Advertisers, Don’t Confuse Good Predictability With Boredom

“She left me wondering how someone could change so much, so fast. I’d come to love her childlike smile, which suddenly changed to what you’d normally get out of a politician. Her hair went from long to short, and her wardrobe screamed Ann Taylor instead of the previous likes of Urban Outfitters. She no longer cared about her favorite basketball team, nor went on ten-minute rants about her convictions. She began speaking to me in a more straightforward tone as if our relationship suddenly turned professional. Who was this person? How could I stay in a relationship with someone now so unfamiliar? And what if she changed again only to blindside me for a second time? She says she had become bored with the person she was. But I wasn’t bored at all. I was committed. Was.”  If there’s one thing I hear most often from advertisers, it’s this: “I’m bored with my campaign.” Typically this happens within three to six months of a launch, not much time at all.* But to advertisers, especially those re-exposed to their own message in higher concentrations and frequency, it’s an eternity. In reality, a campaign is no different than a human being. It has a look, sound, personality (hopefully), and a message designed to make a connection. Its anchor features – identity – are no different than a person with brown hair, blue eyes, and raspy voice. This is good predictability. And like a person, if a campaign repeatedly tells the same stories and fails to add new insights, observations, beliefs, and perspective, true boredom sets in. Bad predictability. It’s not uncommon for advertisers to confuse the two. I just hope it’s not you. Because at the very moment you’re bored with yourself is when your prospective customer is just starting to realize you exist. That’s not to say that, just like humans, a business shouldn't update or “freshen” its identity every now and again. But changing it altogether could result in customers having to begin the familiarization** process all over. Sadly, they may not care enough to commit to that. Your biggest fan, Lori *If you don’t believe you can stick with the same campaign for decades, you ABSOLUT’LY can. **In human terms, the sameness of our identity traits allows those around us to become familiar enough to predict us, which presents to them a consistently safe outcome. Our personality is templated enough to be predictable, yet the changing content under its umbrella – our thoughts, insights, gestures, spontaneity – is what drives re-engagement and deeper commitment from other human beings. “I’m not only safe with you, I learn from you, I’m inspired by you, I grow from our interactions…you add to my identity, my character, and reaffirm the definition of myself.”  If you really want customers to connect, don’t be afraid to share your belief systems. As a famous biologist once said, “People would rather believe than know.”