Gone in 30 Seconds; Changing technology and viewing habits are replacing the old TV spot with longer (and shorter) ad forms.(worldwide)

Byline: Sarah Sennott

Once the most powerful tool for marketers, the 30-second TV commercial is under siege. In the heart of TV land, the United States, prime-time ratings are down and viewers are increasingly inattentive when they do watch. More than a third of TV viewers regularly use a PC while watching the tube, and Forrester Research estimates that by 2007, personal video recorders (PVRs) and video-on-demand (VOD) technology--which allow you to record or choose the programs you watch and skip through ads--will reach half of American households.

Similar trends are taking hold worldwide. To combat shrinking viewership, marketers are funneling growing amounts of money into nontraditional advertising, like "advertainments" and product placement. Simon Sherwood, chief operating executive for media agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) in London, says 5 percent of the firm's $900 million in global billings now comes from nontraditional ads, and predicts that share will rise to 20 percent in the next few years. Others think the shift may come even faster. Says Maurice Levy, CEO and chairman of the Paris-based media giant Publicis Groupe, "We will see a sea change in how we distribute media investment in the next five years."

One alternative to the 30-second spot is to blindside consumers with more quick-hit advertising. On average, a Westerner now gets more than 3,000 marketing messages each day, up from 100 messages a day in 1984. E-mail spam, text messages, Internet pop-up ads--even the dollar bill has become an advertisement: one U.S. marketer recently circulated 50,000 real $1 bills in New York and Los Angeles with stickers advertising a network mini-series. Product placement--like putting Coca-Cola cups in the hands of "American Idol" judges--has jumped in popularity. Product-placement agencies now number more than 500 in the United States, up from only a handful 20 years ago.

Advertisers are also going in the opposite direction, competing with the entertainment industry to hold consumers' attention for 30 to 60 minutes at a time. Major holding companies are increasingly adding entertainment consultants and PR powerhouses to their portfolios: Omnicom Group has purchased entertainment consultancy Davie Brown, and Publicis recently said it is exploring the Hollywood entertainment-marketing sphere. "Branded entertainment" is the new buzzword for sponsored programs. BMW set the new industry standard in its film shorts, with stars ...