For too long, too many people have gotten into advertising with some strange ideas, founded more in emotion than logic and research. One of the most common myths along these lines is the idea that advertising should be safe and homogenous in order to reach and connect with the largest possible demographic. Perish the thought. First of all, your advertising has no business trying to reach the largest possible demographic. The best advertising is targeted advertising, and you will need to know your audience before setting forth. Secondly, the most egregious sin in an ad campaign is to create an ad that is instantly forgettable. Better to offend Grandma (who would have had little to no interest in your business to begin with) than to have an ad that no one can remember. Of course, creating inoffensive advertising isn’t a death-trap in itself, but it shouldn’t be your primary focus, if it is a focus at all. These and other advertising pitfalls are covered in this article.

 

If you want to create the kind of advertising that sticks in people’s minds and makes them remember you and think of you when they need your service, the last thing you want to do is copy the competition. Can things be learned from the competition? Certainly. There’s nothing wrong with seeing what works on a deeper psychological level and using some of that to your own benefit. But that’s where the emulation should end. If all advertising sounds or looks the same, people stop paying attention. If you drive around a neighbourhood where every house looks identical, does anything draw you to stop and stare at any particular house on the block? Of course not. You might as well keep on driving, with the houses simply falling into the background scenery. On the other hand, if there’s a house on the corner with pink walls, an audacious lawn ornament, a hedge maze, and a pig running around the front yard, you’re probably going to stop and figure out what the hell is going on. The same concept applies to advertising. Don’t be afraid

to step way out of the box. That’s the kind of advertising that gets people talking.

 

At the same time, don’t get so enthralled with your ability to create wacky ads that you forget you have a product to sell. Plenty of companies make this mistake as well, trying so hard to entertain their audience that they fear doing anything traditional because they don’t want to come across as just another ad. You’re not making movies here, you’re selling your business. At some point, you have to get across a message. You can and should do it in an entertaining and fun way, a way that has never been tried before. . .even an annoying way, but you must do it. People can scratch their heads after seeing your ad and try to figure out what it meant, but they must at least know what it was advertising in the first place.