“Advertisements are like pebbles on a beach. They are there, but they are never the center of your attention. You might want to lie on the soft sands or go swimming in the water; you will probably never notice the pebbles that are there. Occasionally, you might find one with a interesting shape or texture, and spend a few moments of you attention on it, but it will surely be out of your mind in a minute or two. But if someone tells you that the rock you are hold is of a special substance, and must have traveled a long way to get to this beach, and could be a sign of good luck, all of a sudden you might want to hold on to that rock. It has taken a life of its own. An advertisement need a good story and some emotional elements to be able to linger in a person’s mind. There is no stronger stimulant on the brain than powerful emotions.” – Quoted from Behind the Billboards
Well said, David.
Advertisements nowadays emphasize on short-term visual impacts more than anything; yet the real unfortunate part is that many more resort to, whether intentionally or not, using unethical elements to catch viewers’ few seconds of attention. Look around and observe. Most commercials use catchy (to the point where I find them annoying sometimes) phrases to make sure they burn an imprint in your minds.
However, as much as people enjoy good, emotion-arousing commercials, are they as effective as they seem when it comes to promoting the products or services the companies are actually selling? This I ask myself.
At this point, I’m trying to quickly recall my experience. I remember Dove’s Self Esteem commercial clearly. Yet when I’m deciding to purchase a related prodcut, I rely more on what I know about the product itself rather than how strong of an emotion I had when I was viewing the commercial. Thinking about this, another question arises: do commercials that target consumers’ core emotions attract new consumers more than strengthening the existing consumer base? Or is it the other way around?
I don’t yet have answers. But one thing I know for sure; people enjoy creative and innovative commercials, but what they remember, 5 hours from now, are the ones that created ripples in the hearts.
Last, I want to share one of my favourite ‘awww’ commercials of all time