Science of Advertising
Advertising does not manipulate, it influences. The purpose of every ad is to make people stop and stare. To achieve this, advertisers have been using many behavioural techniques to appeal to customers. The science of good advertising goes beyond using attractive colours, images and text; it explores behavioural patterns and uses them to make deeper connections with the brand personality.
So, what is the first thing people are easily affected by? Emotions!
Smart advertisers create content in such a way that it evokes emotions in the customers. They make you think, but more importantly they make you feel. Here the science is in the psychology of people. A little emotional message and they will support you; marketing is all about building emotions! Remember all the LIC advertisements? “Zindagi Ke Saath Bhi Zindagi Ke Baad Bhi!” Take for example another ad of Dabur Vatika’s #BraveAndBeautiful. The ad depicts emotions of a bald woman who has recovered from cancer.
A product that became a household name by inducing fear, uncertainty and doubt Patanjali, now a renowned brand, has been in action since 2006. The basic motto of these products is to instil in the customer’s mind ‘health consciousness’, by proving that other products use chemicals and that Patanjali products are made up of natural ingredients and have no chemicals. Have a look at their ads and you will see homemaker women endorsing their products in the commercials. To gain trust of the customers, you need to pass a message through a force that can't be doubted. And we Indians never doubt our mothers. Simple logic used to make a thousands of crores! At present, Patanjali is said to have revenue of nearly Rs. 5,000 crore!
Advertising that raised a dead product simply by exclusivity!
Advertising, as a medium for transferring information from one channel to the other, studies how humans perceive things very closely. The advertisers analyse closely what the audiences need, in what manner, and in what quantity. After getting answers to these questions, the advertisers present the product to the audience in a way that influences them to accept the product and buy it. Let us analyse the example of Maggi Noodles. One of the most favourite and exclusive noodles of all time, was banned! The ban on Maggi Noodles, as its competitors thought, would bring an end to the previously increasing sale of Nestle Food Corporation. But instead, the ban was strategically countered in a manner that would reaffirm buyer trust and turn the ban into sales boom. After the ban, Nestle introduced a hype on social media, namely “ #2AM NOODLES! ” (2 was the numeric added to connect people with the tagline - The 2 minute-noodles.) Yes, everywhere on social media, people started talking about it and about how they missed eating Maggi. The target audience was not limited to children between the age 7- 21, but Nestle also reached to the audience, who were adults – parents, grandparents, husbands and wives. Nestle introduced a trend where people actually felt an emotional attachment for the product. Nestle began advertising in a way which evoked nostalgia in viewers.
If you look closely at the posters that Maggi put up, you can see that they had designed it as photo frames, which made a personal connection with the audience. This technique of marketing and advertising boosted the sales and Nestle was back in the race. On June 3, 2015, Nestle’s shares fell down to -6.3 points on BSE; on August 13, 2015, they gained +2.3 points, owing to the growing product sales and consumer demand. Now this is exactly how advertising uses the “Science of Human Perspective!
Another Hit formula – Show the audience their flaws!
Fairness creams are the biggest examples of this. Indians have an inexplicable likeness to fairness and marketers have leveraged this to create ads. The under-confident dark skin girl who fails to impress anyone finds her key to success by using fairness creams. There you go – show the audience their flaws and they’ll buy that, literally.
Advertising is nothing but a technique of approaching the audience with an idea and making a lasting impression that leads to desired action, which in most cases is purchase of said product or service. There is no need to study quantum physics or applications of gravity to advertise a product. All that you need to learn in advertising, is a language that can make your communication with your audience easy and impact worthy. Which in simple terms can express thousand emotions and can build a trust. Many anti-advertisers say that advertising is a manipulation of consumer trust and commercialisation of everything, but with this study, we can say that it is not manipulation rather, it is simply a persuading suggestion and ultimate choice still lies in the hands of knowledgeable viewers. Thus, it is a proper study of people and its application to make things understood and accepted in simple ways.