Virgin Media today (re)posted several of their TiVo videos to YouTube, and I watched them again. It got me thinking about how well Virgin seems to be marketing TiVo in the UK, and how it contrasts with the marketing of TiVo here in the US. TiVo has rarely run television advertisements. Years ago they ran infomercials in the middle of the night. TiVo has a number of videos posted to YouTube as well, but in my opinion they’re not as effective as Virgin’s.
Virgin’s videos are slick and very well produced. They’re short and to the point. They use a known star (well, known in the UK). And I think they do a good job of explaining the features. TiVo’s videos in the US tend to be more tongue-in-cheek and cute. Sometimes they work, sometimes they fall flat, but I don’t think they’re as effective at conveying the advantages to owning as TiVo. I’d love to see TiVo run an ad campaign similar to these.
