Advertising-General

When was the last time you know you were manipulated by advertising to buy a product? Maybe it was a hot day and you saw a sign for a soft drink pointing towards a store and you thought: ‘Yes!’ Although this is an obvious way advertising affects us, most of the time the work that advertising does is behind the scenes, as advertising companies work their magic to instill in us the idea of quality brands that we recall perhaps months after we see the commercial itself.

A lot of clients who want advertisements made for them make the mistake of thinking that the advertising is going to work for them immediately; that an ad online or in a magazine today must result in increased sales tomorrow to prove its effectiveness. But successful advertising rarely succeeds by immediately persuading people to do things. Advertisements that really work create positive memories and feelings that influence behaviour over a longer period of time. That’s because no one likes to think they are easily influenced; and that’s why obvious attempts at manipulation often fail over more subtle, ‘slow burn’ methods.

Now and then an advertisement might get you running to the store to buy something. But when’s the last time you did this? Often you are only semi-aware of the ads that are on in the background, you’re not really ‘thinking’ about them in an active way. You may remember an ad for shoes when someone mentions their new high-heels are killing them when you’re out; or you may be in the street outside a shoe store and suddenly remember the ad for those shoes you liked. Even then, it’s not the ad that matters – it’s the ideas, impressions and positive feelings about the brand that matter.

So although you may not think advertising influences you, it does! And marketers know that it does. Advertising companies have the know-how to market a product in such a way that whether it’s online, in print or on TV, an advertisement seeps into the consumers’ thoughts to be recalled later at the purchasing opportunity.