Here's another term to add to your corkboard or dust off in your memory: Message Association. Though unfortunately, the term is nearly forgotten in the online advertising world, 'message
association' refers to the proportion of people who can match a given message with an advertiser. For example - can they match "Just do it" with Nike or "Drivers Wanted" with Volkswagen?
Probably, but can they match your message with your product?
It turns out that advertising online can actually help in this scenario. The latest research from Dynamic Logic says online
banner advertising lifts message association by 12% on average.
Based on data gathered through 33,000 interviews, Dynamic Logic determined that those survey participants who had seen the
ads prior to the survey were able to match the right message to the right brand at statistically higher rates (12% higher) than those who were not exposed but were visiting the same sites during
the same time frame.
According to the Dynamic Logic's release, "Advertisers very often want consumers to connect their brand or products with a tagline or value proposition as a way to
enhance perceptions of the brand. Dynamic Logic's data provides empirical evidence that online banner ads can communicate beyond the click."
To that end, DL suggests these three tips for
online advertisers: - Employ a simple and consistent message - Make the words easy to read (avoid small fonts) - Include logo in every frame, especially when message appears
Though the
above steps seem so simple they conjure up memories of Advertising 101, it's amazing how many banners lack those very principles. Once again, it's back to basics.