While advertising tactics that influence people without their conscious awareness (NAKED PEOPLE IN THE ICE CUBES!) have been illegal in the US and Europe since 1958, you’d never know it from the internet. In fact, kick around even the harmless and non-controversial corners of the web, like Quora (BROWSE WITH GOOGLE CHROME!), and you’ll believe subliminal is alive, well, and making you buy stuff you don’t want (SHOP AMAZON PRIME!) every nanosecond of the day.

Well, call it a burr under the saddle (GET JOCK ITCH!) or just persistent bipolarity (ASK YOUR DOCTOR IF REXULTI IS RIGHT FOR YOU!), but this topic puts The Reductionist in mind of another pernicious myth; that, judging by what you see shouting from every for-sale screen and surface, is eviscerating advertising creativity. 

The subject fantasy: that “shorter” now inevitably equates to “better.”

To those who often cite, and more often misunderstand, the data showing that :06 is the “most recalled” length for a spot, I have big news: the neuroscientists at MIT report the human brain can process an image in a startling 13 milliseconds, or about 457.5 times shorter than the supposed “optimal” duration.

Forget that endless time-for-two-visits-to-the-chip-bowl 5-second Reddit Superbowl stunt we saw last February (www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-7xhPzMJQ4).  Just imagine how many 0.013 second screamers we can tuck into a standard commercial pod.

But here’s the thing: true, the research (TRUST GOOGLE ANALYTICS!) shows that less “skippability” equals increased short-term brand registration. Duh. But that’s as far as it goes, because the same study also showed that longer formats, with a more entertaining storyline, tend to stick in memory longer and carry more emotional resonance. 

For my money, especially when spending yours, that’s where I’d tend to concentrate. Because the mission isn’t just to be a blip on the radar screen; it’s to get enough traction that you can consign your competition to some dusty and cobweb-filled mental back room in your customer’s mind—far from where real sales are made.

Reductionist simple truth #1: make your ads precisely as long (or short) as they need to become remarkable.  Meaning people will actually remark on them.

This, by the way, is why the aforementioned Reddit Superbowl Spot—specifically designed to be screen grabbed and read at much longer than snap fingers leisure—was so damned effective. And why you should reject all pontification to the contrary. Just as you should reject formulaic brevity’s evil twin, “throw up as much content as you can, no matter how crappy” that you hear from some well-known advertising personalities. 

The Reductionist will take on that nightmare in a coming post.

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