Advertising and the Natural Capacity for Attentiveness

Physiology tells us that the human brain is largely identical from one person to the next, buy psychology clearly demonstrates that this organ is used in different ways by different people.   There is some argument over whether slight differences in the biological organ cause some to behave differently from others, or whether this is merely a matter of their upbringing and training – but it is moot, as the brand does not have the ability to raise its customers from childhood, it must confront prospects such as they are.

Some individuals seem to have a natural proclivity to focus their mind on a very specific goal and disregard all the rest of the world.   Some of the greatest inventors and artists have demonstrated this single-mindedness to great ends.   Others seem to be scatter-brained, unable to attend to one thing and constantly hop from one thing to the next, unable to see an idea to completion before something else “pops up” in their minds.

Some individuals can read a book with perfect satisfaction, whereas others consider reading to be intolerable.   Some can focus their minds on reading in a noisy environment, others cannot.  By the same token, some individuals can work in an environment of distraction, giving their attention to a certain subset of stimuli of their choosing, others cannot.

Some individuals can maintain attentiveness to their tasks, and to do what might be considered excellent work even when they are deprived of sleep or even intoxicated.  Others produce horrible work when they are slightly tired or barely intoxicated.

The most sought-after individuals are those with high levels of concentration, who seem to be able to focus their minds when others cannot.  Such men are precious, but such men are rare.  One cannot expect a market to operate as if every prospect can keep pace with the fastest and best, any more than one can yoke horses together and expect the slowest and weakness to keep up with those with unnaturally high strength and stamina – it tends to be the other way around.

In addressing the mass market, a brand may attempt several campaigns that function at different levels of attentiveness – and in general will find that the speed of the least attentive prospect sets the pace of sales.  If they gave as much care to their audiences as they do to their campaigns, realizing that each must be reached within the limit of its natural capacity for attentiveness, they would find that the performance of their campaigns to be as efficient and effective as their targeting.