(Photo by Send me adrift)

With the average consumer facing a daily deluge of marketing and advertising, how can your company hope to ensure that its marketing and advertising is memorable?

Psychologically, after we get used to something, we tend to ignore it – no matter how luxurious it is.  Our brains are wired to notice differences. Once we see a pattern, our brain categorizes it and files it away. But a new pattern causes our brain to spend time to understand it, make connections to other similar patterns, and then categorize it.

Supermarkets know this well – that’s why they’ll regularly rearrange products to capture new attention on existing offerings. So too in marketing – you need to continue to experiment to change imagery, marketing channels, copy, timing.

Changing the appearance of your offering may help your business short-term. But if your offering isn’t keeping pace with the competition, then it’s simply like putting lipstick on a pig. Make sure your offering is divine, not a swine.