Is your marketing collateral doing this?

That thing you need to grow…

Well! It isn’t a mustache, I presume all of us are way ahead of that stage.
Neither am I trying to beat the new age comics at puns.

What is that one thing you need to grow if you want to sell something?

Volkswagen answered this back in 1986.
They played a trick on their prospects’ minds!
Let’s try it on you:
Here are two ads from 60s side by side.

Which one are you thinking about still after 20 seconds?
Are you wondering what’s the connection between a lemon and a VW car?
Then you have exactly grown that what this piece of paper was designed for by DDB.

Attention!

Here is the story they printed underneath this visual:

“The chrome strip on the glove compartment is blemished and must be replaced. Chances are you wouldn’t have noticed it; Inspector Kurt Kroner did.
There are 3,389 men of our Wolfsburg factory with only one job; to inspect Volkswagens at each stage of production. (3,00 Volkswagens are produced daily; there are more inspectors than cars.)
Every shock absorber is tested (spot checking won’t do), every windshield is scanned. VWs have been rejected for surface scratches barely visible to the eye.
Final inspection is really something! VW inspectors run each car off the line onto the FunktionsprÃ¼fstand (car test stand), tote up 189 check points, gun ahead to the automatic brake stand and say “no” to one VW out of fifty.
This preoccupation with detail means the VW lasts longer and requires less maintenance, by and large, than other cars. (It also means a used VW depreciates less than any other car.)

We pluck the lemons; you get the plums”

Job Done!

Smiling because of a beautiful story that connected the car to a citrus fruit?
Rolling your eyeballs with a guffaw, saying: â€œOh! Come Oneâ€?
Whatever be the reaction, don’t forget, the piece of communication has served its purpose.
(Try remembering the name of the car in the second ad?!)
You won’t. Because the first one has captured your attention and made you read about the car.
The story has ensured that you will share this with someone else!
This has grown the amount of attention VW gets in a cluttered newspaper!
So What’s the point?
It’s simple: If you are making a marketing collateral ensure that you can grow this one thing through it:
Attention of your target audience. Big time.
If you can’t forget it. Your collaterals will land up somewhere here!