Why bother advertising?

From: Douglas Wilson <d.wilson_at_paradise.net.nz>
Date: Tue 14 May 2002 21:42:26 -0600

Alex Tillman wrote:
>>All of the sudden,your brain somehow starts weighing the myriad of
options in front of you, and you start eliminating some brands and
narrowing your options. Some may seem like "off brands", because your
memory doesn't recall ever being exposed to the name (most likely in an
ad, unless your friends typically discuss the benefits of various
toothpastes at get togethers) and your choices may include only those
that you've at least heard of (probably from ads you can't even
consciously remember).<<

I don't really know what happens in people's brains about advertising
they have seen (I suspect nobody does) but from 30 plus years in the
advertising industry, combined with study of advertising research, I do
know the behavioural effects of advertising (or at least the advertising
of consistent advertisers). These are two fold, short term and long
term. Ads work right away for people who are ready to buy.

There also seems to be a medium or long term effect of advertising for
people who are not ready to buy but might buy in the future. Sometimes
this is called "branding". But I rather think that it's a combination of
the residual effect of earlier advertising combined with the stimulation
of a fresh viewing of the advertising when the person is ready to buy.
The point is that people are only interested in ads that are about what
they want or what they need. The trick for advertisers is to be there at
that time with the right message.

All advertising does not work, so what other factors determine whether
the advertising will be successful? How well the brand differentiates
itself from competitors. How well established the brand is. Price,
particularly promotional price during periods of advertising. Is the
advertising of sufficient intensity? Is it placed in targeted media,
reaching sufficient numbers of people who are ready to buy in that
market? The cut-through of the creative approach. Is the advertising
consistently there over time for when people need it? Because
individuals come into the market at different times, not just when you
run your bursts of advertising, it's more important to maintain
continuity of advertising than to have intermittent bursts.

It's not easy to get all these things right! But if you do advertising
will work, even for Steve Pharris. Steve, advertisers are not looking
for sheep who act without intelligence, they are looking to make
connection with people who are ready to buy their product or service.

Douglas Wilson
Author of "Web Marketing in the Real World
A Practical Manual"
Web: http://www.benlandwilson.com/ebooks.htm
Email: douglas_at_benlandwilson.com




Received on Tue May 14 2002 - 22:42:26 CDT