Business

The Truth behind Ads and Advertising

Written by Sean Collins

Aaarrrrgh, those stupid ads again! Goddamn! I hate this shit!

It’s bullshit and you know that. You, me and everyone else simply love ads. It’s the only way for us to learn about some new stuff, discounts and opportunities.

True they are pushing the limits with them from time to time and this goes for TV and Internet mostly. It’s also true that most of the ads are pure crap and can be quite annoying also.

What many advertisers don’t understand is that it’s not about the color and fancy image. It’s about two other features that stimulate the part of the brain responsible for emotions.

Ad has to be inviting

Only a handful of marketers understand this, and they are the most effective ones.

For example, when was the last time you saw the billboard with a line: “Come on in,” or “Our doors are open for you,” or “We are exciting to see you.”

These kinds of messages were the must in a past. Today you only see the product and maybe a price but they all fail in this important part – they fail to invite you in.

And the best you can get with an Internet ad is: “visit wwwdotmoregoddmanbullshitdotcom.” So inspirational…you can hardly refrain yourself from clicking that ad.

Do you bust in the house of the total stranger?

But if you meet him on a street and he says: “Hey neighbor, how about a beer at my place?” would you follow him inside his house?

On the other hand, if he says something like: “Drop in sometimes, let’s have a beer.” OK, you’ve received the invitation but nothing specific about the time and date. Most likely, you will never have that beer because you sense that he was just being polite without any real attention to spend some of his time with you.

Do you see the point?

Some XY company is a stranger. An alien. You might take a peek inside but you sure as hell won’t go in. But if you see the big ass welcoming board above the entrance that states clearly how thrilled they are to welcome you in their store because boy do they have a surprise for you, you will start to think about it. Hell, you will go in.

Don’t be afraid to openly invite and greet people in your shop wherever it may be. It’s the very essence of establishing initial trust.

Ad has to be a solution

Why are you buying the toothpaste or fabric softener? You have a problem and you have to solve it. Plaque, yellowish-looking teeth and you want your clothes to smell good…

This is why you have 27 different types of Colgate toothpastes. Each time their competitors replicate their product, Colgate launches the new one. The same goes for the tablets or gels for dishwashers (3-in-1, 4-in-1, 7-in-1, etc…).

When you think about it, they sold bullshit with version #1 because they claimed the same thing as they do with version #7. Apparently version #1 sucked big time. And what’s funniest – how the fuck can that tablet properly wash the dishes but can’t wash the machine? You have to buy another product to — hear this — wash your dishwasher!?

And after a while they simply lose it. They don’t know how to say the same thing differently. This is why you have gaps in time between the two same products coming from the same company. They didn’t spend time inventing hot water all over again. They were thinking about the message.

For God’s sake how many ways are there to remove the freaking stain from your T-shirt?

Yet, you will buy that brand new detergent that is perfectly capable of removing the stain from your pants without causing damage. It’s the same feature the old one had. At least according to the claims in the ad.

OK, what’s the point of all of this?

People will buy crap if you know how to pack it fancy. And you can sell the same crap over and over again. You just have to change the message and the package  All sim packages provide you mobile packages for all networks in Pakistan at mobilepackages. Now you can easily find call, SMS and 3g package with packages. That’s all.

So if it’s so simple, how come some of them are successful and some shut down their operations within two years?

The latter failed to provide a solution through their messages. They failed to entice the feeling of excitement at the prospect of using their services.

This is the recipe for an effective ad: it has to invite and to provide a solution. Keep this in mind next time you start pushing some mediocre crap via Google AdWords or Facebook and wonder why the hell you’re not receiving any clicks.

About the author

Sean Collins

An investigative journalist with the thing for business, confidence, societal, and human behavior topics. The straightforward guy with the opinion that doesn't always agree with the mainstream. We call him Choozo. Cuz he's picky. About freakin' everything.