For SBT
Guess how many ads you are exposed to in a typical day. Fifty? A hundred? More?
The average consumer is exposed to more than 1,500 advertising messages every day. From billboards to bumper stickers to logos on caps and T-shirts.
There are advertisements in public restrooms and on the grocery store floor. They even sell space on the inside of the cup at the golf course. Sink your putt; retrieve your ball; drink Pepsi.
Advertising is everywhere. People may be most conscious of advertising when they watch television, but advertising in its many forms nevertheless pervades society, invades households, and persuades minds nearly every waking moment.
And it is not likely to abate any time soon. If anything, advertising is becoming ubiquitous.
Most newspapers are about 40% advertising; trade journals often contain even more. Company newsletters now frequently carry advertisements. Your utility bills may arrive with multiple ads enclosed.
Just 10 years ago, an arena was just an arena, and the baseball park was called Milwaukee County Stadium. To manage costs, naming rights to such venues are now offered. Midwest Express Airlines and Miller Brewing remind people of their generosity (and available cash) every time people pass "their" buildings.
Advertising is everywhere. But nowhere is it more apparent than on your television screen. New research released by an advertising industry trade group says the number of television commercials, public service announcements, and station promotions reached an all-time high last year.
And it’s not because the networks think viewers need more time to fix a snack or go to the bathroom.
"Costs are going up," says a CBS executive. "And advertising is what covers those costs."
In the average hour, only about 39 minutes is devoted to programing. The balance is called "clutter."
Clutter worries the advertising industry. They figure the more commercials stuffed into an hour, the less likely viewers are to remember their clients’ ads.
Clutter, whether on television or in any medium, also makes their job harder. It’s up to the advertising agency to create commercials for their clients that stand out from the rest of the commercials.
Their ads must communicate their client’s message more clearly and be better remembered than the muddle of mediocrity that exists among most advertisements.
The ads must have punch, make the reader stop from turning the page or the viewer stop from changing the channel. They must break the "boredom barrier."
In short, good advertising must have impact.
It’s a fundamental precept of all advertising. No matter how persuasive the copy, no matter how strong the offer, if your customers don’t read your ad or see your TV spot, you’ve wasted a lot of money.
So how do you create ads with impact?
In print, start with a good headline. Five times as many people read a headline as read the body copy. A good headline is therefore worth 80 cents of your advertising dollar. For your 80 cents, pack in your brand name, its product benefit, and a catchy appeal to your target audience if you can.
Don’t be afraid of a long headline. Research has shown that headlines of 10 words or longer, containing news and information, consistently out-perform shorter headlines.
Famous ad man David Ogilvy’s best headline was "At Sixty Miles Per Hour the Loudest Noise in the New Rolls-Royce Comes from the Electric Clock," (which reportedly prompted the chief engineer at Rolls-Royce to comment, "It is time we did something about that damned clock.")
Certain words or phrases work wonders in a headline: how to, suddenly, announcing, miracle, wanted, the truth about, hurry, compare, and so forth. They may seem like clichés. But they work.
In broadcast, the same principle holds. The "headline" of your TV or radio spot is often the opening line, a catch phrase, or words superimposed on the screen.
The most important factor in creating impact is to make it easy for your customers to recognize your product at a glance.
At Leo Burnett Advertising Agency, we called it "The Big Idea." It was a theme, or a catch phrase, or sometimes even a "critter" who embodied the brand and what it stood for.
United has the friendly skies. McDonald’s has the Golden Arches. Keebler has elves. Each identifies the product or service quickly and efficiently. Each jars the memory and alerts a potential customer to the product being advertised.
Even if a potential customer skims over your magazine or newspaper ad without reading it carefully, the tag line or corporate symbol may register.
Just one more way to break through the clutter, and register with your customers.
Robert Grede is an adjunct professor of marketing at Marquette University, and author of a variety of books available online at www.thegredecompany.com.
March 29, 2002 Small Business Times, Milwaukee
