If you live in Canada then there's a good chance you've seen Rogers Smart Home Monitoring television commercials. These commercials show the Rogers Smart Home Monitoring system, with their touchscreen keypad and video cameras, along with certain home automation capabilities. The commercials offer a general overview of the system. They don't go in depth, however, they demonstrate various features on a high level.
So what's the problem with these commercials?
The Rogers Smart Home TV commercials (along with their radio spots) aren't effective because they miss one massive thing that is truly the most important things to the customer - the price of the services and if a contract is required for service. By not including these two incredibly important points, the commercial, in essence, provides no value.
Rogers Smart Home Monitoring is trying to hide the fact that the system is expensive and that the customer must agree to a long-term contract in order to get the services. The price for their entry-level home automation package with their home security services is $39.99/month with a 24-month contract.
Rogers Smart Home Monitoring decided to not include the pricing in their commercials because they understand that their offering is expensive. Certain other companies do the same thing in their ads as well, show particular elements of the system and avoid the pricing and fine print details until the customer is on the phone. Then use high-pressure tactics to get them to sign up because once they're on the phone it's hard for them to compare pricing and value propositions.
The lesson is that when watching TV commercials or listening to the radio, if the home alarm company doesn't talk about their prices and contractual demands, then odds are they're doing this for a reason. Be aware of prices and contract lengths and if possible avoid signing a contract at all times.
