Have you seen the latest Prudential ad design? You know … the one with the best graphic design central to their story. Quite clever isn’t it, and likely one you will remember and maybe even talk about, right? It is a commercial part of the Prudential Bring Your Challenges Campaign.
Employing the best graphic design?
You just can’t say it. You have to get people to say it to each other.
-James Farley
Ever written an advertisement, or thought about it? I’ve done marketing for my clients in small businesses for the past 4+ years and I’ve learned a few things about making advertising look professional even on a tight budget. And the true measure of successful advertising design is having customers remember and talk about the message.
Many small businesses don’t have a lot of time or resources to create ads professionally made. Marketing or advertising, you need to create information that your customers find interesting and worth talking about and remembering.
Related: Some Great Story and Storytelling Examples to Study
Does a commercial have the power to encourage the right sort of conversations? That is the objective, isn’t it? Let’s explore why this is so important.
According to Nielsen, there are 27,000,000 pieces of content are shared each day. And Statistic Brain says that our average attention span has dropped from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds – one second less than a goldfish!
We check our phones 150 times per day. We check our email up to 30 times an hour. And the amount of information in the world continues to double every 18 months.
All this available information and data is creating a battle for customer attention between brands, publishers, and every one of us who creates marketing content. But more importantly, it’s forcing businesses to think more and more as creative designers. And designs where they utilize visual analogies to help carry their messages.
It has been said that advertising is the price to be paid for being unremarkable. That may be true, but I have noticed, despite the growth in online marketing, that even remarkable businesses also advertise the old fashion way. It is a key component of your marketing campaign, for awareness or consumer education of your value. If everyone is creating content, how does a business break through the noise? How do we reach our customers in a way that engages them?
And, oh, by the way, it must be more interesting than the millions of other advertisements out there. Now that is a daunting task, isn’t it? Prudential marketing has sought to overcome this dilemma with advocacy advertising as its power of persuasion.
Prudential is no stranger to using awesome visualization in ads. Or to breaking through the noise to capture customer attention and engage them. Check out our earlier blogs on some of their commercials here:
But note that this commercial visualization is the best yet for Prudential in my opinion … applying the best analogy and visuals. If you would like to see this commercial, you can check it out here.
Let me explain why I believe this commercial is so successful:
Prudential ad is very successful.
Ask thoughtful questions
The ad starts out with the commentator asking people a simple, yet thoughtful question:
How much money do you have in your pocket right now?
After he collects everyone’s answer, he asks a second, more probing question:
Could something that small make an impact on something as big as your retirement goal?
Most people have less than $50 in their pockets and don’t believe this amount of money could significantly impact their retirement goal.
One of my favorite experts in the field of creative advertising is Edward Bouches and Creativity Unbound. You’ll find lots of good examples and case studies to learn from in his blog.
Best graphic design … first mental impression
These are interesting questions and you are immediately wondering what the commentator’s point will be. But despite your views, it still grabs attention and your thinking.
Visual design … message
You know what … if you put away this amount consistently, or a regular basis for 20 to 30 years, well, that retirement goal may not be so big after all.
And what is the subject of the marketing message that Prudential wants to promote? It is an issue with a simple motivational message to be consistent with your goals and never give up.
Best graphic design … create a visual analogy
Now to make this point with a visual analogy, the commentator points to a series of dominoes, smallest to largest. When he makes his point on putting away investments consistently over time, he knocks over the smallest domino, which causes the chain reaction to topple all the dominoes.
A great analogy to the retirement goal being achieved … as the dominoes fall the emotion rises.
A good emotional story provides a very good connection between the issue and the company promoting their message. The ad does explain the action in the story for the audience. And it allows each member of the audience to interpret the story as he or she understands the action and the emotion.
This is why people find good stories so appealing and why they find advertising that simply conveys information boring.
Experiences that trigger our emotions are saved and consolidated in lasting memory because the emotions generated by the experiences signal our brains that they are important to remember. And create a good reason for you to want to back the Prudential message, yes?
Making powerful motivational messages to your target audience, as in this ad, is very effective in getting the viewer to relate to the issue in their own lives and to inspire.
So simple that the reader will quickly grasp the motivation. Keep in mind that the analogy is far more valuable than words.
Say exactly why people should contact your business and what you can do for them. For example “Let’s prepare today to do what we love tomorrow”. These ads make the desired call to action a part of the story.
Key Takeaway
It is a simple concept. People don’t read ads, they read what interests them. So if you are going to generate advertising and design, you are going to have to create an interesting copy. Prudential marketing has sought to overcome this dilemma with advocacy advertising as its power of persuasion.
So if you remember one thing from this article, remember this:
Marketing or advertising, you need to create information that your customers find interesting and worth talking about and remembering. And stand for things that potential customers value.
We believe this Prudential ad is interesting, entertaining, and stands for things viewers can stand behind. We believe it is persuasive and certainly creates the right kind of conversation.
So, how much money do you have in your wallet?
Heard enough? I rest my case.
What do you think?
So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you.
It’s up to you to keep improving your innovation and creativity in ad designs. Lessons are all around you. In many situations, your competitor may be providing the ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.
Need some help in capturing more customers from your marketing strategies? Creative ideas to help the differentiation with potential customers?
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to improving your marketing, branding, and advertising?
Do you have a lesson about making your marketing strategy better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on G+, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed at how reasonable we will be.
More reading on marketing strategy from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Case Studies to Evaluate New World Marketing Concepts
How to Frame Marketing Messages for Optimum Engagement
Some Great Story and Storytelling Examples to Study
Jaw Dropping Guerrilla Marketing Lessons and Examples
What do you feel is the single most significant factor in the design of advertisements? Being a most authentic advertisement design is probably not the top factor, but it is certainly in the top 5, don’t you think? It certainly influences the action taken considerably.
We like to examine advertisements to learn what drives the best ones to be the best and the terrible things to be that bad. Today we will examine one of the best we have seen in a while. Perhaps one that is the most authentic we have ever seen.
Here is the commercial we will discuss in this article:
Terry Bradshaw talks Shingles (Watch it here, it is only 60 seconds)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSI2AZQmEsU
It is a simple concept. People don’t read ads; they read what interests them. So if you are going to create compelling and persuasive advertising, you are going to have to create something interesting that will help consumers want to read.
Have you occasionally watched extraordinary commercials that totally captivated you? Not too often, you say? But still, it happens, doesn’t it? David Freemantle says a lot of the captivation is about feelings and simple, meaningful messages.
This commercial is very authentic in our view. Here are the seven main reasons that make it that way:
Built on emotion
There are no better means of influence or the power of persuasion than emotion. Hands down the best, in our opinion.
Experiences that trigger our emotions are saved and consolidated in lasting memory because the emotions generated by the experiences signal our brains that the skills are important to remember.
Terry evokes lots of emotion in several ways here, doesn’t he?
Look for ways to illustrate your messages with visualization. Visual similarities are even better. An excellent example of this technique is here in this commercial with the illustration of the blindside analogy.
Based on real world experience
Bradshaw has been on both sides of this analogy experience, and that helps immensely with his credibility and authenticity. Some would say it is what makes the commercial so useful.
Popular advertisements … trusted personality
Many, many people know and respect Terry Bradshaw. He is someone who is very trusted. That also adds to his credibility and authenticity, doesn’t it?
Advertisements … make your messages simple
Make the message as clean and straightforward as possible. You cannot overachieve on the simplicity of the message. A message that the reader will quickly understand.
Superb visuals and visuals were so simple that you quickly grasp them and don’t lose interest. Keep in mind that pictures are far more valuable than words.
Creating customer interest does not get any simpler than this, does it? A very simple, yet entertaining design, don’t you think?
Keep in mind that one message does not fit all. It starts with understanding who your target customers are. In this case, the target customers are senior citizens, usually ages 60 and over. Terry is currently 67. Certainly relevant to this market on both counts.
Watch the commercial carefully. Is there any trading occurring? None, absolutely none, as this is a strict infomercial. Good strategy, isn’t it?
The bottom line
I’m not as much surprised as saddened that such nutty beliefs and misconceptions about advertising (and marketing overall) can lead otherwise smart, creative people to squander their effort, money, and the patience of would-be consumers.
I’m sure there are binders full of a rationale for why it’s stunningly brilliant stuff, and there’ll be metrics that declare the spot a wild success.
But believing those arguments, or valuing those outcomes, requires that you swallow the message hook line and sinker. Not me. I’ll stick with tried and true marketing messages using the techniques in this infomercial.
So if you remember one thing from this article, remember this:
Marketing or advertising, you need to create information that your customers find interesting and worth talking about and remembering. And stand for things that potential customers value.
We believe an effective ad is interesting, entertaining, and stands for things viewers can stand behind. We think it is persuasive and certainly, creates the right kind of conversation.
What do you think?
Heard enough? I rest my case.
Need some help in capturing more customers from your advertising? Creative ideas to help the differentiation with your customers?
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to improving your advertising design?
Do you have a lesson about making your innovation better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find him on Twitter, and LinkedIn.
More reading on marketing strategy from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
