Advertisers and an unfair share of attention

11. Advertisers: how to get an unfair share of attention

Some top tips on boosting attention to ads

As noted previously, creative design has a major role to play in gaining and maintaining attention to advertising. Smart media planning will enable savvy marketers to find attention bargains, but eventually these attention arbitrage opportunities will evaporate. Everyone will come to know that there is “gold beneath the fold” and so the price will change to reflect this improved information. Attention-grabbing creative, however, will always offer brands the possibility of gaining an unfair share of attention.

WHAT CAN BRANDS DO TO WIN THE BATTLE FOR ATTENTION?

There are no hard and fast rules, and creative depends on both your message and your brand. But remembering the reality of attention – that it is selective, finite, and voluntary – can help in briefing and creative development.

Selective

Your ads have to fight for attention, not just against the other ads, but also against everything else that people could look at. Designing simple, visual ads that stand out from the page or the screen is key.

Finite

People’s attention is limited, with most ads in most media generating only a few seconds of attention. Fit your message to suit this time budget. Shorter, simpler, more single-minded messages perform better than complex, busy ads. In general, advertisers have more to learn from the out-of-home (OOH) industry than the CRM industry.

Voluntary

People don’t have to look at your ads and frequently they don’t. Investing time and resources into developing ads that are worth watching is not being fussy or precious. It’s good business sense.

ONE SIMPLE WAY OF ENSURING THAT YOU STICK TO THESE PRINCIPLES IS TO TEST YOUR ADS IN CONTEXT

"ADS ARE MADE AND TESTED IN ISOLATION, THEY ARE ALWAYS SEEN IN CONTEXT."

Most ads are tested in isolation, with participants forced to sit through the whole thing and then offer their opinions afterwards. The problem is, as Alan Hedges pointed out almost fifty years ago, this almost never happens in reality. While ads are made and tested in isolation, they are always seen in context.

"IF NO ONE NOTICES YOUR ADVERTISING, EVERYTHING ELSE IS ACADEMIC."

The key question that brand managers should ask of any ad is this: will it capture the attention of my audience? Ads should be designed for attention and then tested for attention. Because, as Bill Bernbach observed: “If no one notices your advertising, everything else is academic.”

"DON'T ASSUME ATTENTION, EARN IT."

The first and last and most important assumption when it comes to developing advertising is this: don’t assume attention, earn it.