Your mind is a crowded room

Your mind is a crowded room Free your mind! Every day you are bombarded with an overflow of external and internal activators. Memories of familiar smells, tastes, sights, emotions and that irritating new song from the black eyed peas;”Tonight’s gonna be a good night!” A familiar face, a special place, a distinctive smell – familiar touchstones like these bring order to the chaos and us of who we are and why we do the things we do. Such sensory images are like old friends; each encounter with one of them brings our self-image more sharply into focus. Advertising is like an intruder banging on the door of the customers mind. The subconscious mind answers the door and asks, “Who do you know in this house? Name the people you know.” A good ad associates itself with a familiar touchstone and gains entrance into the mind. The ad that only speaks about itself is quickly shown the door. “Go away,” says the subconscious. “It’s too crowded in here for you.” New and unknown ads are more easily excepted when they are related to the known and familiar. Do your ads touch the familiar in your customers’ mind? Do people relate to the things you say? Or are you just going on about Whom, What, Where and When, while failing to answer the most important question: Why? Most ads are written under the assumption that the customer is asking, “Who are you? What are you selling? When are you open? What is your address?” Unfortunately the only thing on your customers’ mind is, “Why Should I care?” Your customer wants to hear a story with them in it. Don’t tell them a story about you. Tell them how your product can save them time, make them money, and allow them more time with their kids. If not, leave them alone. You’re wasting their time. Most ads are about companies and their products, and these ads yield disappointing results. The best ads are the ones that speak about the customer and how the product will change their lives. What kind of ads are you writing? -Martin Free your mind!