Advertising With Curiosity

Advertisements are everywhere! At the movie, in the mail, on television (where ad time almost equals program time in some cases), in printed material like magazines and newspapers, along the road, you name a place and there is probably an ad there.

Americans are bombarded with advertising in every part of life. They go to a movie and are given ads for more movies. They watch TV and find nearly as much time is spent on the ads as on the programs. They drive down the street and see billboards and shop signs. They read the news and find it surrounded with appeals to get their money.

Advertisers must come up with a way to overcome the mental block set up by consumers. How can you get the public to notice your ad above the thousands of others? One method employed to do this is building curiosity with sounds and sights.

Sounds of course often involve music. Many ads on TV includes some type of music to set the mood for you to desire their product. Other sounds are also used to build curiosity and attract attention. It was said that the Superman serials on TV in the 50s were especially popular with kids because of the woosh sound when the hero landed or took off.

Visual curiosity is also used. The newest model of a car is covered with a cloth to build curiosity. Women are used in ads because in general they attract the attention of male consumers. Movie trailers use a collage of clips to titillate the interest and make people so curious that they wont miss the full show.

The double edged sword of both sound and sight will help raise an ad from the ignored to the noticed. By using both the ear gate and eye gate attention is more likely gained. Yet, if everyone does this, then your ad will remain indistinct.

One form of advertising is unique in this regard. This method is called banner ads. A large billboard or long banner is pulled behind a small airplane over a large group of people. Since this is the only ad visible at the time, it is sure that there is no competition for attention.

Imagine you are sitting on a beach, enjoying the sun when in the distance you hear the drone of an airplane. You have time and interest so you look up to check it out. Coming toward you is a single engine plane pulling a banner with a message written on it. Your curiosity rises. What does it say? You watch with anticipation until you can read the message and you probably do this several times in the 17 seconds it passes.

The plane passes by several times in the next hour, each time reminding you of the message of the banner. By then you have it memorized. The airplane alone causes the message to rehearse in your mind.

The advertiser has accomplished his goal. He has made you curious, used sounds and then sights to declare his message, and repeated it over a period of time until it was fixed in your memory. And no competitor could present the advantage of his product or service. The advertiser will be confident that, if you can need the product, his name will be at the top of your list.