Ad Aware

Finding value means making the first move in a purchase. It means going out, actively searching for the thing we want, and weighing the factors of that purchase carefully. It also means not letting others make the first move - by minimizing the impact of advertising on our decision making. Advertising, especially interruption advertising, means that we get less for what we pay, we give advertised products unequal consideration, and we get distracted from the real factors that will bring us value.

Companies spend enormous amounts interrupting us – they do it when we watch TV, check our email, drive down the highway, or as we sit down to eat dinner and hear the phone ring. They buy Superbowl ads and run branding campaigns that have the budget equivalent of those of small countries. Not to pick on Levis jeans – I wear their jeans (I’ll buy the jeans that are sale for $20 or less) – but what if they redirected their entire marketing budget to development and manufacturing of the product. You’d get a far superior product. Now, Levis is pretty established and has, over the entire lifespan of the company, invested heavily into making its product better. You can’t say the same for other brands – especially ones that have only been around a few years and get their buzz from advertising. Better that more of the money we spend on a product go to its creation and improvement that interrupting us. Heck, if I saw a pair of Wranglers priced the same as a pair of Levis, I’d probably go with the Wranglers.

If we pay attention to ads, we’re more likely to be influenced by them. It’s human nature to go towards the things with which we’re familiar. When we pay attention to ads, they give us a false sense of familiarity with the advertiser and view the company from its own vantage point, instead of our own. “Oh, yeah, I remember seeing their commercial” is a common result of paying some attention to ads.

This isn’t as important when we’re dealing with commodities. Weekly flyers are a great way to find the best priced groceries because you can compare different stores’ prices. However, if we’re looking for a car, we shouldn’t be swayed by a glossy flyer that comes in our Saturday paper.

When we really want something, we should ignore the ads and do our own research. We should compare the prices, features, quality, service, etc. and, only once our comparison is thorough, make our decision. Ads can make us aware of prices, but they shouldn’t influence our decision to go with one product over another.