Positioning by Opening the Consumer's Mind

Abstract

As difficult as it has become for advertisers to attract consumers' attention, today's subtle product-positioning objectives call for ads to go beyond mere attention-getting and attract a form of attention in which the viewer is receptive to new ideas. As part of a review of the conceptual foundations of effective advertising, this paper explores some ways in which the advertiser can place a viewer in such a receptive state. It also proposes that, in certain cases, the most effective ad is one characterized by strategic deviation from approaches generally thought to be appropriate for a product category.