How to Use Memory Science to Create Unforgettable Ads

Editor’s note: This piece is part of our Columnist Network series, which explores the tactical thoughts and actions from Adweek’s community of high-level experts. Today, Intermark Group's Jake McKenzie shares the psychology behind memorable marketing. Below, in his own words, the marketing firm's CEO defines five techniques for making a lasting impression. If you knew there was an 84% chance that a consumer wouldn’t remember your brand one week after seeing your company’s latest ad campaign, would you give up completely or try to be an outlier? People have short attention spans—according to Byron Sharp, author of How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don't Know, there's only a 16% likelihood, on average, that consumers will remember your brand a week after they see an ad. And I hate to break it to you, but no matter how many awards your campaign has won, it doesn’t equate to additional product sales. Kantar released data in 2019 that determined a mere 25% of the year’s Cannes Lions-winning ads created brand impact. It doesn’t have to be this way, of course. There's over 120 years of academic research on memory science that gives clear instruction on how to make advertising memorable and more effective. So what are some of the major lessons for making your creative more memorable? The cheat code Some campaigns will be memorable and effective even with so-so creative. They simply use a memory cheat code—frequency—generally through very heavy media schedules. When the brain is exposed to something often enough, it will remember the message and even grow to like it, regardless of content. Psychologists call this the “mere-exposure effect.” It is the simplest and most powerful way to drive memorability, which gives big-budget advertisers a notable advantage. For the rest of us, let’s review five effective creative strategies based in memory science to skirt the cheat code. Be distinctive The brain filters out information that it thinks it already knows. Thus, when you see an ad that looks like other ads in the category, you will mostly ignore it. If you’ve shopped for a car, you suddenly realize how many dealerships claim to be “the home of low prices.” Your brain just tunes that out. If you can swap out the brand logo with a competitor’s, the ad is a cliché. Every category has them—ideas that were effective before everyone began to copy them, killing their effectiveness. This cycle persists until someone (that’s you) shatters them, creating great results. So to break the cycle and be memorable, do something wildly different with your creative. The brain will pay close attention to anything that it thinks is unique. Use brand codes The brain has lots of ways to establish distinction and memorability. They are generally referred to by behavioral scientists as “codes”—mental shortcuts for associating memory and uniqueness. Codes are something your brand can "own" and should be used consistently and repeatedly. A simple example is your company logo, a design that only you can use. There are dozens of other great ways to employ codes—unique characters and audio cues are the most memorable and among the least leveraged across creative executions. A great example of an effective brand code is how KFC has evolved the Colonel in its advertising. The character has been portrayed by actors of different genders and races, even designed with different colors and styles, yet all have an immediate association with the KFC brand. Create mental associations Memory is contextual: We remember things and use products in specific contexts, places or circumstances. For instance, we may eat more seafood when we are at the beach; we think it tastes better there. Milk seems more delicious when eating cake or cookies. To make creative more effective, be very specific in defining your mental associations—what is the time, place or case for the product or service? The more specific, the easier it is to remember. Use mnemonics Our brains use shortcuts—mnemonic devices—to make things easier to store in long-term memory. There's plenty you may remember from elementary school because of them. Mnemonics are at your disposal in ads, too: Structuring creative into a narrative will make it more memorable, as will triggering specific strong emotions within the narrative. There are lesser-used but still effective techniques, such as leveraging mental imagery or alliteration, which will make your message stickier. The Allied Irish Bank slogan, “Britain's best business bank,” might be something you can easily recall tomorrow. Trigger mental engagement Most ads are intended to be passive—something to watch or listen to. But an effective way to be memorable is tricking the audience into thinking about it. This can be done by asking questions within the creative or just after it, posing a problem to be solved, using a non sequitur, including a game or a next step—all are effective ways of making an impression in long-term memory. During last year’s Super Bowl, Mountain Dew asked viewers to count the number of bottles of its Major Melon flavor, leading to rewatches, heightened focus and discussion around the concept. It’s a great example of using mental engagement to drive memorability. While only 16% of ads are memorable one week after viewing them, your creative doesn’t have to be one of the forgotten. By leveraging the massive amount of research from memory science, it can be one of the exceptions.

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How to Use Memory Science to Create Unforgettable Ads

5 tips for making a lasting impression with consumers

Jake McKenzie

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Jake McKenzie