The Importance of Originality in Advertising

The number of advertisements the average dweller in the average rich country such as America will see, every day, is estimated to be around 3,000. That's a ludicrous amount. More recent research by market research firm Yankelovich Inc. suggests that the figure is closer to 5,000. Now, let's say your advert is unoriginal; it has been churned out in ten minutes and is mostly the same as your last advert. How much of an impact do you think your advert is going to make on a passer-by? Truth is, the passer-by took one look at your advert and was not even disturbed from their thoughts. Now begins the understanding of the importance of originality in advertising.

Originality makes people laugh. It makes people think "I never thought of it like that." More importantly to the purpose of this article, it makes people listen.
Lets define original. Dictionary.com says, "fresh; inventive; novel." An original advert will do at least one of the following; look at things from a different perspective, take an old idea and revamp it and generally use something familiar in an unfamiliar way.

As I've already explained, adverts are thrust in front of us many times each day. They reach us through billboards, television, radio, posters, newspaper inserts, storefront promos, magazine ads, web banners, spam emails, product placements, infomercials, sponsorship logos and so on. So an advert that is transferable to different mediums is an essential part in advert originality.

Of all the recent, successful advertising campaigns, Apple's "Pc And Mac" campaign has been marked out for its originality. Why? Surely it isn't that original to compare two rival companies? No, it is not, but what Apple did so very cleverly was speak for their rival. The galled Bill Gates certainly had no hand in what came out of Pc's mouth, and as such Apple could twist almost any Pc or Apple aspect and turn it in their favor. As a bonus, the originality of these adverts allowed Apple to entertain, which has worked wonders for Steve Jobs in raising his company's reputation as the easy-going, geeky yet stylish company that the publics see them as.

It is time to recap what we have been through so far. A lack of originality makes for a poor advert. An original advert grabs attention and changes the way people perceive your company. So, no more boring, annoying adverts cluttering up my newspaper, please!