Volume 1, No. 7, January 2020
People might imagine there is some mystical means by which effective advertising is created. In reality, it’s fairly simple – communicate clearly, cleverly, and make sure the audience has one memorable “take away” after seeing the ad. The more difficult part is committing the time and budgetary resources needed to deliver the message consistently in our mixed-media landscape.
Today, advertisers have more “channels” available to get their message out. Twenty-five years ago, even at the advent of the “World Wide Web”, advertisers (for the most part) only had print, radio, and television available to them. Now businesses also rely heavily on Social Media networks – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Digital advertising has also become a major player in strategically distributing ad content as well as a source of earned media. So, while the way in which you can distribute advertising has dramatically changed, the development of effective advertising really has not.
There are two basic approaches to creating effective advertising, in our opinion. The first is to let people know how the “mousetrap” you build is better than what your competitors build. One of the first questions we ask when developing advertising is, “how does your company or product differ from your competition?” Sometimes there is an easy answer to that question (see our newsletter entitled, “What is your company’s ‘One Thing’”?). Other times, the differences are less apparent, somewhat esoteric, or simply not substantial at all.
When that’s the case, the second approach can be quite effective. And that is to state what you do “louder” than your competition by creating a new, different, more provocative – or even humorous – method of doing so.
In the newsletter mentioned above, we used GEICO as an example. Before GEICO decided to use a lizard, caveman, pig, and other humorous vignettes to sell insurance, the overall industry approach was very conservative to say the least. “You’re in good hands” was about as creative as it got. GEICO almost single-handedly changed the way insurance products are advertised. They created a brand around a slogan and by using humor to differentiate themselves among larger competitors.
Insurance isn’t exactly the most exciting product to sell. So, in an attempt to compete in the “buy direct” insurance market and to be “louder” than the competition, we now have Progressive’s Flo, All State’s Mayhem, The LiMu Emu, The General, and Farmers Insurance vignettes all using humor to set themselves apart. More than any other company, GEICO says less about their actual products than their competitors – still relying heavily on their slogan, “15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance”, although they have recently added they’ve been insuring consumers for “over 75 years”.
Finally, once the messaging has been developed, an advertising plan must be implemented using the most effective channels available to reach the intended audience. For example, depending on the demographic, digital delivery may be more effective than more traditional means. The most effective approach is one that incorporates as many available channels as resources will permit. In our own work, we have seen exponential growth for clients when a compelling message is delivered consistently across multiple channels (more on that in a future email).
Amplifying your company’s message is what we do. If you want to stand out in your market, let’s talk.
We welcome your thoughts and the opportunity to respond to any questions you may have. Call Symmetre’s partners, Mark Scala and David Albinson at 201-689-2110, or Business Development Specialist, Jack Mizrahi at 914-258-1813. Click here to reach out via email.
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