Empirical Generalizations

On Thursday in class, we discussed empirical generalizations. This is a very new concept to me and I was extremely confused by them at first. The articles we read are a little wordy/confusing to me at times, so it took me a little bit of re-reading and discussing to get a grasp on what empirical generalizations are all about.

The empirical generalization I chose to "investigate" further is EG #7. This empirical generalization states that, "brand advertising often has a short-term sales impact. This impact decays over time. The most dramatic influence on short-term effect is creative copy". The beginning of this generalization is pretty self-explanatory to me and I feel like I was aware of this already. Like we discussed in class, the impact that advertising has on consumers sort-of "fades" as time goes on. 

The second part of this generalization, however, is what made me want to look further into it. Creative copy is the key to a successful advertisement. Simply putting your brand's message or purpose into words in some sort of advertisement will not create a long-term effect by any means. With the large amount of clutter out there, especially on the internet, it is really hard for brands to stand out. People are bombarded with advertisements and marketing messages that marketers must wonder, how can I create an advertising message people will remember? How can I create an advertising message that will have an effect on consumers, not just for a short-term period? 

I made a connection to hype and buzz marketing while analyzing this empirical generalization. Buzz marketing is essential in today's day and age. Social media allows for so many people to say whatever they want online for millions of other people to see. Marketers need to create buzz with everything they do- the best way to get your message across is to get people talking about it. Having that creative copy, perhaps saying something ridiculous or out of the ordinary, will definitely influence the short-term effects of an advertisement.  

This also has me thinking about commercials. I know commercials don't necessarily have "copy", but they definitely have room for creativity. For instance, the Hump Day commercials from Geico had people talking for weeks. Yes, the impact it had on me was relatively short-term, but I still remember it today. 

Buzz and hype are two huge parts of marketing that we talked a lot about in Buyer Behavior and Promotional Strategy. Because hype is marketer-generated, it isn't nearly as valuable as people genuinely talking about your brand. Creating buzz should be one of the top priorities of a brand when they are advertising. Standing out in today's day and age is tough for businesses to do- so doing something out of the ordinary and creative is a must. If people aren't talking about your brand, maybe they aren't noticing it!