Advertising Through Curiosity
Advertisements are everywhere! At the movie, in the mail, on television (where ad time almost equals program time in some cases), in printed material like magazines and newspapers, along the road, you name a place and there is probably an ad there.
Advertisers face a daunting task of finding a way to get their ad past the mental block set up by consumers. How do you get consumers to see your ad among so many others? One effective method used is by building curiosity with sights and sounds.
Sounds often involve music. Many TV ads include some type of mood setting designed to make you at least watch the ad. Other types of sounds also build curiosity and attract attention. The Superman serials on TV in the 50’s were popular with kids partly because of the air sound as the hero landed or took off.
Visual curiosity is also used. The newest model of a car is covered with a cloth to build curiosity. Women are used in ads because in general they attract the attention of male consumers. Movie trailers use a collage of clips to titillate the interest and make people so curious that they won’t miss the full show.
The double edged sword of both sound and sight will help raise an ad from the ignored to the noticed. By using both the ear gate and eye gate attention is more likely gained. Yet, if everyone does this, then your ad will remain indistinct.
Aerial Banners are unique in this way for they appeal to sight, sound, and they are the only ad around at the time. A long banner or a billboard trails behind an airplane over a large congregation of people. With no other ads in sight on a beach or music festival, the ad will have the full attention of the audience.
Imagine this: you are relaxing on the beach when you hear a small airplane coming. You open your eyes and notice it is pulling a long banner behind it with a message. You are curious as to what it says. You wait until the banner is in view and probably read the message several times.
The plane goes by but after a few minutes it has circled around and passes by again. You read it a second time. The third time, you have it memorized and recite the message in your mind before it is in sight. Perhaps you even comment to friends nearby.
The advertiser has reached his goal. He has built your curiosity, used sights and sounds to present you the message, and repeated it without competition for attention until it was fixed in your memory. And no competitors could get a word in edgewise during that time. If his product or service is of use to you, it is pretty sure that his name will be your first choice.
March 10 2010 04:55 pm | Business: Advertising