Intersect Ideas To Attract Attention

There is nothing like a disruptive photo to attract attention – and a potential buyer’s interest. For decades print media has successfully used photos to pique a viewer’s curiosity and draw them into their ads. While a powerful headline can be intriguing, a captivating image trumps even the most interesting looking font type every time.

With a high-level understanding of how to create visual magnets of your own for a new or redesigned website, brochure, direct mail piece, and the like, your company’s marketing department could either originate content like this in-house or outsource its development to an agency.

CREATING AN ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THE UNRELATED

Elements from the ads above are comprised of intersecting planes of thought that are perfectly acceptable in isolation, but not in combination. This simple, yet sophisticated approach converges seemingly unrelated thoughts and ideas to create a new context of possibility.

CONSECO Annuities answers their headline “How do you plan on funding your retirement?” with a humorous yet disturbing visual. While it is possible that some senior citizens may need to work in their golden years due to dire conditions, the probability of selling cookies door to door to fund their retirement is unlikely. Implying that it would take a jet to pull over a Pontiac is a unique way of conveying speed without the use of specs (e.g. 0 to 60 in 4 seconds). And the thought of a conveyor belt at a checkout line being used as a treadmill in the INTERSPORT ad is equally jarring.

The more familiar the parts, the more striking the new whole – especially when seen together for the first time in a new frame of reference. Because these elements are rarely, if ever, seen in combination, each attracts attention and a second glance.

SIMILARITIES AMONG THE DIFFERENCES

A senior citizen in a Girl Scouts uniform selling cookies is as unusual as seeing a speeding ticket being given by a policeman in a fighter jet or a runner on a conveyor belt at a checkout line.

Each of the ads combines a mismatch of subjects, objects, and scenarios to make a point. While extreme, and not very probable, each ad’s setting is within the realm of possibility because the visual components exist and are recognizable in their current form. The appearance of those elements in the same frame at the same time within the context of an unexpected situation makes them so memorable.

While ideating concepts to convey a story in seconds is not easy, the impact on buyers and your bottom-line can be well worth the investment.