Who’s heard of the ‘advertising rule of seven‘? Essentially, a consumer needs to see an advertisement at least 7 times before it is remembered and only then does buying the product become considered. An interesting marketing concept if I may say so. After seeing all the commercials for the new Samsung Galaxy s5 smartphone, I eventually convinced myself that it was time for an upgrade from my iPhone held together with tape. With this new mindset, I began to notice anything smartphone related. There’s a name for that I just discovered; when you notice something and then you see it everywhere. You buy a red BMW and then suddenly red BMW’s are taking over the streets. It’s called the Baader Meinhof phenomenon.

So I started to take more notice of the TV advertisements, particularly the s5’s caption: ‘Made for Australia’. After seeing this I took a few weeks vacation in the USA. When I was speaking to people who had recently bought the phone, and I told them of this slogan, I was laughed at. And rightly so. How could it in fact be ‘made for Australia’, when it was released in the USA months earlier? The US, Chinese, Japanese markets have more potential customers, so Samsung would desire to reach the largest audience first, right?. Australia is geographically isolated and relies heavily on imports from around the world. Therefore, we are clearly a secondary priority in terms of product targeting and marketing.

It’s interesting too see it from that perspective. Advertisers fabricate ideas that appeal to the audience and make them eager to buy the product, even when sometimes they manipulate the truth. Identify the audience and then emphasise the relatable qualities. Consumers will see it enough times that the personal connection is recognised. It’s as easy as that.