How will consumers remember your brand? It depends on how their brain processes and decides to store this information.
The human brain has a few different types of memory: long term, short term and working. Long-term memories can be remembered for years with little decay. For example, you might remember the exact shows you watched as a kid or a family vacation. Short-term memories are memories that last for minutes to days.
The goal of any advertising or display is to be remembered. How do you go from getting someone’s attention to moving the information into their memory?
Applying some creative design techniques will help.
Keep it simple
When creating a piece of advertising, make sure to apply one of the top creativity principles: Keep it simple.
For years, research has indicated that human memory cannot store more than seven items. A good example is the length of a phone number. However, within the research community, the seven rule has been disputed. Some researchers believe the capacity for memory is even less.
Take a look at how we group phone numbers into three numbers and four numbers. At best, your consumer has the ability to remember seven pieces of information from your ad, at worst, maybe three pieces.
Good designs rely on keeping information simple. When creating your ad, make sure you eliminate anything that is extra and focus on the must-have information.
Make it unique
Over the last century, the advertising landscape has changed enormously. Consumers are inundated with information all day. In fact, a 2019 report indicated that the average American consumes 100,000 words or 34 gigabytes of information per day. Of those bytes of information, Americans see 5,000 ads per day. In this sea of information, how do you stand out creatively?
Brains remember when something is unique. When reaching out to a consumer awash in information all day, a novel approach will help you stick out.
Here are some ways to get creative and make it unique:
- Play with your environment. When creating a display ad, consider its placement. Can you integrate and interact with the surrounding environment?
- Be funny. Humor is a great way to capture a consumer’s attention. If your advertisement is funny enough, they may even share it with friends.
- Use swag. Who doesn’t love free stuff? Plus, consumers will have your advertisement with them for longer.
- Create art. Hire an experienced illustrator, and create a piece that is both an advertisement and a work of art.
- Play with size. Depending on the location of the advertisement, you can go big or small. For example, if you are sending direct mail, consider a unique size, or if you’re creating a display ad, maybe create one that is small but in a location the consumer has time to read, like a bathroom stall.
Be repetitive
An easy design tip to integrate is reinforcement through repetition. Once you’ve decided on your main messaging, which should be under seven items, you should repeat your main point through your art and words.
Remember, you’re competing against a ton of information; you want the consumer to remember your message. As a kid, you may have used repetition to remember your multiplication tables. This same technique works in adults. Repetition can be implemented in one piece of advertising or in a campaign. Consider creative ways to get repetitive.
When you’re creative with your advertising, it creates a buzz around your brand. A study found that highly creative ads are likely to make a mark on the consumer. If you spend some time in the design of your ad, you’re likely to impress your consumers and stick in their memory.
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