5 advertising tips you should be aware of

Advertising advice from Killian & Company:

1. When should we retire a campaign we think is worn out? We ran that ad already. We said that before. Didn't we run that last month? Won't people skip over that if they've seen it before? Shouldn't we make a change? Rule of thumb: Clients and agencies both get restless, bored by campaigns long before they lose their effectiveness with consumers. Readers and listeners don't even start to pay attention until they've been exposed to the message 3 to 7 times. (We may be personally invested in the message, studying it carefully and often, but remember our audience is indifferent, inattentive, and elusive.) Patience.
2. Keep the verbal portion of the concept plain and simple. Spend twice as much time on the visual representation because the visual is more evocative than words. In show and tell, Show always beats the hell out of Tell.
3. Awareness does not equal persuasion. Demand ... absolutely demand ... the unexpected from all your communications. If an ad execution "reminds" you of something else, then odds are, the idea's weak.
4. Stop making sense. Most of us are burdened with rationality. Handicapped by reason. Not that that’s all bad, mind you. Part of the process of persuasion (the strategy-building part) is very left-brain, orderly, analytical. But persuasion isn’t logical; buying decisions aren’t scientific. Brand preferences are built on fundamentally right-brain, non-rational connections. That’s why you should be uneasy when an ad turns out “just as you expected.” Instead, follow the advice of a poster that hangs in our office: "Every great ad makes somebody nervous."
5. Un-strategic retailers see advertising as spending. Their marketing budgets are geared toward promotion, specials, and always always always item-and-price, which keeps the focus on the items, and does nothing to enhance the store. By extreme contrast, visionaries in retailing spend much less on item-and-price, and more on making the store into a brand, so you know what they stand for. The essence of any brand is the promise created in the listener’s head. We don't have to know what light bulbs cost when we go to Wal-Mart – we just go there expecting the lowest price. Look at what happens after years of consistent branding: Wal-Mart = lowest prices, Target = cool stuff at a discount, Tiffany’s = prestigious, extravagant quality.