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One Time Just Isn’t Enough
By Karen Hansen

You know the ad with the old guy dancing by the bus?

I would guess most of you are now chuckling, humming “We like to Party” by the Vengaboys and visualizing the old guy getting his groove on. Whether you see it on television or hear it on the radio, the first thing you remember is the dancing guy and Six Flags®. It’s not just a coincidence. The use of this character and the theme song make this campaign easily recognizable. The consistency of this character and the repetition of the ads on television, radio, outdoor, online and in print make it unforgettable.

Many great campaigns go unseen, unnoticed or easily forgotten. Advertising dollars just go right out the window. Getting attention in a crowd of other advertisers takes creativity, of course, but it also takes consistency and repetition with both the creative and the media placement.

Being consistent doesn’t mean running the exact same ad for the life of the product or the company. Developing multiple executions for the same product line or the same brand extends the life of the advertising campaign and creates more awareness of the product. One way to create consistency in an advertising campaign is using a character or icon, such as the old guy, throughout advertising and marketing materials. The character is then directly tied to your company and brand. With just one look, the buyer recognizes your company. Another example of a familiar face and phrase can be seen in the Verizon® “Can you hear me now?”campaign.

If using the same character, spokesperson or icon doesn’t communicate your company’s brand effectively, there are unlimited executions that can be used to create awareness and identity. It can be as simple as a consistent layout from one product line to another, like in the “Got Milk?®” campaign. Although the center of attention changes with the times and reflects who’s hot now, the campaign is easily identifiable with use of the same font and the milk moustache motif. A reminder that everyone who’s anyone drinks milk.

Moving away from the testimonial approach and keeping consistent may be as easy as using the same color throughout all the advertising. Have you ever heard of Big Blue? The consistent use of the color blue is carried out through the logo, corporate collateral and even the television spots selling nothing but the IBM® brand.

It doesn’t have to be more expensive to have a consistent and recognizable look and feel. Actually, consistency is efficient and will produce a higher return on your investment. Your company will stand out among the crowd and will become easily noticed.

Consistency and repetition are also essential in media placement. In cluttered environments with multiple clients and products competing for buyers’ attention, it takes more than identifying your target audience. Identification is important, but being consistent in the media vehicles and using them with just enough repetition to get noticed is a must. One ad placement in the daily newspaper may create some instant awareness. It just won’t create long-term results or build ROI. On the other hand, media placement of recognizable creative in the same section of the daily newspaper with multiple insertions will get you noticed. To use “Got Milk?” again as an example, creative media placement in key publications repeatedly for years has created enough brand recognition that we not only recognize the ad immediately, we have all said “Got Milk?” at one point in time.

The key to success and value with your advertising program takes well crafted creative with easily identifiable elements that reflect the brand and extend throughout your company’s advertising and marketing materials. It also takes getting noticed – a creative use of media vehicles combined with enough frequency to capture the buyers’ attention. Consistency and repetition – have I said it enough?

E-mail the author: Karen Hansen

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