Persuasive Advertising - J. Scott Armstrong [155]
This section focuses on principles for gaining and keeping the attention of the target market. The principles are organized as follows:
8.1. Alert the target market
8.2. Campaign consistency
8.3. Campaign contrast
8.4. Slogans
8.5. Brand identifiers
8.6. Attractive visuals
8.7. Color for attention
8.8. Humor
8.9. Sex
8.10. Models
8.11. Technical quality
8.1. Alert the target market
Say the right things to the right people.
John E. Powers, late 1800s
Given that people are exposed to many, perhaps hundreds of advertising messages each day, it often helps if an ad alerts the target market.
8.1.1. Alert the target market early and prominently
An ad should make clear who might benefit from the product, especially when many of the viewers will not fall into the ad’s target market. The ad can alert customers via illustrations, headlines, or opening lines (“Backache sufferers …”). It can show a benefit in the headline so those in the target market will realize that the ad is intended for them.
This principle of alerting the target market is based on long-standing practice. For example, in newspaper advertising in the 1860s, when the attention of women was desired, ads often began with, “To the ladies.” In 1929, Phoenix Mutual Insurance changed an ad so that it alerted the target market using the headline, “To men who want to quit work some day ….” Phoenix Mutual said that the ad quadrupled the sales volume (Watkins 1959).
To inform people about a solution, an ad was targeted for people who feel tired: “If you’re too tired to read this, you’re exactly the sort of person who should” (from an ad about the need for iron in the diet).
It is usually best to be direct about the target market. This was violated in a print ad for a Saab 9000 with the headline: “The sports sedan for people who inherited brains instead of wealth.” What about people in the target market who might think they have brains and wealth?
Targeting can create some backlash, especially if the product involves a sensitive topic. When the U.K. police advertised for ethnic recruits, some ethnic minorities felt that being specifically targeted was racist. When the ads were changed to show people in situations in which the target market had relevant skills, applications from ethnic minorities increased (Rimini 2003).
Beware that an ad targeted to a specific market might be seen by other interest groups. For example, one evening when my wife and I were shopping for a restaurant on a country road in Pennsylvania, we saw a restaurant with a large “Cook wanted” ad in front. We decided to go elsewhere for dinner.
Evidence on the effects of early alerts to the target market
This principle rests largely on received wisdom. We also found support in our WAPB analysis of quasi-experimental data:
Print ads with early alerts resulted in higher recall and persuasion. We found 24 pairs of WAPB print ads in which one ad alerted the target market in the headline or in the first line of the body text, while the other ad did not. Recall for ads with early alerts was 1.17 times higher than for the other ads.
8.2. Campaign consistency
By the 1920s, the military and political concept of a campaign had worked its way into advertising (Pope 1983). The idea was that the elements of the advertising campaign should be consistent and work together for a common objective.
A recognizable look and feel for a brand’s advertisements helps to alert consumers to a company’s ads. Furthermore, consistency aids recall, for example when consumers see products on display in a store.
8.2.1. Provide a consistent look to all aspects of a campaign
Successful advertising must ...harmonize with every department of the business
…. The coat on the office boy, the letterhead … store furniture, lights …
N. C. Fowler, late 1880s
Earlier, I presented evidence that an ad should be internally consistent. Here, I advise that all aspects of the ads in a campaign should be consistent. For example, magazine and direct mail ads for the Bose