How We Work
Stimulus-Response Advertising
A person’s response to advertising will always depend more on the perception they already have about the seller and his products than on what the seller wants them to believe. Add to this the reality that people’s beliefs and feelings change only slowly as they gradually receive and evaluate new information.
It is crucial therefore to first find out where you stand with consumers right now. Without knowing where you are, you cannot possibly determine where you need to go – or what it will take to get there. It’s much easier to convince someone to take a step than a leap.
This is why our creative development process flows directly from the Communication Plan. Only through careful study and definition of the desired response can a piece of communications be expected to stimulate it.
For this reason, the most important questions in advertising are:
- What do they think of me now?
- What do I want them to think?
"Response" before "Message"
When asked to explain how communication works, most people describe a four-part communication model: a sender, a receiver, a medium and a message.
The trouble with that system is that it ignores the most important element - the response. If the desired response is not known and defined, how can it be achieved? The four-part model doesn't work. Much superior is a fivepart model that separates the message into two discrete parts, a stimulus and a response.
By using the five-part model and focusing on the desired response, rather than taking a wild guess at stumbling onto an effective stimulus, the odds of successful communication increase exponentially.
This sign, complete with bold fonts and bright colours, includes every point a farmer thought might be relevant to his customers. But it doesn't sell many eggs.
This sign, on the other hand, sells a lot of eggs because it cuts straight to the most important product benefit and delivers it in a design that reinforces people's no-nonsense perception of honest, hardworking farmers.