Here at BuzzBack, we recently sent out a piece about messaging, titled “Is Your Messaging Getting Lost?” We talked about how we as consumers are exposed to thousands of messages every day, yet many of them seem invisible, unable to penetrate and become memorable. Having walked through Times Square this morning, I can attest to this fact. While I was “exposed to” some of the most expensive outdoor advertising in the world, I literally could not recall a single ad that I “saw.” Now my wife will tell you that I suffer from male pattern blindness , but the problem is larger than that. It’s a case of being exposed to so much that I can’t focus on one single ad.
The same problem can happen in store, in publications, or wherever marketers are trying to break through. An Online Media Daily article from last year stated that 60% of people are unable to recall the last display ad they saw, proving that the majority of consumers aren't paying attention to those ads you worked so hard to make. So, what's the solution? When it comes down to finding a cure for ad blindness, there’s no easy answer. We’re unlikely to ever see fewer ads, so marketers must instead work to get the most out of their ads. The same article also found that only 2.8% of respondents thought that the ads they saw met their needs in either being able to respond to a question or provide more information, so maybe part of the solution lies in providing consumers with the answers they're seeking to find.
What do you think? Does the cure for ad blindness lie in providing more information in ads? In creating an attention-grabbing ad that goes viral? Or maybe a little bit of both?
