Advertising that Sticks
A sad reality for marketers is that customers forget
most ads immediately. But what makes some marketing messages memorable?
Is there a formula to creating advertising
that will stick in the minds of its target? In their
soon-to-be-released book, Made to Stick, authors Chip and Dan Heath
come close to providing such a formula.
People remember the message that Jared lost 245 pounds
by eating Subway sandwiches every day. They’re less likely to remember
Subway’s previous campaign “7 sandwiches with under 6 grams of fat.” The
authors assert that, for advertising to stick, it must tell a simple story
that connects to the customer emotionally. Of course, it’s not necessarily
easy to do that. Advertisers suffer
from what the authors call “the curse of knowledge” – they’re too
close to the subject matter, so it’s difficult for them to come up with a
simple idea that will resonate with customers.
In their research, the authors found that sticky ideas
share certain attributes that are frequently absent in ideas that are less
memorable. They also provide examples of how these attributes work not just
for inherently interesting ideas, they can also be applied to ideas that are
less exciting (e.g., movie popcorn has 37 grams of saturated fat). The
six traits that are shared by sticky ideas
are: simplicity, unexpectedness, concreteness, credibility, emotions, and
stories. To learn more or to pre-order the book, see their website,
www.madetostick.com.
To learn which
ideas will resonate with your customers, talk to them! Call Bureau
West at (818) 752-7210.
Sources:
Inc. Magazine, January, 2007;
madetostick.com |
Sincerely,
Jay Zaltzman, President
Bureau West Marketing & Research
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