Hopper Commercial Misleading

[Scherrman]

Once a person told me that having a marketing department was like having a license to lie.

The person who told me that...

Charlie Ergen.

No lie.

That's hilarious.

 

[Scherrman]

That Ergen quote about having a license to lie is appalling.

Really? Lets be realistic here. To me Ergen is telling the truth and it sounds like the truth hurts a little.

 

[DodgerKing]

Question can direct. Tv sue dish for false and misleading statement or would the ad just past muster?

What will happen, as they have shown in the past, is they will come up with a very creative commercial comparing their MRV to Dish and demonstrate what their MRV is better than Dish's. This is where DirecTV is much better than Dish, advertising.

Dish would have been smart to come right out of the gate with a commercial showing how their MRV system is better than all of the others and sell the point of Prime Time Anytime, something no other provider has.

 

[DodgerKing]

I thought it said it can record up to 6 primetime shows which is absolutely true and not as misleading. It's a commercial, they're suppose to be a little misleading. Commercials are suppose to spark the interest of people and get them talking. Why would a customer come in to ask me about the Hopper system if they already knew everything from the commercial.

I think the commercials are pretty good. Especially the Hoppa ones. I've heard plenty of people talking about it already.

The problem is, this will hurt Dish, not help them. My father in law already called me on about this believing he could record 6 shows on any 6 channels at any one time. Let's face it most people are not as informed as us Satguys members. There will be a lot of disappointed Hooper subs when they find out that they cannot actually their own 6 shows at one time on their one 6 channels during their own time.

 

[Mr Tony]

My father in law already called me on about this believing he could record 6 shows on any 6 channels at any one time.

My dad said the same thing.

 

[Scherrman]

The problem is, this will hurt Dish, not help them. My father in law already called me on about this believing he could record 6 shows on any 6 channels at any one time. Let's face it most people are not as informed as us Satguys members. There will be a lot of disappointed Hooper subs when they find out that they cannot actually their own 6 shows at one time on their one 6 channels during their own time.

I see your point but as long as that customer is inquiring about it then the commercial is working. I he called me it is now my job to educate him and explain why the Hopper will still work for him. As long as the customer is calling about it then it's working. Now I guess there are exceptions to this but as long as the info Dish is advertising is true for the most part then I'm ok with it. I'm rolling my Hopper ads out next week.

 

[lparsons21]

The problem is, this will hurt Dish, not help them. My father in law already called me on about this believing he could record 6 shows on any 6 channels at any one time. Let's face it most people are not as informed as us Satguys members. There will be a lot of disappointed Hooper subs when they find out that they cannot actually their own 6 shows at one time on their one 6 channels during their own time.

Actually you prove the point of the ad, and that is to get you to want to know more. In this case, your father in law called you, he was interested enough to want to know more. Since he knew your were up to speed on this stuff and he knew he could trust you, he called you first. Had you not been available, as you are not to most of the rest of the world, then he would most likely have called Dish. And that is EXACTLY what Dish wants the ad to have happen.

 

[Barry Conley]

Its only true if you include the 4 Major Networks )ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox) that it automatically records in prime time. Otherwise its only two channels.

I've watched a few of the Hopper commercials, don't remember them ever saying '6 tuners'. They do say up to 6 recordings at once, which is true.

 

[lparsons21]

What will happen, as they have shown in the past, is they will come up with a very creative commercial comparing their MRV to Dish and demonstrate what their MRV is better than Dish's. This is where DirecTV is much better than Dish, advertising.

Dish would have been smart to come right out of the gate with a commercial showing how their MRV system is better than all of the others and sell the point of Prime Time Anytime, something no other provider has.

What will happen is D* will come out with their own version of a misleading ad doing that explaining. Ads are short, you make a point that makes people want to know more. You cannot explain MRV completely in a 15 or 30 second ad, hell not even in a 60 minute one. And D* is very good at advertising, which is the art of almost saying something.

 

[lparsons21]

Its only true if you include the 4 Major Networks )ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox) that it automatically records in prime time. Otherwise its only two channels.

Which is in that unreadable disclaimer that is shown.

You miss the point of nearly all advertising. It isn't designed to sell you anything, it is designed to make you call because you want to know more.

 

[Scherrman]

lparsons21 gets it.

 

[sparc]

They don't even have to lie. That's the real sad part.

All they have to say is six tuners during primetime hours or six tuners with our primetime Anytime feature enabled.

Their marketing department is doing a poor job by not selling the primetime anytime when mentioning the six tuners.

(haven't watched the commercial yet)

 

[lparsons21]

I would think that they would want to bring up PrimeTime Anytime too, but just like 'up to 6...' it wouldn't be any more clear either. But it would get the phone calls too, which is exactly what Dish wants with their ads. Hell, it is what anyone wants with their ads!

 

[TheKrell]

Really? Lets be realistic here. To me Ergen is telling the truth and it sounds like the truth hurts a little.

I'll agree with the "realistic" part, and I'll agree that Charlie wasn't himself lying about the lying going on in his marketing department. What I find appalling is that he (or any other business manager) would feel the need to lie in the first place, or think that they could get ahead of the competition by doing so.

Are you old enough to remember Digital Equipment Corporation? They hardly ever marketed anything anywhere! Their VAX line of computers sold themselves by word of mouth. At one time, their catalog sales even exceeded (in $s) that of Sears. <sigh>

What I'm trying to say is that it would be nice if corporations made equipment so good that no marketing at all is needed. Or failing that, that the lying bastards all got "pants on fire" awards for their "work", rather than big paychecks.

 

[lparsons21]

And just where is Digital Equipment Corporation today?

'nuff said!

 

[TheKrell]

point --> lparsons21

Ken Olsen (DEC) had $4B in the bank when he started losing money. His board wanted him to fire around 150K DEC employees to "fix" that problem, which he refused to do. So the board fired him instead and downhill they all went. Getting back on topic, Charlie Ergen can't be fired since he owns too much stock, and Joe Clayton is NO "GQ Bob" Palmer, thank God.

My point is that, if a corporation thinks they need to lie in order to stay in business or grow, then there is something wrong somewhere.

 

[Scherrman]

Marketing always has to be done. Sometimes you just need to keep your name out there so people don't forget you. One quote I'll never forget is "Stopping advertising to save money is like stopping a clock to save time."

 

[TheKrell]

One quote I'll never forget is "Stopping advertising to save money is like stopping a clock to save time."

Told to you by a marketing director, no doubt.

 

[Scherrman]

Told to you by a marketing director, no doubt.

I think it's on every invoice we get from one of the papers we advertise with. LOL

 

[mdonnelly]

...
Are you old enough to remember Digital Equipment Corporation? They hardly ever marketed anything anywhere! Their VAX line of computers sold themselves by word of mouth.
...

I don't know where you get that about DEC. In the 70's and 80's they marketed the he** out of industry and government, here and overseas. They were at every trade show with a cast of dozens. Their business model was to sell big ticket items, and you don't do that advertising on TV. Their sales reps wore very nice suits and talked to IT department heads and VP's. For the most part, they were selling a "solution", not a product.