| 22 Jul 2010 |
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'Attention span of consumer thinning'
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RIYADH: The attention span of consumers is thinning, according to Jonathan Harries, vice chairman and global chief creative officer for Draftfcb. To address this the company came up with the concept of 6.5-second advertisements.
"The definition of advertising is drawing consumer's attention in every way and form through various means of media channels," says Harries.
But with the many modern distractions, people are less likely to sit through an advertisement that does not get straight to the point. According to market research conducted by Draftfcb on a pool of 1,000 consumers, the average consumer gives up on point-of-sale ads in 1.7 seconds and on Internet advertisements in 15 seconds. These ideas resulted in a strategy the company calls The 6.5 Seconds That Matter.
"A successful advertising campaign should put the one thing that matters the most to the consumer in the focus point regardless of the nature of the product," said Harries.
But what happens in that brief attention-span window is the key to the effectiveness of the ad, and that often means subtlety.
"Relying on the concept of shock does not necessarily work in favor of the product or the message the advertisement is introducing," he said in a recent interview with Arab News. "People's attention might be drawn, but they might not react by buying. On the contrary they might be put off by an aggressive ad."
Draftfcb, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies, has a network that spans 92 countries and employs more than 9,200 people designed an ad campaign against domestic violence last month, which was well received. In this case -- due to the subject matter -- they decided to go with shocking the viewer.
"The campaign is an example of a shock that delivered the message positively," said Harries.
Jonathan Harries, believes that the Saudi market is a predominantly youth-oriented, and that ad agencies should be seeking young local talent that understands the marketplace.
"It is a very intellectual career and young people should be directed to it," he said.
When Harries was trying to get his foot in the door, he walked into a large, well-known Johannesburg-based ad agency and offered to work for nothing.
"Nonsense," replied the creative director, Harries recounted. "We couldn't have you work for nothing. We'll pay you $50 a month."
Jonathan then threw himself into copywriting and 11 years later ended up as deputy chairman and executive creative director. From there, he moved on to bigger and better things.
By Walaa Hawari
© Arab News 2010
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