|
Let's stroll down the pasta aisle. Past the vermicelli, linguine,
mustachioli, and fettucine. Look at all the numbered diameters of spaghetti. So many
different shapes—wheels and stove pipes, twists, spirals, bows and ties...
What can we learn from all these variations on the simple theme of flour and water? That
there's no excuse for boredom. Especially from people paid to be creative. I'm talking
about the mindless repetition we suffer from advertisers. Especially when it's been made
so clear to them that drumming home the same advertising execution just doesn't work. A
waste of money.
The Wall Street Journal has addressed this issue of advertisement
saturation and audience burn-out. It points out that while repetition is necessary,
researchers are telling advertisers that "viewers simply don't watch commercials that
are too familiar."
Back to the pasta aisle. Could advertisers keep the viewer's attention by adding new
variations on the same simple theme? The pink Energizer bunny has interrupted more than 20
commercial spoofs. Competitor Duracell has executed different
versions of toys in some 40 endurance competitions.
Incorporating variety into your own daily routine to refresh the mundane can be as easy as
listening to somebody else's idea, trying out an exotic fruit from the produce section,
brushing your teeth with you other hand, doing something the opposite way, getting up
earlier and driving the long way to work...
Eventually, you'll hit upon your own novel technique for keeping
your daily routine fascinating. One that keeps going, and going, and going...
|
