I was watching a televised football game with my two sons. During a commercial break, my younger guy asked, “Dad, why is it whenever some commercials come on, you hit the mute button?”
After 40 years in media marketing/advertising, for me viewing and listening to commercials has become what’s referred to as a “busman’s holiday” (a form of recreation involving the same task one does for work).
So, for someone who has created hundreds of ad messages, listening to them in my leisure time becomes an exercise in either admiration or agitation.
Maybe you’ve experienced this — an annoying ad appears. You know, those over-the-top, obnoxious voices shoving a product down our throats, shouting offers, deals, phone numbers, and whatever vexations can be jammed into 29.9 seconds. How bad does a message have to be when the better option is silence?
When we don’t want to see something — a gruesome image, a frightful scene — we shut our eyes. But I have yet to meet anyone who has earlids. We are constantly subjected to a diversity of sounds. Right now, close your eyes, and concentrate on your surrounding sounds. Are you listening? You weren’t as alert to these sounds when you began reading until I suggested them. We are consistently absorbing messages — “attention,” “buy now,” “nobody beats us,” “do it today” — be they pleasant or vexing.
According to a Psychology Today report, the average person is subjected to a range of three thousand to five thousand marketing/advertising messages a day. These excessive numbers include labels in grocery stores, our mail, signs on the sides of trucks and buses, TV, radio, social media, online popups, labels on clothes, etc. We see and hear these prompts, yet we pay little attention. Why? It’s because we’ve conditioned ourselves to ignore them.
When we read, we form mental images to match each word. Picture a rolling field of sunflowers blowing in the summer breeze. The mere suggestion of a sunflower feeds our mind’s eye with elaborate visual images of vibrant golden pedals. Try not to. The human brain cannot comprehend the negative. For example; Do not think of a succulent hamburger grilling on an outdoor barbeque. Eliminate this juicy sizzle from your mind.
Communication theorist Marshall McLuhan wrote, “The ear favors no particular point of view.”
Sound constantly envelops us and can never be automatically shut out. Visual mediums (TV, computer) happen in front of us and are limited to the borders of a screen. What we see is what we get. Sound, on the other hand, resonates within our minds to create a lingering established memory.
Video marketers center their stories on the visual portion (obviously, it’s their forte). But when it comes time to attach audio, many of them treat this sound portion as a feeble afterthought (slapping on some voice over a music track). These marketers are neglecting a dynamic ad•vantage. In most cases, the real power to create emotion lies in sound because the resonating images will linger in our minds. In its entity, audio is visual — remember that sizzling hamburger? The foundation of any convincing message should be based on human connection rather than sending a bunch of noise through speakers.
Audiences are tired and desensitized from the same outdated sales pitches and attention-grabbing clamor banality. For any message to be accepted, it must engage others emotionally.
This engagement begins with two crucial elements. One: discovery. (What the audience discovers is far more critical than what they are being told.) And two: participation. (Individuals must be allowed an opportunity to become involved in the discussion.)
Marketers need to better comprehend and respect the immense power sound has over us. To enhance the power of a message, try switching things around for a change. Begin with your audio then add visuals to allow the receiver an opportunity to create a personal viewpoint of this narrative. If the audio message can stand on its own without the need for visuals, you’ve created a multidimensional story.
Don’t ever underestimate your audience’s imagination and resourcefulness. Rather than just telling them stuff about how great you are, allow them an opportunity to use these faculties. You can either raise them to a higher plateau of creative thought or irritate them, making them wish they did have earlids.
