No One Reads Ads

scott brandon
on 05/15/2007

We have all heard the statistic that the average American is bombarded with over 3,000 advertising messages each day. With so many ads delivered over so many platforms, why is advertising effectiveness decreasing? Are we becoming de-sensitized to it all? Certainly that is the case with traditional internet banner ads, where research has proven that frequent web users eye’s nearly always fall below the top banner. So what does work?

The fact of the matter is that no one reads ads (they never have). People read what interests them. Sometimes it’s an ad. Somewhere along the way, the art of creating ads that are interesting has gone by the wayside. Interest can be created through visual graphics, great headlines or with a story. Even more importantly, no one can create interest among everyone. Great advertising should interest those that you wish to stimulate. So many times marketers want to throw in the kitchen sink so as not to alienate anyone and in the process, the ad becomes so watered down that it interests no one. With limited budgets and more pressure on advertising to deliver results, the problem will compound.

In spite of this pressure, we should all remember that in order for advertising to work, we have to first be interesting to our target audience. If we stand by that belief and continue to remind ourselves and our clients of that each day, we will create great ads that work.

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