The Perfect Ad - Is neuroscience the key to success?
THE CHALLENGE
Creating an ad that captures and holds our attention, tugs at our emotions, and stays in our mind, is an advertiser's dream. But despite best efforts, few ads achieve such perfection, and predicting which ads are actually going to sell, still remains elusive.
THE RESEARCH
Taking advertising research to a new level of understanding, the team is undertaking the largest ever investigation into psychophysiological measurement tools, and validating how well they predict relevant in-market behaviours.
THE OUTLOOK
The new measures will help understand the journey from creative content to nudging sales. They will allow advertisers to more consistently produce great ads, as well as cull those that are destined to fail.
The latest research in advertising is testing if biometrics and neuroscience can improve advertising effectiveness. Is this the next big investment for business, or is the perfect ad really just an impossible quest?
Dachshunds dressed as hot dogs. A chorus of singing babies. A Willem Dafoe ‘Marilyn’, in that scene. They may sound abstract, but each is part of impeccably orchestrated advertisement, that has caught and held the attention of both audiences and industry experts alike. Aired at this year’s Super Bowl, these ads have each hoped to achieve that which is reserved for the select few: advertising success.
Success, however, is rare. To create ads that attract and hold attention, that tug at our emotions, and that consumers remember and want to watch again and again, is an advertiser’s dream. But despite the best efforts of the advertising agencies that create the ads, and the research companies that test the ads before they are launched, few ads achieve ‘perfection’. Predicting which ads are actually going to sell has remained elusive.
It is, however, an exciting time in the world of advertising. Much has been discovered about how our brains work—how we build, maintain and retrieve memories, what we pay attention to, and the role of emotions in decision-making.
Read the full article in unisabusiness magazine.