No time to think
Particularly for dynamic media like TV, online video, radio and cinema, people rarely assess the relevance of an ad at the time of viewing. There are three reasons for this.
- First, there is no pause for thought. If people have decided to watch the ads, then new content is constantly displacing attention on the old.
- Second, most people are not in the shopping window, i.e. the subject matter is not immediately relevant to them.
- And, third, even for those in the shopping window, the information is understood as a claim, it is not yet a belief confirmed by experience.
But this does not mean that most advertising is ineffective. Provided the ideas conveyed by the ad come to mind when relevant, then it will have an effect, i.e., when someone is thinking about buying the product category or choosing between brands. So in the vast majority of cases, the best we can hope of any advertising is that the content is noticed at the time of viewing and the idea and feelings evoked are linked to the brand in people's memories.
Impression not message
This is why I have always preferred the old-fashioned term, "advertising impression." Although it is typically used as a media term to imply an exposure or ad view, the word "impression" also implies that people get the general idea. They understand the gist of what is being said, without necessarily consciously considering what the ad is trying to convey at the time of viewing. An impression is the mental image of a brand that sticks in people's minds.
Making a good first impression
After all, isn't that what most advertising is trying to do? Advertising helps the brand to make a good first impression. The analogy might be chatting with someone you have just met. You might try to make yourself seem interesting to the other person. You might try to say the right things and cast yourself in a good light. You might choose to emphasize certain things about yourself more than others. And you will try to make yourself seem likeable.
It seems to me that if these tactics work for a person, then they ought to work for a brand as well. So what do you think? Would "impression" be a better word than "message"? Please share your thoughts.