Using VELCRO in Your Ad Messages ...

Have you wondered why your ads may not be as effective as you’d like?

You put your information out there in a nice, neat, well-organized way – and yet it just doesn’t seem to stick and take hold.

You want people to remember it, but you find that your ad materials are predictable. And, unfortunately, so are your results -- but not in a good way.

I think the goal of your advertising message is to hold tightly to the brain. However, most advertising that is produced locally does not.

In 1941, the secret to creating ads that stick – was discovered in the Jura Mountains of France by George de Mestral.

Who is he, you ask?

Good question.

Let me share his story.

George was hunting, scrambling through the woods and brush – and when he got back to camp that night he found his wool pants were covered with burrs. He tried to remove the tiny burrs, but found he couldn’t do it. They were tightly affixed to the wool fabric of his pants.

He took a magnifying glass to inspect what was causing this – and found that each of the burrs had hundreds of tiny hooks engaged in the loops of the woolen fabric.

George made a machine to duplicate the hooks and loops using nylon. He called the new product VELCRO – from the French words VELours and CROchet. The rough side of VELCRO is made of tiny, flexible little hooks. And, the fuzzy side is made of small, soft loops.

Here’s another thing George found out:

If the loops are randomly oriented, they offer much greater holding power than loops arranged in neat rows. In fact, the more unpredictable to loops, the stronger the bond. So, if the loops are in predictable, neatly arranged pattern – there is little holding power.

And now, the lesson:

Consider the brain as a surface covered with trillions of tiny, flexible hooks.

Think of your ad messages as a series of words, sounds, or mental images all covered with small, soft loops.

If your ads are predictable, if they use predictable words and create predictable images, if they are making nice, neat, orderly little loops – the holding power of your ad message will be weak and forgettable.

They lack the VELCRO needed to bond in the minds of your customers.

You see, the human mind discounts the predictable. If your audience can see the punch line coming, the jokes just aren’t that funny.

You’ve got to mix it up a bit. You have to create mystery and curiosity. You have to create surprise and delight. You have to use VELCRO in your ad messages to make them most effective.

Knowing how to use VELCRO is half the battle. Stay tuned to this blog to learn the other half. I'll talk more about that in the next few days.

Until then, good selling!

J  Dana

P.S.  Creating ads with VELCRO is what I do. Call me if you need help with your ad messages now! 253-579-4040 or email me at: getmedana@gmail.com