Looks Like Philips Has a Winner

Philips Electronics was the sole sponsor of the December 4 edition of NBC Nightly News and in doing so freed up more than an extra six minutes of airtime for the program. This elimination of multiple advertisers allowed all of the attention to be on Philips’ “sense and sensibility theme.” According to this USA Today article, the result was an increase in viewership and more than 4,000 e-mails from viewers thanking NBC for subjecting them to only one sponsor. All but one of the messages were positive and many mentioned they were planning to buy Philips’ products. The consumer electronics was the sole sponsor of an edition of CBS’ 60 Minutes last year as well as a college football broadcast earlier this year. It seems to me like the company is choosing to spend its money wisely. I can’t argue with spending to be the lone pitch in what would be an otherwise crowded marketplace when the feedback indicates a strong tendency to buy the product.