The Sound of Advertising

Usually, I avoid advertising like the plague. It doesn't matter what type of advertising either. Television -- I tune out or change the channel. Radio -- I turn the dial. Print -- I flip through pages quickly to get to the content, unless it's a brand that already interests me. And the same goes for Web. Since I work in media, I suppose it's easy for me to do that. But that's probably not the case for most consumers.

Recently, I felt like "most consumers." In New York city, everywhere you go, there's some Bose ad in your face. Either for the TriPort in-ear headphones or for the iPod SoundDock. If you ride the subway, they're there, above your head when you look up. If you enter or leave a subway station, they're there on some poster glued to the wall. Bus stops. Pay phones. They're there also.

New York is inundated with Bose advertising. And yet, a media savvy person like myself got taken in. But in my case it was easy. I've never been a fan of the sound of the headphones that Apple packages with its iPod. The size of the headphones just never work for my ears either. And though I have a pretty nice pair of over the head noise canceling headphones, they're just not that convenient for running around the city. In fact, those are my airplane listening apparatus of choice.

So, I was an easy target. After about the tenth time seeing the TriPort ad, I logged onto the Bose Web site and ordered a pair. Thankfully, they work and fit well, and the sound quality is awesome.

But I wonder, under normal circumstances, does that kind of advertising saturation works as a good marketing strategy. Or do consumers simply become immune to those types of campaigns?