Ad Effectiveness: When Less is More

As I'm making my way through the first 25 pages or so of my latest issue of Businessweek magazine I start to notice an interesting little trend. There are "a lot" of advertisements. From the front cover to page 25 there are 11 full page ads; In it's entirety - 88 pages, 33 full page advertisements. **insert homer simpson head-scratch** Airbus, Canon, Movado, Cingular, Samsung, Nadurra, Ebel... and this doesn't even include all of the many quarter-page and half-page beauties.

Yikes.

I toss the magazine down on the desk, walk over to my little “mag hanger” and start looking through the last 4 BW print editions. Is this a new phenomenon or have I just been completely oblivious. Answer: I’ve been oblivious.

The realization of all these intrusions has got me thinking about the effectiveness of magazine ads - the mad ad flops versus those that engage readers to stop, look, read, and remember and the rare gems that actually move consumers from the "reader" category into the "buyer" category. What makes one print ad more effective than another(?) particularly when readers are forced to scroll through so many in just one sitting...

Measuring Ad-effectiveness
I did some research on the web and came up with a short list for measuring impact and reader engagement:

· Ad awareness
· Brand awareness
· Recollection of elements in the ad
· Recollection and comprehension of the brand’s message
· Feelings about the ad: liked, amused, believed, etc
· Brand images, perceptions
· Emotional “involvement”
· Persuasiveness

So with these in mind let’s take a look at some of the ads and see how they measure up..

Principal Financial (page 7)
“Think Big” - two words that resonate with me so I look. There’s a little cartoon pictorial with Principal shining it’s light on a short, balding simpleton with his big, big shadow projected in the background.

Hmm. I don’t get it. What’s a little man with a big shadow got to do with investment and finances? This can’t be what they mean by “Think Big” - or is it? The picture should reflect the brand's message but this one requires too much thinking; to understand the message - you have to read the fine print. Ack. Maybe if the little guy was at least staring at the enormity of his own shadow the image might be more meaningful from a personal front. Some version of this would have, at minimum, evoked the sense that to invest in Principal means to invest in your future; to visualize your growth potential. But the ad fell short and the marketing message was lost.

*THUD*
Someone dropped the ball.

Invest in Macedonia (page 9)
Beyond the obvious - I don’t know what this page says and I don’t care. Too much text, too many maps and graphs and way, way too many bullet points. Information overload.

Next!

Huawei (page 10)
What is that a picture of - a million tiny people crammed into a stadium?...town square?...grassy knoll? Are the people attending a concert?...a festival? Please for the love god - what is going on in this picture!! Beyond Frustrating. I stare a little harder and study the images but quickly find myself getting annoyed and decide to move on.

How relevant is the ad for me as a consumer? Actually, I have no idea because I couldn’t figure out the message or, more importantly, the product that was being represented but considering the ad inflicted so much mental anguish I have no doubt that I will remember the name. Score one for Huawei? Maybe.

Movado (page 13)
The ad is simple, sleek, sexy; And yes - just looking at the hot, hot Mikhail Baryshnikov makes me want to go out and buy one. He's looking ultra sexy, cool and sophisticated; And the way he’s looking back at me I feel sexy, cool and sophisticated too. Oh yea, me and Mikhail and our matching Movado’s. MMMmmm...wait- head shake. Reality check! Damn.

This ad definitely resonated; Because of the product pitch or celebrity endorsement - more likely the latter. Does this mean I'll go out and buy a Movado? Well actually, I already own one. Does this mean I'll think of upgrading the next time I'm out shopping for shoes? No.

Well, maybe. *me and Mikhail...me and Mikhail*
Yea ok I'll buy that.

Nadurra (page 17)
Very dark (perhaps intended to invoke feelings related to those exclusive, uptown boy cigar-clubs). Almost immediately my eyes are drawn to the tiny paragraph next to the bottle; the story behind the product. Yikes. The print is too tiny to read, the page is too dark for the text and there's too much print to read through anyway. My eyes feel strained just looking at it. I'm not a scotch drinker but I might, on occasion, have a need to buy someone a bottle. Will I remember this brand? Not likely.

Ebel (page 19)
“The Architects of Time”. Major eye candy. Very nice. I don’t need an adventure watch but the "zoom-in" on all the details of the clocks, gizmos, dials and numbers have me salivating. *maybe I do need an adventure watch* Of course, if I see a hot guy wearing this bad baby – hot diggity! This ad was by far the most effective for me. Very "in-your-face" cool.

Less is More
OK, so what does all this mean. "Ad Saturation". Considering that I've never noticed these ads in previous weekly issues (and I've been a subscriber for almost two years now), perhaps it's evidence that the increasing number of print ads in magazines has devalued their effectiveness. From a print perspective, I don't have the time or the inclination to look at every ad. If you want my attention, your marketing message needs to be creative but bold enough to capture my curiosity within one glimpse-over beit through images or words. The ads that got my attention and had the most impact for me were those that kept the message short, "in-your-face" simple.

Marketing messages that are too long or leave readers scratching their heads might leave on impression but a) it's likely not the one you want to leave and b) frustration rarely moves readers into the buyer category.

That said, from a consumer standpoint and being that I'm an avid mag reader, here’s what I say – ditch the ad proliferation. If there was less brand marketing crammed into just a few pages - I might very well be inclined to stop, look and read.