« A vision of your children's future | Main | Motivational or transformational »
Take a close look at the image to the left (click to enlarge). Can you identity the current design of the U.S. penny? You should be able to; you've been exposed to it a countless number of times. In fact, the reach and frequency of the penny image is over the top! The government should print ads on it. That would solve the budget crisis.
So why can't most people recall the correct one (no, I'm not going to tell you which one it is)? :) Simple. It's irrelevant. It doesn't matter to most people. The same is true of most advertising. The images, sounds and messages simply don't matter to most people, and are therefore not stored in long-term memory.
So, if you're interested in owning the most important real estate in the marketplace - that space between your customers' ears - then make sure your message is different, to gain their attention, and desirable, so it will be relevant to them when they're exposed to it and when the need arises to recall it.
Now, I know what you're probably thinking: "That's not true. I remember a bunch of stupid ads that aren't relevant to me." Well, if you remember them then they were relevant to you, at the time you were exposed to them. Perhaps they pissed you off, puzzled you, or made you laugh. However, that does not mean that you stored the value of the brand behind the ad; a value that you will recall when it's time to make a marketplace choice. Right?
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341c684b53ef01156e8fd198970c
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Does repetition create memory?:
The comments to this entry are closed.
(Rest assured, we will never provide your email address to anyone. Period.)
RSS feed
Tom on Twitter
@tomasacker
Tom is timely, thought provoking and all about the new brand vision packaged as a Seinfeld stand up. I went to school on his ideas.
Jeff Taylor, Founder, Monster.com and CEO, Eons.
killer post. I am {so} stealing this riff.
Posted by: Seth Godin | March 30, 2009 at 07:22 AM
Tom,
Good stuff as usual. I think more marketers need to get this point - maybe if you ran this post every week then maybe it might stick....oh, wait. Nevermind :)
Posted by: Bill Gammell | March 30, 2009 at 09:37 AM
Interesting post. But is the penny irrelevant because it's a penny? I'd argue that a $100 bill is relevant, and that most people still couldn't guess the right $100 bill.
Posted by: Migswandive | March 30, 2009 at 01:19 PM
I won't argue against making sure your message is different, attention grabbing, provocative, etc.
To be relevant -- to get through -- your message also often has to be timely... has to be delivered when the need arises, as you suggested.
Unless you can predict that... Repetition can be pretty useful.
Posted by: Jon Aston | March 30, 2009 at 10:31 PM
Very true ... we pay no attention to the details of currency as it is devoid of any value other than what we can exchange it for. It has no intrinsic "value" except from a transactional point of view. Which is why brands and the businesses behind them need to go beyond the transaction.
Posted by: Gavin Heaton | March 30, 2009 at 10:39 PM