MAKING A LASTING IMPRESSION by David Margolis, President, Syndicated Ad Features

While there is certainly something very romantic about “love at first sight,” we all know that lasting relationships are based on more than mere first impressions. Ask any knowledgeable person in the advertising world about the most important aspect of successful advertising, and he or she is likely to mention “continuity.” When consumers see an advertiser’s face and message on a continual basis, it creates an image in the consumer’s mind and fosters trust.

At the same time, no one wants to see and hear the same thing over and over again.

Continuity should never be confused with repetition. While it certainly can’t hurt an advertiser to place the same exact ad continuously, it helps immeasurably to change the message. Otherwise, consumers’ familiarity may turn to contempt. With this in mind, in addition to presenting our clients with an advertising program that runs weekly for a year or longer, we provide fresh advertising copy for each of our ghost-written columns.

Of course, it would be an easy matter for us to supply content that essentially says the same thing in a different way each week. As clever as that might be, we go about the difficult tasks of researching, writing, and editing a variety of new and different topics for each of our clients’ columns. The shared goal is to present readers with fact-based, non-controversial information that enlightens, educates, and entertains. The better we are able to help our clients inform potential consumers about their products and services, the more successful our combined efforts are likely to be. Continuity combined with a well-tailored message helps ensure advertising success.