Ready, Fire, Aim!

Imagine telephone hold music so offensively irritating you want to hang up after just a few seconds. One call to Office Depot, and you won't have to imagine anymore. Their obnoxious jingle loops every 15 seconds or so, wearing you down faster than a well-executed waterboarding session.

I could go on about Office Depot (I honestly wonder if they aren't intentionally trying to drive customers off the phone), but companies everywhere employ advertising without sound strategy. Many businesses fail to establish a comprehensive corporate identity, but those that have shouldn't just plaster it everywhere without thought.

Some might question whether hold music really counts as advertising. To that I would ask: When is an organization not advertising by what they say and do? If your sales staff is rude or unhelpful, does it matter that you advertise customer service in your television ads? If your company fails to deliver a reliable product, does it matter that you pitch quality in radio campaigns?

Thought of in this way, advertising encompasses every aspect of your operation. When you do advertise through traditional channels, customers will weigh your message against their experience with your company. Every interaction you have with them is a chance to maintain a relationship, or lose a customer forever.

A well-known brand is not enough to guarantee success. The careful application of your corporate identity, and the expression of your mission in what you do, is just as critical to gaining your customers' trust and confidence.

And sometimes it's little things—like pleasant hold music—that makes all the difference.

Groupthink Causes Brand Myopia

Want consumers to forget your competitors' brands? Advertise to them when they're assembled with their friends--during the Super Bowl, for example.

New research shows people are less likely to remember other brands when presented by an ad for a single brand in the presence of their friends. So, for example, individuals are more likely to remember other Pizza brands after they see an ad for Pizza Hut if they see the ad alone, versus with other people in the room.

Surprising as it may seem, this suggests groups are less able to be creative than are individuals. The peer environment seems to stymie individual thought even to the point of blocking memories that would otherwise be recalled.

If you're seeking to maximize brand recognition (at least in the short term), you may find greater success in advertising through outlets and at times that reach your audience gathered in groups.

Source: "Retrieval Disruption in Collaborative Groups due to Brand Cues"
JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH