Are advertisements still sinking in?
You see advertisements everywhere you look! On your smartphone, while driving, in the supermarket, and walking in the city. You are constantly being bombarded by stimuli. Will they sink in? I wondered.
Do you still see the banners, or do you scroll past them with great agility? During a creative session for one of our customers, I asked everyone involved to write down within a few seconds which banners they have seen in the past few days. Then the assignment was to write down advertisements that had popped up on Facebook. The results were clear. Little came on paper.
We have a sort of filter in our mind that is very useful in ignoring advertisements. How can you reach people as an advertiser? That is possible in several ways of course. Be unique, be special, be shocking, be overwhelming. For example, in the Netherlands we recently had a Prorail commercial that showed train accident victim’s clothing to the public. This led to intense emotions, especially by traumatized drivers. The campaign was stopped within a week. The goal had been achieved, according to Prorail. Dangerous move, if you ask me, but apparently effective.
Another good way to reach people is when they have virtually no distractions! It is important that the brain is open to stimuli in addition to being relaxed.
This is often a very short window of opportunity. Too short to do anything else, such as grabbing your phone, but long enough for a subtle message. For example, a man who uses a urinal is in that type of moment. There is almost no distraction and the man is relaxed! A good moment as far as I am concerned!
Written by Remco de Bruijn, director, TwinSight Media
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