for all the big four like D* does presently or b)offer a reciever with TWO OTA capability and I would rate them comparable if not better than D* in terms of offering, but right now they are way way behind the power curve (a fact I understand considering the status of RB1). So you might want to rethink the overall offering of D* before being too critical. I know E* offers VOOM, which is really nice but it's not enough for prime time (I think of VOOM as really really tasty sweet icing, but it's still not the cake). Right now E* has a bunch of really really nice side dishes, but it is missing the main course and vice versa for D* (however sides are easier to add on).

 

[BobMurdoch]

Simply saying that Coke tastes like piss will not make Pepsi any better.

Some of the D* trolls around here haven't learned this yet.....

 

[Greg Bimson]

I am sure that Dish thinks that they are appealing to" Joe 6 pack " and his limited schooling vocabulary. All in all it is very condescending way to go. I think that Dish should be selling itself based on their superior picture quality on both sd and especially hd channels. They should be touting how many of hd channels they have and how many they will have in the near future. How any new cutomer can get a FREE dvr etc. This is how you can not only compete with the competition but sell your self on your best points.

I haven't seen these ads. However...

Dish Network hasn't really done anything in the national spotlight in some time. These new ads are a branding campaign for Dish Network, to at least get people to remember that there is more than one service for small dish satellite. Couple this initiative with the free advertising being generated by the offer to give all residents of a town free programming for 10 years if the town legally changes its name to "DISH", and you can see that Dish Network is trying to get their brand out.

The problem is the message. "Does your TV suck?" I'm sorry, but since most people are comfortable with their cable service, the only people this ad affects are those that believe they'l be switching soon. I just don't suspect that Dish Network will receive more subscribers than normal due to this campaign. The commercials target those cable subscribers fed up with the high prices of cable. Is it realistic to believe that Dish Network will receive many customers that will take low-end packages, thus reducing the average revenue per subscriber (or ARPU, in industry talk)?

Cable tries very hard to point out the limitations of DBS. It didn't stop a record number of people signing up for the service last year. These negative campaigns don't work very well.

I'm all for DirecTV and Dish Network taking more and more market share from cable. I just don't suspect that Dish Network's ad campaign is the way to do it.

Mike's got a point. Touting the availability of HD would bring a very high-end segment of subscribers to the table. Of course, a big problem with this is those high-end subscribers usually have digital cable and can receive more HD than their DBS counterparts.

 

[MikeD-C05]

I think that knocking your competition to make yourself look better is taking the low ground . If you have to tear down the competition like cable to make yourself look better than you are a small minded person or company. Selling yourself on your merits and accomplishments, whether we are talking about a person or a service like Dishnetwork is the more mature , respectable way to go. Granted the Directv people are continuing to misslead the public with their advertisements with the 1500 hd channels , but they are not knocking the competition to do it. I am a Dish sub and have been for almost 9 years , but Directv is not tearing down the competitors to do their advertising.

I work with a group of women officers at the prison , who do nothing but tear each other down and make fun of what the others do to make them selves look superior in comparison. This is the same prinicple at work with Dish knocking the competition and saying they "suck". I mean would you respect someone who is always tearing down everyone they know ,just to make themselves look better? Trust me I stay way clear of these individuals as they are negative individuals who are selling nothing but spite, and malicious gossip. I think a lot of people will associate Dish's tactics with the same as the individuals I named above.

Trust me, Dish needs to come up with a new campaign by 1st quarter , next year to sell themselves on their accomplishments and merits if they want to look better than the competition they are knocking in their" Tv sucks " campaign.

Only small minded people with no self respect and a poor self image would agree that tearing down the competition is the way to go in life or in business.