BOLD Truth #5

A distant mentor of mine recently said, "As a culture, we've developed a case of collective ADD.  We live in a visual-digital society that's too impatient to listen and get sucked in."  It's true. We generally prefer quick snippets, sound bites, and five second videos (think Vine). Advertisers darn well better make sure the first five seconds of a TV spot, pre-roll video or Pandora radio ad snags the ever-shrinking attention span, or they're dead in the water.  It’s always been that way to a degree -- but now more than ever.  Headlines in print mediums have always had to do the same, or the reader turns the page.  

To succeed in five seconds or in a headline takes craftsmanship, talent, and a desire to sweat the details -- every word, syllable, phrase, color, font, motion.  Five seconds?  Sounds quick and easy.  It's not.  That's why billboards have always been one of the most difficult mediums to master.  Today, the same applies to digital banners.  It takes a stellar concept to start with, and then immense finessing and fine-tuning.  And the first idea you come up with won't cut it.  Neither will the next 25, because they're all based on stuff you seen or heard before.  Cliche.  Trite.  Been done.  It takes digging much deeper in the well of creativity.  And in our five-second-attention-span-world that's a "do or die" proposition.