# Virgin launch TiVo powered... van?



## qwiki

Just found this link which I found interesting.

I haven't seen one of these new branded vehicles myself yet. Has anyone else spotted one?


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## Tony Hoyle

Does it roll back 10 feet if you brake quickly?


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## cwaring

Nice one


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## hokkers999

qwiki said:


> Just found this link which I found interesting.
> 
> I haven't seen one of these new branded vehicles myself yet. Has anyone else spotted one?


Shame then that the slogan is a load of bowlarx...what a missed opportunity


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## spitfires

That's astonishingly high-profile branding especially when dealing with Virgin... looks like a result for Tivo Inc.


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## jonphil

Hopefully Tivo learnt from the experience with Sky and are going to play closer attention to how Virgin market it.
Sky did zero marketing in my area and wondered why boxes didn't sell (alterior motive me thinks)
http://www.techradar.com/news/television/tivo-sky-partnership-caused-uk-flop-674341


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## Major dude

'You had me at TiVo'?

Sorry I don't get it?

Are they saying TiVo is a knocking shop?


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## cwaring

hokkers999 said:


> Shame then that the slogan is a load of bowlarx...what a missed opportunity


I agree it's not a very good one at all. Then again, it needed to be very short to fit the van and be seen from a distance.


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## TCM2007

Amazing that they are going so hard on the TiVo brand.

They must be assuming that typical subscribers watch so much American TV they'll have picked up the references.


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## cwaring

Or they'll think... "what s this Tivo then?" Maybe?


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## abuelbanat

you're a real downer aren't you hokkers?

I think it's quite catchy actually, and lets face it will have been through a million focus group marketing meetings to have gotten on to a van - I reckon the reference to Jerry Maguire is fairly easily recognised "You had me at Hello" and given it's introducing TiVo to most of the UK public who are still in the dark to it - seems quite fitting to me....

...but then again what do I know.....


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## cwaring

^ Having had a little time to think about it now, I guess you're right. Not sure about the "focus groups" bit though


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## abuelbanat

yeah p'raps not focus groups  but probably done on the advice of ad people - if they're about to start marketing it they'd be aswell doing it right - a good first step to get it into peoples consciousness.


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## spitfires

If you've ever had a Virgin mobile or credit card then you'd know this is typical of their "young" marketing focus - aimed at 18-30 yo who clearly wld gt ths typ of mrktng 

It's not aimed at us oldies!


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## BrianHughes

...
It's not aimed at us oldies![/QUOTE said:


> Speak for yoself - I is down chillin' wif da Tivo massive!


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## TCM2007

I'm 46 and I got the reference - to Team America "You had me at *******s", yes?


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## Pine Cladding

At 51 I'm lost


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## hokkers999

abuelbanat said:


> you're a real downer aren't you hokkers?
> 
> I think it's quite catchy actually, and lets face it will have been through a million focus group marketing meetings to have gotten on to a van - I reckon the reference to Jerry Maguire is fairly easily recognised "You had me at Hello" and given it's introducing TiVo to most of the UK public who are still in the dark to it - seems quite fitting to me....
> 
> ...but then again what do I know.....


Jerry who? - and no I'm not being sarcastic. Presumably a film of some sort?? and the relevance to the functionailty of a Tivo is what?

Like I said a total load of bowlarx


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## okonski_uk

It's certainly not an exclusive reference to a media event.... it has been used as a colloquialism as far back as I can remember - '60s and probably earlier - its a usual precursor to a joke made in tandem with the first party stating the (it is assumed, bleedin' obvious), but is trading on the kudos and good vibe Tivo has. I'm unaware of anyone who has had tried Tivo and a PVR to prefer the latter - just that as a cat

In fact - I've just heard a joke on BBC7 this second, that requires the listener to know the joke, but only the punchline is delivered. Making it inclusive for those in the know, but nonsensical for those that aren't. 

They might not be bang on the money, but they're not far off it.


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## TCM2007

"You had me at x" where x was the first of a long and complex list of this is a very well known colloquial construct, meme even. I can't imagine many - any? - of Virgin's target market wouldn't be completely familiar with it.

It actually makes a lot of sense in this context, as presumably there is a long list of functions of the box, but they are irrelevant as "you had me at TiVo"

Odds on this being a spin off of a yet-unaired TV creative which makes the reference even more obvious?


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## hokkers999

okonski_uk said:


> In fact - I've just heard a joke on BBC7 this second, that requires the listener to know the joke, but only the punchline is delivered. Making it inclusive for those in the know, but nonsensical for those that aren't.


So for those who don't yet know what a Tivo is, it is "nonsensical". Marketing genius at work = FAIL


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## Milhouse

TCM2007 said:


> "You had me at x" where x was the first of a long and complex list of this is a very well known colloquial construct, meme even. I can't imagine many - any? - of Virgin's target market wouldn't be completely familiar with it.


"You had me at x" is also an example of a snowclone.



TCM2007 said:


> It actually makes a lot of sense in this context, as presumably there is a long list of functions of the box, but they are irrelevant as "you had me at TiVo"


Presumably it will make more sense (or be easier to grasp) once the media advertising kicks in, demonstrating the various TiVo functions, and this slogan may even be a big part of that advertising.



hokkers999 said:


> So for those who don't yet know what a Tivo is, it is "nonsensical". Marketing genius at work = FAIL


It would be somewhat premature to dismiss the van slogan without also taking the media advertising into consideration, which no doubt puts the van slogan into some sort of context.


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## spitfires

TCM2007 said:


> Odds on this being a spin off of a yet-unaired TV creative which makes the reference even more obvious?


Yes good point and typically Virgin.

Viral marketing would be right up VM's alley:

Oik1: Wozza Tivo?
Oik2.......Oik999: Dunno.
Oik1000: < explains >
Oik1 thru Oik999: Cool! Where can I get one?

Many more under 35s are aware of Tivo than you probably realise - watch E4 (or its siblings) for any length of time and it regularly appears as product placement on US sitcoms. They might not know what it does but that's not the point - if Hannah Montana or the guys on Friends think it's "cool" then *I* want one!


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## cwaring

Some good points well made guys.


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## TCM2007

Anyone who watches a significant amount of US import TV (Virgin's traget maket, in other words) will know the name. IIRC it's freatured heavily in Futurama "Tivo: suggest this"", the Simpsons, Freinds..

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=50026&highlight=official+tivo+spotting


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## ericd121

Could someone repost that link to ignore hokkers999? 

I think there's enough negativity in the world, I don't need any more.


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## cwaring

I htink he's a right laugh. I mean; only an idiot would post some of the crap he comes out with and expect other people to believe him.


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## warrenrb

ericd121 said:


> Could someone repost that link to ignore hokkers999?
> 
> I think there's enough negativity in the world, I don't need any more.


Click his name on a message, view public profile, and then add to ignore list.

Unfortunately other people here insist on responding to him and quoting him in their messages. Also if you get email notifications from threads they aren't filtered. 

But it's a start! He's a c0ck. He argues with everything people post. He's just a 'black is white' kinda guy. He insists he's sticking with his S1, but then complains that Virgin's launch is late.

It's always been such a great, friendly forum here - it's a pity he can't pi$s off to the cable forum or somewhere and leave us in peace.


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## hokkers999

warrenrb said:


> Click his name on a message, view public profile, and then add to ignore list.
> 
> Unfortunately other people here insist on responding to him and quoting him in their messages. Also if you get email notifications from threads they aren't filtered.
> 
> But it's a start! He's a c0ck. He argues with everything people post. He's just a 'black is white' kinda guy. He insists he's sticking with his S1, but then complains that Virgin's launch is late.
> 
> It's always been such a great, friendly forum here - it's a pity he can't pi$s off to the cable forum or somewhere and leave us in peace.


You appear to be confused, I've never complained that it is late. I've pointed out that it's taken 15 months since the original announcement to skin it for vm and add 3rd tuner support (not even there yet) and FAIL TO LAUNCH it.

When you have to resort to personal insults, you've already lost the argument.


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## jonphil

It is nice being able to hide people from the forum 
Back on topic I actually spotted a Virgin Tivo van in Nottingham this morning, so it must be a sign that it's coming soon.
I know people are complaining, but I'm still waiting for Sky to give me Anytime+ on my 1 year old Sky box months after they have supposed to have launched it and they had the cheek to say if I want it now, buy a NEW box?
Why should I throw out my 1 year old box and give them more money in order to get a 'free' service?


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## Milhouse

jonphil said:


> I know people are complaining, but I'm still waiting for Sky to give me Anytime+ on my 1 year old Sky box months after they have supposed to have launched it and they had the cheek to say if I want it now, buy a NEW box?
> Why should I throw out my 1 year old box and give them more money in order to get a 'free' service?


Presumably this is another of those great benefits Sky customers get from owning their own set-top box rather than renting? Well, it's a benefit for Sky anyway - one more way to shaft their customers with impunity!


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## jonphil

Milhouse said:


> Presumably this is another of those great benefits Sky customers get from owning their own set-top box rather than renting? Well, it's a benefit for Sky anyway - one more way to shaft their customers with impunity!


Along with a £65 call out charge if the box ever goes wrong along with 'oh the box is broke so that will be another £250 please and we will continue charging you for channels you can't actually watch. lol


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## Muttley1900

TCM2007 said:


> "You had me at x" where x was the first of a long and complex list of this is a very well known colloquial construct, meme even. I can't imagine many - any? - of Virgin's target market wouldn't be completely familiar with it.
> 
> It actually makes a lot of sense in this context, as presumably there is a long list of functions of the box, but they are irrelevant as "you had me at TiVo"
> 
> Odds on this being a spin off of a yet-unaired TV creative which makes the reference even more obvious?


I thought it went well with the long list of features that they rattle through on the vm TiVo demo page and can see that some (all?) of this demo video could be used as a number of ads.

J.


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## ericd121

*<Off Topic>*
Thanks for the reply, warrenrb, though I figured it out on my own.
He's only the second user I've ignored, but I seem to remember you used to be able to "Ignore This User" from the user name menu.

Hey-Ho. This thread is a lot shorter, now.
*</Off Topic>*


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## hokkers999

ericd121 said:


> *<Off Topic>*
> Thanks for the reply, warrenrb, though I figured it out on my own.
> He's only the second user I've ignored, but I seem to remember you used to be able to "Ignore This User" from the user name menu.
> 
> Hey-Ho. This thread is a lot shorter, now.
> *</Off Topic>*


Wow a web site copyright 2003 and with a style that's different on every page it sure looks like it.

By the way your FAQ page is missing and your t's & c' does bugger all. Great job


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## Philnic

I spotted one of those TiVo vans this morning in Dudley. Had I been closer to it, I might have been tempted to throw rotten fruit at it!


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