STOP! What do these ads tell us about the 1st rule of successful communication?

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The first thing that any piece of communication has to do is to stand out.

It has to be noticed.

If you don’t do that then you have nothing!


This is the theme of a campaign by Ogilvy Frankfurt for the Newspaper Industry.

It is really key. No matter how tight your strategy. No matter how good your idea is. No matter how good your execution. If you don’t stand out in the media you are using, you stand limited chance of being noticed and stopping people to listen to your message.

Stand out in rush hour?
In past posts I used the analogy of the thinking about how someone can stand out in rush hour. Imagine your brand message is like one of the hundreds of others getting off a train at rush hour. All looking and dressing the same in a big throng.


What are you doing to stand out in that rush of sameness?

If you do not stand out in the noise and clutter in the medium you are using, you will not stop people. You have to stand out and be noticed, so people stop to pay attention to your message. Be it online, on TV, in print, on the radio or on outdoor posters.

The Newspaper Industry ad campaign is all about standing out by being different to the environment it is in.
I was drawn to the ads by the German ZMG Newspaper Marketing Association print ads that are making this point. The ads were done by Ogilvy Frankfurt They show a serious of news situations featuring things like famous leaders, or the Spring Uprising, but show how something unexpected added to the scene – like a showgirl, lilliputian or magician – changes everything.

The line is: “Newspapers. Where ads stand out everyday”.

Whether you like the ads in the campaign below, or not, they do stress the importance of the following:
  1. They stop you, and you to notice them. The 1st key thing any ad must do!
  2. You then get involved, and engaged, to see what exactly is going on.
  3. You then understand and take out the message they want to communicate..

Things a good ad should do.
Stand out, stop people and only then will people get engaged and get your message.


Not enough time is spent all too often on standing out and stopping your target audience.
As marketers and advertisers we very often get too caught up in the detail of an ad. We need to always double check that we are standing out in the clutter, and so have a greater chance of stopping people to tell them our message.

What do you think of the ads below?

ZMG Newspaper Marketing Association: Lilliputian. Ogilvy Frankfurt

ZMG Newspaper Marketing Association: Magician

ZMG Newspaper Marketing Association: Showgirl. Ogilvy Frankfurt

Please leave your thoughts and comments!

Republished with author's permission from original post.

Gary Bembridge
30 years of marketing experience managing and building brands globally for companies like Unilever and Johnson & Johnson, as a Global Vice President Global Marketing. Now a freelance marketing consultant, blogger and podcaster. The podcast has won awards in the European Podcast Awards (Business) the last 2 years.

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