Advertising 101

Advertising, What Is It and Why Do It?

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I am constantly asked about advertising; what works, what is good, and even why should a company advertise.I always tell clients you must be doing some form or nature of advertising. If you elect to do none, you can bet there will be 1, the for sale sign on your business! Too many people get away from the basics of what is advertising all about. The Ad Marketing Guy takes a fast Snip and Quip in very simple terms on what advertising is all about.

Advertising is an area that combines science, art and of course good business sense. All your advertising must combine science ( the "buying decision"-who, what, where and when), art (creativity), business sense ( simply getting the biggest bang and wow factor for the buck)

Lets examine what advertising is:

1.       Most purchase decisions are made in the subconscious mind

·         Most advertising contains large amounts of puffery

·         Puffery—a statement that cannot be proven true nor false - it is a promotional by nature

·         Puffery is allowed because it is assumed that the average person will know the difference between an exaggeration and fact

·         "The best product in the world"—puffery

·         What you perceive to be true is true in your mind—It may not be true, but it will be true to you

·         Every product you buy is a manifestation of yourself

·         Your purchases reflect your self image

·         You make purchases based on who you think you are

2.       Marketers know how to access the subconscious mind and they do so through repetition

·         Marketers know how to access the subconscious mind and they do so through repetition

·         The subconscious mind remembers everything

·         The mind doesn't know the difference between an actual event and a perceived event

·         27 rule—you will need to hear/see/experience a message 27 times before you will remember it

·         Advertisers whole goal is to get you to see their message 27 times

·         Advertisers know when you are exposed to an ad that 2 out of 3 times you will ignore it

·         Themes are repeated over and over again, because they want you to remember

·         81% of all purchases are closed on 5 or more contacts

·         If you do something, do it consistently

3.       Your marketing is twice as effective if you aim it at right brained people as well as left brained people

·         Left brain—practical, logical mind, deductive reasoning

·         Right brain—inductive reasoning, artistic ability, creativity

·         Deductive—taking a general idea and breaking it down into specifics

·         You see the forest, and notice there are trees in the forest

·         Inductive—look at all the specifics and make a general principal

·         You see a bunch of trees, and deduce that it is a forest

·         Deductive—is the ad logical and make sense?

·         Inductive—does the ad look good?

·         If your ad only appeals to one side of the brain, you are alienating ½ of your audience—wasting your advertising

·         45% of population is left brain, 45% is right brain, 10% is both

·         If you know your audience is either left or right brain, O.K. to focus on one

4.       The more statistics you have, the more precise your marketing efforts will be

·         The more you research about your target audience, the better your ads will be

·         Must be careful in how you interpret your statistics

·         Don't rely on your stats blindly—if they strongly go against popular opinion, there is a chance that your stats may by inaccurate—better to use them as a guide rather than absolute gospel

5.       Children are influencing purchasing decisions more today than ever before

·         They may not be the target audience, but they can influence purchase decisions

·         Children have an average of $300 discretionary income annually

·         They can influence the cars parents buy—mini-van

·         They can influence where parents eat—McDonalds happy meals

·         Disney channel advertising is meant for children to influence parents decisions

·         Assume the children's influence, and plan ads accordingly

6.       It is now possible to predict human behavior, but you cannot rely on what consumers tell you

·         People will say one thing and do another

·         Rely more on direct observation when possible instead of surveys

·         There are certain things that cannot be found out by asking consumers

·         There are times when you survey that people will tell you what you want to hear because they know you are observing them

7.       Peoples values are now measured and ranked

·         Values change from generation to generation

·         Your ads must reflect the audience's values you are targeting, as well as not offending the general populace

70's-80's values  ranked in order

·         Freedom

·         Happiness

·         Wisdom

·         Self respect

·         Mature love

·         Sense of accomplishment

·         True friendship

80's-90S values ranked in order

·         Satisfying family life

·         Good health

·         Enjoyable work

·         Peace of mind

·         Close friends

·         Wealth

·         Free time

8.       There are 2 bonds to make with your consumers when attempting to make a sale—the human bond and then the business bond

·         Make sure your ads appear "human" and warm before making the hard sell

·         People must feel good about using your companies product, otherwise they won't buy

9.       One of the most important human needs is for an identity—advertisers must recognize the identity of the customers

·         Each of us is unique, and want to be perceived as unique by others

·         Ads should reflect our unique personality

10.   People have a basic need to belong

·         Advertisers create ads that make you want to belong to their company

·         Cost co Club, Sam’s Club, ACE Hardware Club,Airline Mileage Cards frequent purchase cards

11.   People love to be recognized

·         Research shows that we like to be recognized, appreciated, and rewarded

·         Advertisers reward you/ recognize you for certain purchase behavior, reinforcing your purchase with a positive feeling

·         When businesses know who you are, you are more likely to return to them versus some business who treats you like a stranger

·         When you want to know how you can make an impact on a customer, think about how you can recognize them

12.   Getting a person to say yes to purchasing your product is easier if you establish momentum

·         Gradually, your advertising should lead them to the purchase of your product

·         Make it a logical sequence of the events depicted in the ad

·         Don't just ask them to buy without justification on why they should buy

13.   Your customer is buying more than just your product or service

·         They are buying everything you company represents as well
If they don't buy into the company, they won't buy your product

·         What they are buying:

·         Personality—of employees

·         Reputation—if it is poor, they won't buy product

·         Uniforms—the way employees look

·         Ambiance—what the premises looks like

·         Service—being treated well before and after purchase

·         Aroma—if it is food

·         Packaging—if it doesn't look good on the box, it won't sell

·         Acceptance—by community

·         Status—where product is in relation to the competition

14.   People will remember the most fascinating part of your advertising and not necessarily the product You want them to remember the product, not the ad

·         Taco Bell—people focused on the dog, not the product—food sales didn't increase with the ad campaign

·         Any commercial that you cannot remember, but makes you purchase the product, is the best possible scenario for an ad

Hopefully, I have provided a look into the advertisers world. The next time someone talks to you about advertising or you think I should be advertising, think about this Snip and Quip.   

Good Luck and Happy Marketing

Comments

[tenon tim]

Bill, this is one of the segments that I've been waiting for. Some of the things I think I've been doing, but many others I have not. I'm already working on the new format for my website and looking into other ad sources.
Thanks again, Bill!