Attention is a precious commodity. Most everybody wants it but any one person only has so much to give. Sometimes, in the event of a hurricane or stock market crash, attention is immediate. Attention rarely works that way, though. Michael Jordan spent years perfecting his craft before he became worthy of our attention.
Attention is also a privilege. The boy who cried wolf got our attention but we took it back because he abused it.
Advertisers are notorious for abusing this privilege. It’s easy to walk on stilts and make outrageous statements. But usually we’re let down to learn the substance doesn’t nearly match the style.
Now watch Kmart:
Kmart understands your attention is precious. You’re not demanding a refund on the 35 seconds you just gave them. They demonstrated tremendous style and have millions of YouTube views to show for it. The ad most certainly got our attention.
But unlike videos of cats, practical jokes or (cough) most other commercials, this one is actually going to work. Kmart found substance to match it’s style.
“If you can’t find what you’re looking for in store, we’ll find it at kmart.com right now and ship it to you. For free.”
Rather than trying to deceive us to feel great about a mediocre product/service, they chose to act in the best interest of their customers. They actually became something better; something worth feeling great about.
And that’s why this ad will continue to work for them long after we’re captivated by another little kid on painkillers next week.
This concept applies to advertising just as it applies the the work you do every day.
Say something great and you may capture our attention. Be something great and you’ll hold it.
(And feel free to ship this thought to anyone who’d like to hear it.)
