Think fast. What was the last commercial you heard on the radio? What print ad reached out and caught your attention while you drank your morning coffee? How many logos did you see on your way to the office? Today’s consumers are exposed to – by some estimates – more than 2,000 advertising and marketing messages a day. From the traditional to the totally unconventional, advertising is everywhere. Eggs with imprinted logos, airport lockers transformed into billboards, and sidewalks stenciled with water-activated ad messages. Sports venues are namesakes of corporate sponsors and we are urged to try, buy or visit while in restaurant restrooms. What makes advertising even more challenging is that human beings have developed a conditioned response to this media chaos ” they’ve learned how to look away, tune out and ignore. Despite these seemingly insurmountable odds, companies advertise and somehow, good marketing gets through the clutter. What do successful advertisers know that others don’t? 1. More isn’t necessarily better – A media schedule that repeats the same ad too often is no longer effective. Even good creative gets old. New research shows that after two weeks of watching the same commercial, people become fatigued. 2. Choose a balanced media mix – You may have the right message, but if you are running it only one place because it’s where you got the best deal, you may be missing out on a huge segment of your market. 3. Consumers don’t want to be “sold” – They want to be invited to use your product or visit your place of business where they can decide if you are worth their support. 4. Consumers want to interact – Give them a venue to talk back and be a part of your advertising mix. Happy customers are the best salesmen. 5. Consumers want to be entertained – Give them something to smile about or something to think about. Engage them. 6. Consumers reward honesty – Enough said. 7. Consumers want real value – Give them useful information or something worth sharing with their friends. Make your message helpful. 8. Quality trumps quantity ever time – Great creative moves people emotionally. It compels them to pick up the phone, visit the website, make the purchase or donate their time. Creative is never the place to cut corners. Cutting through the clutter can be difficult, but it’s not impossible. When one of our clients, Gas Stop Holiday, needed over-the-top creative to promote their grand opening, we put together 23 radio remotes on eight stations with five amazing promotions. Customers were invited to come in for free coffee, soda and food items AND had the opportunity to win big prizes including a trip to the CMA Awards in Nashville, a trip to Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp in L.A, a car, Vikings tickets and most notably, “$100 Grand”. Instead of a traditional announcement, we invited customers, giving them 100,000 reasons to come to Gas Stop Holiday. Every remote exceeded the company’s expectations and helped them build ongoing relationships that will keep customers coming back. At HenkinSchultz, we’ve been creating advertising and marketing campaigns that cut through the clutter for more than 20 years. We would love the opportunity to share our ideas and help you be heard and seen today, and tomorrow.