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Hello, (Ad) Kitty!

From Apple to Avon, at least a dozen current ad campaigns are using the word "Hello" to attract attention, writes Stuart Elliott. "The fact that several campaigns for disparate brands are based on the same word reinforces the notion that similarity is often the sincerest form of advertising," he notes.

For Allen Adamson, managing director at Landor Associates in New York, a brand and corporate identity consulting firm, centering a campaign on "Hello" represents "a friendly, more engaging way to connect with consumers, but it's pretty overused. The first few might have been effective as a 'pay attention to me' thing [because] we're hard-wired to look up when someone says 'hello.'

"Of course, this is not the first time "hello" has been used as a marketing device, as Elliot notes comedian Jack Benny used to open his radio show with "Jell-O again," accenting the brand the same way "Hello" would be.

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