Adding pace, graphics and a driving soundtrack makes an ad duller, not livelier
WarningBrand & Creativity
Adding pace, graphics and a driving soundtrack makes an ad duller, not livelier
The instinctive way to make an ad less dull is the worst available move. Orlando Wood's mapping puts flat colours, words obtruding on screen, highly rhythmic soundtracks, freeze-frame effects and product-centricity in the low-attention, low-emotion quadrant. Animals, characters with vitality, dialogue and spontaneous facial expression sit in the high-attention, high-emotion one.
Source
Another Dull Whitepaper: The Extraordinary Cost of Dull - launched at Cannes Lions 2024 (2024)
Jon Evans (System1), Adam Morgan (eatbigfish) and Peter Field
p. 26-27, The Extraordinary Cost of Dull (2024), quadrant from Look out by Orlando Wood
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StatFeeling nothing is the single most common reaction to a television adStatB2B advertising produces even less emotional response than consumer advertisingPrincipleNeutrality is the dark matter of advertising - invisible, inert, and larger than everything else put togetherCaseA 20-second film of grazing cows beats more than a quarter of all advertisingStatDullness kills happiness and surprise while leaving negative reaction untouchedWarningPlaying safe removes the upside of an ad without removing its downsideStatB2B advertising loses positive emotion to dullness at exactly the same rate as consumer workStatThe dullest quartile of advertising buys roughly a thirteenth of the share growth of the most interestingStatClosing the effectiveness gap with media money would cost more than all US TV advertisingStatThe UK cost of dull is more than twice the country's entire television ad spendStatMarketers already put the most money behind their most interesting consumer advertisingWarningUK B2B puts more than half its television money behind its dullest advertising