How to Create Something Unforgettable

If you want to write something unforgettable you can pick up many tips from advertisements because people who create advertisements know how to press the right buttons in mind or heart. A Government or a President may be elected on the strength of a slogan, a failing Company recover after investing in an advertising campaign. I t pays to consider the ways in which they do that.

Creating an advertisement which will be memorable in the full sense of the word is an art. If it can also persuade people to buy a particular product then it is big business. For any writer, therefore, it is a very worthwhile exercise to consider why some advertisements are so appealing that they almost become part of our culture. We also want our words to be memorable and even make a little money for us into the bargain.

I still recall in great detail an advertisement that appeared on the television many years ago. It was a cartoon featuring someone tied to a stake and sucking a mint. Indians on the warpath encircled him and it appeared that an untimely and unpleasant death was imminent. Was the victim dismayed? Not at all, his priority was not escape but to finish his mint and he was taking his time. A humorous cartoon and a catchy tune with the never to be forgotten words “Murray mint, Murray mint, the too good to hurry mint.” Everyone was singing it and no doubt a high percentage of them bought some mints as well.

It wasn’t just the tune however, it was the message tucked away behind it – that the good things in life can still be enjoyed in spite of adverse circumstances. That man had the right attitude. So let us at least enjoy the same mints as he did.

A more recent advertisement was a dramatic enactment of a car outracing a wild fire. This drama was accompanied by music with just four words “takes your breath away.”

It could have come out of a Bond movie. What a car! With a car like that one would feel like 007. Male fantasy in full flow. All achieved with a common little phrase that said it all.

In this day and age of Celebrity, using a well known person can sell anything from underpants to real estate. The appeal being that if we cannot become celebrities at least we can enjoy some of their luxuries. A certain brand of coffee perhaps? So we watch George Clooney choose a cup of coffee in preference to the adoration of a beautiful fan. In another advertisement he is turned away from a party because he is not accompanied by a certain alcoholic drink. Both items being easily available to the discerning viewer at a local supermarket.

Using a puppy to sell toilet paper may seem bizarre but it was inspirational. A Labrador puppy running around a house tangled up in a swathe of toilet paper said “soft, strong and long” which is about as good as toilet paper can get. Enough to make a housewife smile and remember this when she needs to buy some. A kitten would not have had the same effect, so the kittens appear on birthday cards conveying “sweet and cuddly” for a girlfriend. We can learn a lot about image from choices like these.

The producers of such advertisements are paid a fortune for their talents which include an awareness of consumer psychology, a knack for producing something succinct using words, pictures or music and sometimes a combination of all three. Faced with massive competition it is their business to add that extra something that will capture the imagination and make their product stand out above the others. Rather like a good article on Triond don’t you think?