The 'infomercial' is one to televisions famous cliche's. Don't laugh… there are valuable lessons to be had from this style of advertising.
Thesuccessful premise behind the infomercial is entertainment - entertainment value is useful when your message is not particularly newsworthy eg readingthe safety instructions.Petzl have put the infomercial style of advertising to good use in the launch of the new Grigri 2. Have a look at the video below - while the Grigri messageis targeted squarely at rock climbers there is some benefit for the tree climbing fraternity since the Grigri is a common piece of kit. And there are plentyof how to's and tips that can be applied in a tree climbing scenario.
Unfortunately, not many tree climbing equipment manufacturers go to the same bother or expense as Petzl when it comes to getting important product informationout there. Plenty of new products on the market today have no accompanying instructions at all, leaving the correct application up to the climber to discover- crazy but true.
Yes, money can be saved by providing gear without a full set of instructions but this is rather short sighted. If climbers are made aware of the featuresand benefits of a new product they are more likely to invest some of their hard-earned cash.
A simple YouTube 'infomercial' not only entertains but also gets the message across - hell, it might even help with sales - ask Petzl!
