What can be a bigger dream for an advertiser than reaching the point when the whole category is named after its brand? Although it takes long years of advertising, it is totally possible and starts with a very simple fact: staying memorable for your target group.
Lately, Synetiq has measured more than 7000 ads and based on their results one thing is proven: some brands are simply more memorable than others. When you are a big love brand with a long history, it is obviously easier - you use your brand colours, jingles or a well-known slogan, and magic is done. But what if you are a less popular product, a brand new advertiser or someone with a strongly competitive environment? Well, then you are facing real challenges.
Memory based decision making
Many studies have proved that every single decision we make is based on memories - conscious or nonconscious ones. Whether it is a good feeling, a choice made by colour or form, taste or smell, every sensation we feel recalls something from our past. It can be a good experience from the past, a friend’s recommendation or an advertisement, that consciously or not, but stuck in our mind. We make decisions by learning, and advertisements are a type of experiment as well. Thus it is important to implement your ad’s main messages and important information into your target group’s mind as much as possible. Staying in their brain and influencing thoughts through your ads and messages can only benefit your brand when it comes to purchasing decisions.
Is any publicity good publicity?
You can stick in your target group’s mind in a good or a bad way - they can remember you positively or negatively. We used to say “there's no such thing as bad publicity”, but is it true? Of course, an advertisement that creates frustration and negative feelings can still stay memorable, but it does not mean your product’s sales numbers are going to jump high. There are some great examples from the market when although people complained about an advertisement, the main slogan stuck in their mind - but did those products sell as a result?
While it is important to mention that conscious evaluation of an ad is not always equal with non-conscious emotions, the important thing is how you connect your product with negative feelings. Showing your brand name in a frustrated moment can lead to negative emotions connected to your product, which can result in bad memories too.
Measuring memorability
Here at Synetiq we measure memorability with the help of a questionnaire. After watching 70+ ads in randomized order, viewers have to recall some elements they remember from the seen videos. All elements recalled from an ad show us if the story was memorable or not.
Another way of measuring memorability is if they remember your ad based on a couple of logos they see. We call it visibility, as it shows how visible your ad’s branding was. We separate these two indicators and compare each ad’s emotional and conscious results to see which videos generated higher memorability and visibility scores after watching a full ad break.
So how to make your ad memorable?
Based on our measured and analysed database, the following insights can be drawn:
1.The stronger the emotional waves are, the more memorable the ad is
We can not emphasize enough how moving emotions is an important goal when it comes to ad creation. Making your audience cry or laugh, smile or think - these all benefit you in the long term. Those ads that elicit strong emotional waves stay more memorable, whether it is an unknown brand or a new message communicated.
How to move emotions? Read this article to learn more.
2. Corner tag works!
Although many do not believe in the benefits of a corner tag, it can surely support your advertisement. Yes, we know, it is not the most important part of your ad and you might think that it is not sophisticated enough and viewers do not recognize it, still: using a corner tag can give a strong frame to your ad and many spots can benefit from it. Giving a frame means people can put your ad into a context from the very first moment, which strengthens your ad’s branding, thus its visibility.
3. Positive emotions: time for your branding
Smiling people, happy kids, beautiful nature, familiar places - just some of the many elements that create positive emotions for your target audience. Try to show your product in those appreciated moments and they will remember you positively when it comes to purchasing decisions. To learn more about emotions, check out this article.
4. Leading the eye is key
You can use thousands of product placements but if you do not lead viewers’ eyes well you can’t reach your intended goals. Try to find where the focus lands on the previous scene and show your product there. Pointing, human faces, lighting and animation can help you a lot in reaching this result. Also, when it comes to animation and packshot, highlighting the essential elements makes those more visible.
5. Frustrating moments - keep your brand away!
Last but not least, as we previously mentioned in this article, connecting your brand with the feeling of frustration is usually not a good idea. Whether it is a dark visual, sad human face, pain or stress, try to use your brand as the solution, not as the issue to be solved. You want your target group to remember you as a savior, not as an issue!
To read more about frustration, check this article.
Do you want to learn more about neuromarketing? Check out our blog for more articles and do not hesitate to contact us!
written by Petra Varhelyi
