Marketing stimulus constantly surrounds consumers. It is prevalent throughout much of the traditional forms of media with respect to print, television and radio. As such, due to the overall ubiquitous nature of advertising, ads that are often very well planned, do not receive the attention they should otherwise warrant. This occurs due to a litany of factors. Many of these factors pertain the nature of advertising itself. The sheer number of advertisements can be overwhelming for the average consumer. Studies have proven that a consumer needs roughly 7 views of a particular ad to simply remember the product or service. However, these 7 views must occur in the context of many thousands of ads that present themselves daily. Therefore the competition for a share of the consumers mind is tough given the circumstances prevailing today.
One company that does a good job with marketing is that of Nike. The company sells apparel such as shoes, shirts, sports clothing, and accessories. As such, Nike operates in a commodity like business. However, due to its marketing innovation, the company has been able to command a greater share of the consumers mind in regards to its products. Nike's marketing however has not been without its flaws. Below is an ad from Nike that I believe should be gaining more recognition than it should.
This ad was featured primarily on online, digital, and magazine mediums. This I believe was warranted as nearly 60% of Nike's revenue comes from the running segment. However, I believe there are 4 main aspects that could help this gain more attention. First is the use of non-traditional forms of advertising and stimulus. This ad would make an ideal attraction on frequented running routes. Trails or parks for instance, are frequented by runners on a constant basis. In fact, runners often use the same route on a daily basis. As such, placing the ad were it is most relevant would aid in its overall attraction and stimulus aspects.
The cost and feasibility of this action would be relatively modest as compared to many of the more traditional forms of advertisement. First, by placing this ad in online, digital, and print mediums, Nike is competing with many other forms of advertisement within the same channel. There is no guarantee that the readers will view the ad, and second, if the ad is even relevant to the demographic consuming the particular medium. By placing the ad on frequented running trails, Nike would only need to first maintain the ad or billboard on...
The chances of the ad being relevant to consumers are heighted as well. Although the over views relative to the channels mentioned above may decline, the relevance of the ad will increase to offset the sheer number of views that online and digital channels can command.
Second, the ad should prominently display the overall logo of Nike. The logo is placed in a small font in the lower half of the advertisement. By making the logo larger, consumers will be able to quickly identify the brand that corresponds to the ad. As is often the case with marketing, consumers are inundated with vast amounts of competing stimuli. As such, consumers tend to ignore or otherwise disregard many forms of stimuli. Consumers may only view an ad for 6 seconds before they decide if it is relevant or not. As such, by prominently displaying the logo, consumers will be able to quickly retain the branding stimuli of the ad. This stimuli assessment will occur within the 6-second window in which consumers interpret an ad. Therefore, those individual, who view the ad, only for a short duration, will be better able to retain the brand and stimuli of it. Nike is unique in that its brand is very well know and established among clothing and apparel consumers. Its brand is synonymous with quality, innovation, and performance. As such, ads with the logo of Nike should be displayed in a prominent position, to improve the overall stimulus affect of the ad. As the ad above shows, the logo is displayed near the bottom of the advertisement. The ready must first scroll down the entire ad to see who it is even by. This aspect, when time allows can be very beneficial. However, because this ad was place in digital and print mediums, it does not receive the attention that it should warrant.
Third, although this will add costs to the overall production of the ad, color should be added. Color, improves the overall attractiveness of the ad. It allows the emotions of the ad to be clearly displayed in a more concise manner. Color also evokes emotion on the part of the consumer. Depending on the country, colors have differing meaning. As such, the consumer will respond to the color stimuli in different ways. I believe that this ad could improve substantially by the use of colors to evoke the hard work the image is attempting to display. Red, orange, and yellow are of particular importance here as they help to elicit a more emotion response from the consumer in regards to the ad stimuli. Even the use of color within…
