The Brain and Marketing

There was a valuable tool that I learned from a previous manager when it comes to effective advertising. That is...why does advertising work or why it doesn't? Many other marketing experts make it a bit more complicated by adding more than the three elements. While the majority of the augmentations are true...they can most likely be still housed within the power of three! The great thing about these three elements is they have little to do with an individual medium and everything to do with the human brain!
The brain has short term and long term memory. Short term memory only has the capability to house 7 things at any given moment. Think of the applications....phone numbers, license plates numbers... From my work in Outdoor Advertising/Billboards I learned it was crucial to keep the message for any given client at 7 words or less. Advertising goals are to turn that short term memory into long term! For radio, short term memory is the creative message! If the radio commercial is creative and catches your attention it will be stored in short term memory. That is until another message is received that the brain wants to store then, goodbye mister business owner! The ultimate goal for any business owner is to expose a potential customer/client to their message but find a way to maintain that message in the long term memory. Why? Approximately 2% of a population would be in the buying position for a given product right now. Most advertisers use the majority of their budgets speaking to only that 2%, forgetting the 98% that may be in the market for their product or service in a month or 3 months. Long term memory has two aspects; flash bulb memories (Ex: 911, the death of JFK...) create a long term image but fades over time. The second aspect of long term memory is rehearsal or repetition. That's why we sing a phone number to ourselves over and over to remember it. Or write events/appointments down to retain the details. Rehearsal or repetition is the ONLY way a message can go from short term to long term memory. I don't care what media you use....it is how the brain works! How does that apply to the Power of Three? More to come...

Be ready....

Times are changing! It's absolutely paralyzing but exciting! The forms of mass media still have a place, but if we don't evolve the future looks dim. We need to fully understand the aspect that businesses are facing now...the absolute dissection of how to talk to their target demographic! That is how to reach the largest amount of individuals your are trying to get INTO your business. It isn't enough to get your message out there, the average person is generally bombarded with over 5000+ advertising message per day!!! And you remember...7 of them???? Keep in mind....licence plates, phone numbers? The human brain can only retain 7 messages in short term memory. What marketing (if done effectively) can do is turn short term memory into long term memory. How? Ask me!? I LOVE marketing....I crave the exploration of how to talk to the brain! Let's talk....