I’ve long since been resigned to the fact that I work in a profession that, at best, has a reputation for long lunches and, more often, brings the ‘snake oil’ criers and armchair Premiership managers out in droves. It’s surprising (well, not any more it isn’t) how often I hear the phrase “that’s just common sense… I could do that myself” from people who call a handyman out to close a kitchen drawer or the AA to release their handbrake.
A couple of weeks ago I happened to be in the living room when an edition of the BBC regional news programme “Inside Out” was on. One of the items was [yet another] study of ‘what consumers concentrate on’ using special glasses that show where they are focusing in a real-life environment. What I saw was truly amazing: some vast amount of money had be ploughed into a study showing that consumers notice things that are colourful. And that move around.
I’m paraphrasing, but not significantly (honestly). Various talking heads, including the head honcho of the large outdoor media firm that bought the study (I’m mentioning no names), a retail head from a large national store brand and an agency Creative Director eschewed the benefits of this survey and what it meant for “the advertising of tomorrow”.
The fact that my 3 and a half year old son understands that things that are colourful and move around are noticeable is evident from the fact that he often waves gaily coloured toys at me to get my attention. He also makes lots of noise, which must have been a sensory element beyond the scope of the aforementioned research project.
Combine the above with the fact that the Creative Director was clad in a purple suit and, if I recall, shiny red shoes and sat in an office with a mixture of glass and primary coloured walls (with, no doubt, nothing but a solitary chair stuck to the ceiling to demonstrate just HOW far out of the box they think) and I should be more surprised that people don’t throw stones at me when they find out what I do rather than just rolling their eyes.