Doug DavidoffI recently attended as program on marketing. One of the panelists distributed a copy of Thomas Smith’s, Why Advertise Often? It says it was written in 1885 and that it still applies today. If you’d like a full copy of it, just e-mail me.
It starts off saying, “The first time people look at any given ad, they don’t even see it,” and then progresses through twenty impressions ending with, “the twentieth time prospects see the ad, they buy what it is offering.” Some of my favorites (please excuse the sarcasm) include, “the sixth time they thumb their nose at it,” “the ninth time, they start to wonder if they may be missing out on something,” “the eleventh time, they wonder how the company is paying for all these ads,” and “the nineteenth time, they count their money very carefully.” Oh yeah, the seventeenth time “they make a note to buy the product.”
Do people really think life is that formulaic? Look, I understand the point that repetition is important and that a company must create awareness before it can exert any influence. But today too many offerings act as if repetition is the only thing that matters. They forget that before being noticed a business must do, or create, something noticeable.
Further, the beauty of today’s world is that, in many ways, if you create something worth noticing it is easier than ever to get noticed. Fast-growth executives would do well to remember this. In fact, you may want to repeat it twenty times.