What Contributes To Effective And Ineffective Apologies

After having viewed Mediacurves online dial testing results for the last year or so, our Mediacurves researcher, Ben Katz came up with the following observations regarding what contributes to winning and losing apologies relative to perceptions of sincerity...the key ingrediant to an apology::

Decreasing perceptions of sincerity:

Using vague terms (ie: letterman calling his affairs "terrible things" and "creepy stuff")
-Discussing one's fame and fortune (ie: tiger says he didn't have to go far to find people to sleep with due to his fame)
-Discussing breaking one's morals and values (I think viewers feel apologizers don't have values)
- Admitting being inconsiderate/ Saying you didn't think about what the impact would be on people around you
-Speculating about future/ making long-term promises (ie: Mayer says he completely quits the "media game")
-Asking fans for forgiveness
-Mentioning aspects of one's personality (ie: Sanford says he's a "bottom-line kind of guy" and John Mayer describes himself as "clever")

Statements that increase perceptions of sincerity:

-Admitting faults/ wrongdoings/ problems
-Accepting blame/responsibility
-Speaking about people you let down/ protecting supporters (especially family)
-Using "feeling" or words that describe how you feel (ie: John Mayer says "it feels terrible" Grubbs says "miss you" Tiger says he felt "entitled" Chris Brown say "wishes")
-Stating facts/telling story (ie: Letterman gives factual story of events before apology)
-Stating that there is no excuse for what happened
-Saying you know it will be hard to gain back trust/recover

The apology is one that doesn't have be said!

Super Bowl Ads Are Slipping

For the 2nd year in a row Super Bowl Ads scored lower than the previous year in Mediacurves annual study.

Understanding why seemed intuitive when comparing 2009 to 2008. Funny entertaining advertisements weren't as funny and entertaining in 2009, with the economy and housing markets crashing, as they were in 2008. And again in 2010 we saw a dip...possible consistent with a very slow recovery.

The ads last night seemed like old jokes told over and over til they weren't funny. And, since the content generally ignored what Americans were facing in their day to day battle with unemployment, lost assets and the rest, they didn't score with the viewers.

Well, I am not sure how low the scores can go before the segment of Super Watchers who claim they watch the game for ads stops watching. We'll just have to see next year!

Super Bowl Commercials and Social Issues

Is the Super Bowl the appropriate place to run controversial ads focusing on social issues?

Why not...there is audience, prestige and pre and post game buzz extending the value of a 3 Mil spot well beyond the Super Bowl audience. This year A Focus On The Family ad featuring Tim Tebow's story is causing controversy.

To me controversy should result from network censorship rather than openness to run a controversial ad. I am more disturbed about the network's history of banning ads regarding gays, PETA and other controversial issues than I am having these ads run. Who do the networks think they are banning ads for real issues and then running content, sponsored by advertisement that is utter trash.

Keep the paid controversy and stop being hypocritical.

Tonight On Mediacurves

The much talked about State of the Union Speech is on at 9PM EST tonight and Mediacurves will provide an instant response from up to 2,000 Americans within 90 minutes of the end of the speech.

So at around 10:30 tonight visit Mediacurves and see how America Responded to the Speech!

How Much Media Coverage Is Too Much Media Coverage

An event that was acknowledged as a standard for too much media attention was the Michael Jackson death and associated dramas.

The Tragedy in Haiti has elicited comments of too much coverage from various quarters in our society and today, HCD Research, owner of Mediacurves.com will survey Americans to determine their perceptions regarding coverage of this disaster.

We will report the results tomorrow on Mediacurves.com.