What happens when advertising stops?

The reasons we are unable to introspect on advertising's effects, especially in low-involvement situations, are:

1. the effect of each single ad exposure is small;
2. with repetition, even imperceptibly small effects can build into larger perceived differences between brands;
3. if something gets repeated constantly without challenge, our minds seem to regard this as prima facie evidence that maybe, just maybe, it is true (the truth effect);
4. often it is no big deal to us which of the alternative brands we choose, anyway.

Understanding this also explains why tracking campaign advertising is far more effective than trying to track the effectiveness in one single ad delivered through one particular media.

We don’t know a lot about what happens when advertising stops but what we do know is enough to warrant caution. Most companies don't know what happens when advertising stops because they only look at the immediate sales figures. If sales don't go down, they breathe a sigh of relief. But it is critical to look at what is going on underneath, at the brand image and 'brand value' level. Here is where the early warning signs of erosion in brand value are likely to be seen first.

So stopping advertising could be a smart decision. But, then again, it could be a time bomb. Remember the milk company I mentioned in a previous article? Well a doctoral thesis on milk advertising in the United States some years ago revealed the delayed nature of the time bomb. It underlined the fact that maintenance of sales in the short or medium term after ceasing to advertise is no reason for complacency. In a prolonged series of test market experiments, it was found that nothing happened to sales when advertising of milk was stopped. Nothing, that is, for 12 months! After a year of no advertising, milk sales suddenly went into a sharp decline and continued to decline at a sickening rate.

Advertising restarted immediately, but it was too late. It took another 18 months to halt the decline and then begin to reverse it.

So beware of the delayed time bomb. To regain a favourable position that is lost during belt tightening can cost more in the long run than to try to retain it by continuing to advertise at a maintenance level.