While visiting his parents in Florida a few weeks back, Brett discovered some Look Magazines from the ‘60s. We were flipping through these artifacts in the office yesterday and found ourselves smiling at the old print ads. My favorite ad was one from Western Electric, they were advertising “the phone of the future” – the touch-tone phone.
Our phones aren’t the only things that have evolved in the last 60 years. Advertising in general has shifted. The ads in these old magazines and newspapers are descriptive and copy heavy – there is usually a story being told to elicit an emotional response from the audience. In the ’60s, print was likely one of the few available tactics. In this century, print ads tend to be very visual and image heavy – with our dwindling attention spans messages need to get to the point fast. And in this day and age there are many many many different advertising options.
Our job as a media planners and buyers is to tap into our arsenal of tactics and help our clients find the right media mix to achieve the campaign goals. Do we use billboards to help relaunch a brand or geo-fence an office building to reach specific insurance agents? With all the options out there, there is more advertising than ever and people are becoming blind to it.
How do you break through the clutter? Back in 1960, two print ads probably did the trick. For today’s consumer, we recently heard a statistic that for a digital campaign people need to see an ad 40-50x before taking an action! What is one to do? There is a company in Japan that seems to have the answer.
AdWeek recently had an article on a Japanese company called Wakino Ad Company. Waki is the Japanese word for armpit and they are the “pioneers” in armpit advertising. That’s right, in Japan, if you are sitting on a crowded bus or subway, a model could be standing over you with advertising messages on their armpits. While that is certainly likely to turn some heads, I don’t know if that is the “relevant” placement I would want to be associated with. However, it goes to show that as our culture and advertising evolves, so will the tactics we need to consider to help our message literally standout in the crowd.
So, will this be added to our arsenal of tactics? Don’t hold your breath (or nose)…though if history has taught us anything, it’s never say never…