Changes and Stability

It was 22 years ago that I made the switch to the advertising side of media.

Some of the changes over the past two decades include:

We are exposed to more advertising messages than ever before. So we become consciously numb to many of the ads and it takes something out of the ordinary to get our attention.

There are more demands on our time as the two income family is now the norm. So there are less housewives than ever before as even those that take a break when their children are born, return back to work within weeks, not years.

We have more choices for where we get our news, information and entertainment. In 1986, we had cable, but not 200 channels. The internet was not an option.

Our telephones were at our desks, or on the wall, not in our purse, pocket or belts. And we were not expected to be on call 24/7.

Personal Computers did not exist in most offices. Email, Instant Messaging, Blogs, Social Media sites, Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, Google have all changed the way we live our lives.

With all these changes, there are still lots of things that have not changed.

People like to buy, they don't like to be sold.

People will tell others about a good deal. People will tell LOTS of others about a bad deal.

Reputation matters.

We buy based on emotion, not logic. Even the most logical, unemotional people do this.

So to summarize, technology will continue to change, human nature remains predictably stable.

If your advertising is contrary to human nature and emotion, (like the screaming furniture sale tv ad I saw this week), then your chances of success are minimal.

Use the power of human nature and predictability as a guideline as you consider your advertising and marketing and you will not be disappointed.