Advertising and the mind of the consumer

Advertising and the Mind of the Consumer – What works, what doesn’t and why by Max Sutherland, published by Allen & Unwin, $49.99
www.adandmind.com





Although we are exposed to hundreds of ads every day, we fully process only a fraction of them. While some jump out at us immediately, others we either miss completely or deliberately ignore. We also differ in the way we mentally process information. Some of us think in pictures, some in words and some both ways, says marketing psychologist, Max Sutherland.

Sutherland works as an independent consultant in Australia and the USA. His clients include global advertisers, like Gillette, Merck, Kodak, McDonald’s, Qantas, Nestle and Pfizer.

In this revised edition of ‘Advertising and the Mind of the Consumer, Sutherland covers the same basics but uses updated examples.

When the previous books were published, TV advertising was the focus. With the internet the current medium, the potential influence and power of new forms of advertising, like paid product placements, mobile devices, viral and web advertising are in the spotlight.

Presented in two parts, Part A, ‘Why Advertising has remained a mystery for so long’, is directed at the general reader and Part B, ‘What works, what doesn’t and why’, is for advertisers and marketers in the advertising field, but gives the rest of us an understanding of advertising at work.

Most advertising tries to get us to buy one brand instead of another rather than new products per se, by tipping the balance with ‘feathers’ or minor effects.

Sutherland looks at how conformity affects consumer choice; how ads speak to us, not just with what they say, but how they say it; attention-getting devises like sex and humour and the impact of testimonials, music, slogans and symbols.

Advertising terms explained include, ad execution - variations of ads for the same brand, flighting - runs of ads for the same brand with breaks in-between, and TRP or TARP for target rating points - exposure an ad gets for its targeted market.

There’s advice for recession times too, when the key question should be ‘how you can take surgery to the advertising rather than simply eliminate it’.

Succinct summaries appear at the end of each of the twenty-eight chapters and an appendix addresses how to prompt ad awareness.

Given that by the time we die we will have spent about one and a half years watching TV commercials, its time to forget the mystique and focus on the real effects, which is this book’s message.
Usefulness 8.5/10

All rights reserved
© L Donald
Appeared NZ Business March '09