HBO's "Six Feet Under" delivered the greatest closing segment in a television series finale I have ever seen. The final two minutes features Claire, a struggling late-20something artist. The camera
angle is from high above as we watch her drive alone on a road surrounded by desert as the day closes in on sunset. She had attended her brother Nate's funeral that morning.
The segment is driven
by heart-pounding music ("Breathe Me" by Sia) as viewers travel into the future to learn how and when the rest of the main characters we grew to love, take their last breaths. The show concludes with
Claire's own future passing well into her '90s.
Many could argue the closing segment from "M*A*S*H" reigns supreme -- and they would likely be right, humming the show's theme song
("Suicide is Painless" by Johnny Mandel) while delivering their winning argument.
What is the common ingredient in both of these achievements?
Music. Mixed with content,
music acts like baking powder, binding a connection with the audience. That's why movies rely on music scores and songs in the forefront to elevate the senses of their audience, and
television commercials do the same exact thing.
AT&T is despised by most -- but when you watch orange sheets drape over the country to the soothing sound of
Nick Drake's "From the Morning," you find it hard to hate the company at that moment. Next time you watch an ad on television, really listen to it, too -- and you will likely hear music.
So what's the problem with online advertising creative? It can't be heard. The Web is overwhelmingly experienced in silence (video content is a tiny portion, and most of that
content will never attract advertising). So for the most part, online display ads flash, float, rollover, pop under, and expand -- but whatever shape they are seen in, they are not heard. This
eliminates the subtle or overt use of music in the ad experience to help cement an emotional connection.
This problem is compounded because Internet advertising's collective pitch went
directly after client's "television budgets" (when will mediums ever learn?). Comparing one medium to another is a natural course of action in the business, but online picked the wrong fight. This
inherently caused an unfair yet direct creative comparison.
I realize online advertising creative is far more interactive and can be measured, reported, analyzed and optimized far
better than television advertising. Overlooked, however, is the fact that ads are paid for by people we call clients, who like to be emotionally moved by their own advertising -- which never happens
online, because sight and motion lack sound. No sound means no music; no music means less effective visual advertising.
Still don't believe music makes such a difference in the
connection content forms with an audience? Consider the closing segment for the final episode of "The Sopranos." Many hated the abrupt ending -- but everyone who watched can name the song played at
its conclusion.
The journey continues for online display advertising creative, but the road is littered with speed bumps.