This week at Fabric Eleven we are talking about our favorite advertisements, noting the reasons we love these ads and how effective they are in getting us up to actually make a purchase or try a new service. How do advertisers know just what we want to see and hear? The question remains simple to answer—market research. We’ve collected our favorites and we’re here to tell you why we love them!
One of the newest members of Fabric Eleven also appreciates one of my personal favorite advertisements—Trident Layers “Nobody Pays Me In Gum”. It fuses clever one-liners and zoom in shots to focus on the product packaging. It urges consumers to get up, and purchase Trident Layers as the phrase “Nobody pays me in gum” alludes to exclusion . Our need for inclusion in various scenarios makes this a robust branding statement, that catapulted the message to stardom, as catchier sayings often stick. When advertising sticks like fly to paper, you know it works.
Often the most effective advertising campaigns exist due to competition. In the case of brands that offer nearly similar services or products, advertisers understand the need to perpetuate competition through a branded message. In order to make a splash among consumers, it must surpass the standard to acquire brand loyalty. Pepsi vs. Coke or Audi vs. BMW, or the even more mean spirited smartphone standoff between Samsung and Apple rage on through full-page ads in the New York Times and flash across every television network. A free market economy perpetuates competition as consumers are flooded with choices. Marketing analysts are worried about how and why consumers make certain decisions to gain brand loyalty. The psychology behind smart and powerful advertising is truly the work of genius marketers.
We remember an advertisement it’s because its powerful, and it makes us stop to think about the science behind its production. Take the Volkswagen Big Day ad from 13 years ago. Images flash by as the Volkswagen races through slick streets, and the countryside turns into cityscapes. Images flash by as we feel rushed just like the frantic ex boyfriend whose urgency keeps us guessing. The beauty of anxiety is exemplified in the driver’s silent scream as he races to save his love from marrying another man, and we are left with a Volkswagen parked outside of a church and the tagline, “Fasten Your Seatbelts”. Although this ad is from nearly a decade ago, it speaks to the psychology of consumers, and their need for drama even in a 30-second spot. Nice work, Volkswagen.
As the advertising and technology world collide at faster speeds than before the need for robust mobile advertising is every marketing expert’s challenge. Great advertising transports you to another space in less than a minute. When you don’t change the channel to skip over a 30-second spot, that is powerful advertisement. Will mobile advertising and retargeted ads take over decades of television marketing? For the time being, a consumerist society will support the need for advertising on all of our devices.